Twigson (2009) is about a tough, naughty, quick-witted and brave boy who finds an unusual friend. Junior has just moved, and has not made any new friends yet, when the wooden twig Twigson appears in the middle of a pile of firewood... And one thing is for certain: twigs like Twigson don't grow on trees.
Sydney Film Festival presented the Australian premiere of Åsleik Engmark’s charming film, and the audience voted it in as the fourth most popular fiction features at satellite venues in competition for the Showtime Movie Channels Audience Awards. The awards highlight the crowd-pleasing titles across feature films and documentaries.
Twigson was the Opening Film of Children's Film Fest at the 2009 The Norwegian International Film Festival, Haugesund and was an instant success in Norway. It has since been screened at various international film festivals, including the 2010 Generation KPlus - Berlin International Film festival, Germany, the 2010 Sprockets Toronto International Film Festival, Canada, the 2010 BAFICI, Argentina and the 2010 Shanghai IFF, China.
Twigson is based on Norwegian author Anne Cath. Vestly`s beloved children’s novel Lillebror og Knerten, the first book in the Twigson (Knerten) series. Anne-Cath. Vestly (1920 – 2008) is one of Norway’s most famous and popular authors. All in all she has written 49 children’s books, many of which are counted as modern classics. She has also written numerous plays for radio and theatre. Anne-Cath. Vestly’s books have been translated into 16 languages, and several of her titles have been filmed.
The first four books of the Twigson series have recently been republished in English. Junior and Twigson (2008), Faithful Twigson (2008), Twigson Gets Married (2009) and Twigson Moves (2009) all present new adventures of the two best friends. All the eight Twigson books are available in the new The Big Twigson Book.
The second Twigson movie will be released autumn 2010.