Nordic Watchlist speaks with Director Eirik Tveiten about his short film Camping in Paradise
There are few things more essentially Nordic than nature, saunas, and the ability to find humour in uncomfortable situations. Eirik Tveiten captures this perfectly in his award-winning short film, Camping in Paradise. The film, which sees an unsuspecting couple stumble into a nudist community, manages to be both laugh-out-loud funny and surprisingly tender.
But how do you handle sound recording in a room full of naked people? And how do you prepare actors for a nude shoot without an intimacy coordinator? We caught up with Eirik to discuss the practical realities of the shoot, his own “research” trips to nudist camps, and why he refused to give up on this script despite a decade of rejections.
Nordic Watchlist: Hello Eirik, thank you for joining today. I watched your short film Camping in Paradise, and it’s a lot of fun. Congratulations on it.
Eirik Tveiten: Thank you so much!
Nordic Watchlist: It made me almost homesick in a way, the whole sauna, loving nature, hygge, Þetta Reddast, scandi vibe.
Eirik Tveiten: That’s nice, I enjoy Icelandic films very much, so I think we have a lot in common.
Nordic Watchlist: Talking about all things scandi, and before we dive deeper into your short film, what is your favorite Sauna moment?
Eirik Tveiten: I haven’t been in a sauna for a very long time. I think I really enjoyed it when we were shooting in that particular sauna for Camping in Paradise.
That’s what comes first to mind. It was challenging, production-wise, to shoot in a sauna. First, we didn’t have a sauna, so we had to find one in close proximity. The sauna in the film is not in the camping area in real life, it’s actually very far away. We shot the sauna scene on the last day, close to the locations in the last two scenes of the film, the shop and the road. And it was not a very big sauna, so it was pretty crowded.
Nordic Watchlist: Getting the actors and the film crew in there must have been challenging?
Eirik Tveiten: Yeah, it was. Well, actually, we (the crew) had to be on the outside, but with that, our sound recorder had to really set up there. He’s a very good sound recorder, so he made sure that we got good sound in there. But you know, when you have naked people, you can’t really put the mics on them like you usually do in films. Sometimes we could put mics in their hair, but some of them didn’t have hair so…
Nordic Watchlist: So it was just a boom operator?
Eirik Tveiten: Yeah, we had to go for the boom. Maybe we put some small mics in the room, you know, camouflaged, but actually, it was challenging. We had to rely on the boom, and he’s an amazing sound recorder! I felt very safe with him on set. Which is good because it’s not very nice when you get to the editing room, and you hear that the sound is bad, and you have to do ADR for all the scenes.
Nordic Watchlist: Yeah, a good sound recordist is important.
Eirik Tveiten: Yeah, but to your question, that’s my favourite sauna moment, which comes to mind. I loved it. It was challenging, but it was also a lot of fun.
Nordic Watchlist: I can imagine. Talking about the casting process. We live in a brilliant new age of filmmaking with intimacy coordinators and safety on set. So how did you approach this film with the actors, and how was the nudity handled on set?
Eirik Tveiten: That’s actually a very interesting question, because we didn’t have an intimacy coordinator due to budget.
But I’ve been an actor myself, so I feel comfortable talking to actors and, you know, gaining their trust, which is really important in any film, but here it’s extra important, because we had to talk about it.
I mean, for me, and as I told them, the full Monty nudity isn’t really what the film is about. We will have to show it in some stages, because we have to believe that it’s actually there, but actually, most of the shots are from the, you know, the belly and up. So I just had to say that, you know, that’s not the focus of the scene we’re gonna shoot.
The film is not about sensationalising nudity and stuff. We could have if we wanted to do that, but then it would be another film.
So what I felt was important was to talk to the actors in the stages of the casting, to be open about what there will be nudity, and you have to be comfortable with that.
The film won’t really show that much nudity, and it doesn’t, but… but it’s there.
And then we arrive on set. And the camping site we filmed on was not an actual nudist camping site. So that was another thing to have in mind, that there would be other guests on that camping site, and we didn’t want to intrude on them, or for them to intrude on us, so we had to put boundaries there.
Actually, what we did with the production schedule, we shot quite a few nude scenes early on day one. Which meant that the actors, quite quickly, had to just drop into that mode.
