Filmvisning: Marin Håskjold "Heksehammeren", 28. april.
Trøndelag Centre for Contemporary Art, in collaboration with Cinemateket Trondheim, is pleased to invite you to the Trondheim premiere of Marin Håskjold’s new short film Heksehammeren (2025).
The screening will be followed by a conversation with Marin Håskjold and historian Ellen Alm.
In the film, “The Hammer of Witches”, a group of women are facing charges of witchcraft. If sentenced, they will be executed by the state by burning. In seeking a scapegoat for a sunken merchant fleet, the prosecuting authorities are eager to go beyond mere questioning. Based on real court documents from 17th century Norway, what at first glance might appear as absurd, turns out to not only portray historical events but also mirror our own present.
The witch hunt of early modern Europe and North America is one of the most extensive examples of systematic persecution in Western history. This became especially apparent in Scandinavia where several fishermen’s villages were almost devoid of women. How could this happen? What led society to such a state of conflict? And, what was the agenda of the prosecutors?
Duration: 15 min
Language: Swedish, Norwegian, Danish
Director/Screenwriter: Marin Håskjold
Year of Production: 2025
Producer: Una Mathiesen Gjerde
Production Company: Amfitrite Produksjon AS
Marin Håskjold (b. 1993, Trondheim) is a Norwegian artist and filmmaker educated at the Nordland Art and Film School in Kabelvåg (2014–2017). She works with short films, art films, and music videos. Her short film What Is a Woman? received several awards, including the Amanda Award in 2021. Håskjold is co-owner of the distribution company Jack Filmbyrå, which works to promote the circulation of artistic film. In 2021, she co-founded the production company Amfitrite Produksjon together with producer and curator Una Mathiesen.
Ellen Alm is a historian and Senior Librarian at NTNU. She has written about the Sámi woman Kirsten Iversdatter—believed to be the last person burned at the stake as a witch in the Trondheim region—in her book Trondheims siste heksebrenning (The Last Witch Burning in Trondheim).
During the 16th and 17th centuries, witch trials spread across Europe. In Norway, around 800 people were accused of practicing witchcraft, and approximately 300 were executed. As late as 1674, “Finn”-Kirsten Iversdatter was burned at the stake following one of the most severe and extensive witch trials in the Trondheim region.
Before her execution, she named more than thirty individuals from Gauldalen, Stjørdalen, and the city of Trondheim—both poor and wealthy, including prominent farmers. The case also extended to Flesnes in Troms and Rødøy in Nordland. In her book, Ellen Alm reconstructs the witch trial of Finn-Kirsten based on original court documents.
