“Getting Along with Bodyguards is Crucial!”: Tommy Gulliksen on His CPH:DOX Opening Night Film Facing War

Tommy Gulliksen’s Facing War follows Jens Stoltenberg in the final year of his decade-long stint as Secretary General of NATO, a position he’d been looking forward to relinquishing until, in 2023, President Biden asked him to stay on for another 12 months. And it’s easy to see why. The energetic, glad-handing, back-slapping politico seems to treat every world leader as his absolute favorite bestie (Emmanuel! Viktor!), even as he strategizes with his comms team to text the perfect thank you reply. (Though that’s probably standard operating procedure for every commander forced to deal with Trump.) And yet this former Prime Minister of Norway is so personable and sincerely committed to his cause that every dog and pony show comes across as downright genuine — a necessary skill for the job, as is enjoying the highly choreographed pomp and circumstance. (The latter is a benefit not given to the non-elite workers toiling away in obscurity behind the scenes. Luckily, Gulliksen does catch a few oddball moments that pierce the charade, like a guard standing at attention in full state regalia who can’t seem to stifle a yawn, or the frantic woman in Lithuania, vacuum cleaner strapped to her back, clumsily rushing to clean the red carpet.) For whether it’s bartering with Erdoğan in order to welcome Sweden into the alliance, or convincing Orbán to simply stand down while the rest of the members handle Ukraine’s bid to join, the stakes for all are just too high. A few days before Facing War opened this year’s CPH:DOX, Filmmaker reached out to the Norwegian director (who co-produced the batshit Laibach-in-North-Korea doc Liberation Day back in 2016) to learn how he got such phenomenal access to the NATO “war room,” as well as what was strictly off-limits to his lens.

To read my interview visit Filmmaker magazine.