Nordic Watchlist: Kind of like a Band-Aid rip-off sort of thing?
Eirik Tveiten: Yes, which I think they handled very well. I think it was a bit uncomfortable for the first 5 minutes, but then for the whole shooting period, it was nothing unusual.
Nordic Watchlist: Okay, so they grew used to it?
Eirik Tveiten: Very
Nordic Watchlist: And the trust was very quick to come, would you say, between the cast and the crew?
Eirik Tveiten: I think so, yeah, I hope so. What I heard is that they felt comfortable. You know, unless they had to act uncomfortable, which they also had to do in some of the scenes.
Nordic Watchlist: Yeah, there were quite a lot of funny scenes in this film where you kinda went “Yes, I understand, I would have been uncomfortable in that situation as well”
Eirik Tveiten: Yeah, I think everybody can relate to those scenes.
We had extras there that were very nice to work with. They,actually, were more exposed than the actors in some ways. You know, what we were fearing was because we were filming on this campsite, which was not a nudist campsite, quite late in the season, because we couldn’t be there when it was full of guests, so it was actually shot in September.
Nordic Watchlist: I see, being nude when It was quite cold, okay.
Eirik Tveiten: Well, it could have been cold, but we were very lucky actually. At night, it was freezing, but in the daytime, we had sunshine.
Nordic Watchlist: Thank god, haha.
Eirik Tveiten: So we were really lucky with that. I mean, it could have rained the whole week, I don’t know what the film would look like then. We were very lucky with the weather,
Nordic Watchlist: Sounds like it! Talking about nudist communities, did you do a lot of research about nudist communities? Is that a big thing, where you’re from? Or did you spend some time in a nudist camp as research?
Eirik Tveiten: I actually did. We have a nudist camping, well, one big one, yes. We have two. I went to one of them, outside Oslo. And for that particular camping, they actually have a rule that you can stay there for one day with clothes on, but then you have to blend in, so you have to be naked. I was not a nudist at that point, so I just had to do it, and it felt comfortable, and what I would say is that I had the experience.
I was a bit ironic about nudism when I started the script, but it grew on me, it has something about it. I’m not really a nudist, but the thing is, there’s a switch when you can allow yourself to be without clothes, with other people. You’re naked. Obviously, so you don’t hide your body, but then you feel comfortable, in a way. And it deletes a lot of shame around how we feel about our bodies. And it helps
Nordic Watchlist: Do you get to accept your body a bit more?
Eirik Tveiten: You accept it, and you feel more comfortable, and it sets you free, in a way and I mean it seriously. But the film is not about that, it’s more about the result. It’s the acceptance of the body. In those communities, there’s no sexualization of bodies either. So you’re just there. Nobody judges you for your body, nobody, like, that’s not a… that’s not a thing, which is nice, which is good, because I think everybody has some issues with their bodies, I’m sure, I had lots myself, and I think others have too.
Nordic Watchlist: Did you say that the script changed a tiny bit afterwards, after your experience in the nudist camp yourself?
Eirik Tveiten: It did, it did change my view. When I started the script, I actually hadn’t been to a nudist camp, so it was a bit strange. I accepted it, I mean, It depends on who you are, but in some way, for me at least, this short film is pro-nudism. But I have to admit that there was someone in that nudist community who read the script and didn’t really feel comfortable about it. That person felt like I was making fun of them.
And I don’t think I was, but you can read the script in many different ways.
Nordic Watchlist: I see what he means, but at the same time I don’t. Because the short film happens a lot from the perspective of an outsider, so obviously it’s gonna look weird to begin with, but you have to watch the film to get it, not just read the script.
Eirik Tveiten: It is. What you can read out of a script is very idiosyncratic. It’s very much from your point of view, you feel like this is offensive or other because you have antagonists, and you have protagonists, and you have two different forces, and then you feel like, okay, this group is not portrayed in a funny way, but both groups are portrayed….it’s a comedy. You can’t get away from that, you know?
Nordic Watchlist: At the end of the short film, it felt like a very open ending, which almost suggested that we would meet the characters again. Are these characters someone you would like to revisit again, even to do a series with?
