Description
THE WITCHES OF THE PETROLEUM FOREST (1976) // ALEKSANDER U. SERIGSTAD
This is the book about the anarchist Bredo Greve and his debut feature film The Witches of the Petrified Forest (1976). The film caused great controversy when it premiered in 1976. It had a low budget, was shot on grainy black and white 16mm film and had several amateurs in the roles. The script was strongly inspired by Carlos Castaneda's psychedelic books about the shaman Don Juan, and Margaret Murray's witch bible The Witch Cult in Western Europe . The film was perceived as both anti-Christian and morally degrading by several cinema managers, including in Hønefoss where the cinema manager refused to show the film. Greve took the opportunity to demonstrate against both the cinema manager and the Norwegian Cinema Act, by showing the film outside the cinema in Hønefoss, until the police arrived and stopped the screening. The action led to a lawsuit against the director, and stirred up major discussions about Norwegian cinema policy. The film has since gained cult status, largely due to its unavailability, and its ever-present message of nature conservation. With the help of exclusive interviews with director Bredo Greve and several of the others involved, you get the full story of how one of Norway's most anarchistic cult films came to be.
Aleksander U. Serigstad (b. 1985) is a filmmaker, musician, and editor in the television industry. He has a master's degree in Film and Television Studies, and has hosted the podcast Norsk kultfilm med Kristian Serigstad Jensen since 2021. In 2014, he directed the documentary film Bredo Greve - Filmrebell .