Five up-and-coming talents have this year been selected to attend MIRAGE as special guests as part of the initiative «Looking Up». MIRAGE is delighted to have the participants attend MIRAGE Professionals as a kickstart of the one-year program, contributing to helping those new talents present themselves to the industry, gain inspiration and search for new partnerships and connections. Hopefully, this initiative will help them pave the way to realize their projects and find opportunities within the industry.
Elle Whitney is a filmmaker working across genres, with a special interest in telling queer stories to explore themes of community, identity, memory, and trauma.
Rezan Ærdem (1984) is a Turkish artist and filmmaker who had to emigrate to Norway due to her political beliefs. He works in various mediums of visual arts, but has in recent years mainly focused on documentary and film works.
Diska Livia is a multidisciplinary visual artist working across the arts of dance, choreography, performance, cinematography, and photography. Born in Indonesia, and raised in Norway, she engages in the philosophical realms of western and eastern culture, and delves into holistic topics such as consciousness, spirituality, life, death and the afterlife.
Akari Izumi Kvamme (b.1988) is a Japanese-Norwegian third culture kid, political scientist, activist and emerging filmmaker. She enjoys exploring the nexus of the political, personal and artistic, and is particularly interested in creative resistance, identity- and biopolitics, the nuclear question and artistic freedom of expression.
Anlin Kassab Liland (b. 1998), a Lebanese-Norwegian emerging filmmaker residing in Oslo, passionately explores the cultural dynamics of second-generation families, including her own. With a versatile approach, she thrives in various genres, with a special appreciation for colors and tranquility in her visual storytelling.
The portraits of the talents are in the order of the names mentioned.