Eirik Tveiten: Yes, we have been talking about it actually, and I have been working on a series. I don’t think it would actually be the same story. I think we would have to make a completely new story in the same setting. But I am actually working on that. We have a lot of different scenarios, so we have to pick one. I mean, we could make a feature of this particular story, but we’ve actually told everything there is to tell in 23 minutes. It will be deeper in the future
Nordic Watchlist: Amazing. Is it correct that I read that you are currently working on a feature film next?
Eirik Tveiten: Yes, many actually, working on many. Yeah, this is the reality, for me at least, but you never know who is going to pick up, or why they’re gonna pick up a story that you’re working on. I mean, I pitched some stories, and how it lands is very individual. For who the producer is, and actually for who the financier is.
Especially when you deal with humour, because humour is kind of, I mean, how can you actually express that a film will be this or that kind of humour. It’s difficult to explain. You can read it slightly from a script, but often it’s very subtle, and you won’t actually see it before you’re in the edit, or, you know, when it’s finished.
Nordic Watchlist: The humour is often in the edit of the film more than in the script.
Eirik Tveiten: That’s true, that’s true, and therefore it’s so difficult to explain. I mean, this film in particular, I applied for funding for 15 years before I finally got it.
Nordic Watchlist: Oh, wow.
Eirik Tveiten: I had a lot of struggle, and I couldn’t understand why people wouldn’t give it money, because I thought it was a good idea, but I just couldn’t convince anybody that it would be worth it, and I don’t know why, is it because we don’t actually take humour seriously? because it is something we need just to deal with issues. I love to use humour to deal with important issues.
This film doesn’t really go deep in the issues, but It has some depth in it. But then to be able to convince a person on just a log line, or just a short pitch or a synopsis, that this is really a great film, is quite difficult.
Nordic Watchlist: Did it add to the challenge that it was a short film?
Eirik Tveiten: I don’t think I would be able to make it as a feature. I have my personal views on that, and I don’t think I can express them here, because I have some sore feelings and animosity towards the business. It’s difficult to make films. Everybody really struggles to get their film made.
Who knows what films will be made? And you just have to fight for your film, and that’s hard.
Nordic Watchlist: Well, congratulations on having fought for your film, I’m very glad you did. It’s a fantastic film, and I hope it does well. Is it currently running in the festival circuit?
Eirik Tveiten: It is, it’s won so many awards, and its latest award was Best Comedy in Dublin International short film and music festival, and it is, as you might know, qualified for Oscar.
It was finished in 2023 so it’s been running for a long time. But there’s still festivals that want it, and I’m so happy about that. I’m very proud, because to have that many festivals, I mean, I don’t know how many there are, it’s more than 100, and then so many prizes for a film that I’m so glad for the actors and for the whole crew, and I’m proud of what we made. And it was very fun, I have to say that.
Nordic Watchlist: I can imagine. The two stunts with the car. There was a crash at the beginning, and there was also the actor jumping on the hood of the car and then driving with the actor still on the hood. Did you have a stunt coordinator, or how did you handle the stunts on set?
Eirik Tveiten: No, we didn’t have a stunt coordinator. The driving off the road at the start of the film was pretty safe. We had to have a car that we could actually crash, but it didn’t really crash. So we did that shoot in only one take.
But with the second car stunt we had to do many takes, and I was unsure if we could make it. So I had to rely on Espen, the main actor. I said to him that this is a possibility, we don’t have to do it this way, but if you feel comfortable doing it, we’ll go ahead. And I tried it on myself, a few weeks before, and we had to strap him in some way to the hood, but we can’t see that on the screen. I felt it was safe, I felt he was brave. And it was fun, because
I said that we don’t have to do it this way and It will still be a funny scene if we don’t go all the way, but I’m very happy that we did it in the end. And that is a lot thanks to Espen, I mean, he could have felt very afraid of it, but he wasn’t.
And the funny thing is that Audrun, the actor who was driving the car, actually has been a stunt actress before. So she just gave it everything and she just drove, full speed. That was fun.
Nordic Watchlist: Well, it’s really apparent in the film that both crew and cast had fun. You can really see it. And usually in films, you can’t always tell if the crew and cast are present, and they definitely were in your film. And I wish you all the best with the rest of the festival run. Thank you so much for the time you’ve given today for the interview. It’s been a lot of fun.
