Ivar Halstvedt, director of cinema at Kulturmeglerne and former country manager, Norway, at Nordic Cinema Group and Odeon Cinemas Group, has been named as the 2021 recipient of the Union Internationale des Cinémas/International Union of Cinemas Achievement Award, given each year in recognition of outstanding dedication and service to European cinema exhibition. The award will be presented as part of the CineEurope Awards Ceremony on October 7 at the Centre de Convencions Internacional de Barcelona in Barcelona, Spain.
Known for his commitment to the Big Screen experience and his ambition to continuously modernise cinema infrastructure, Halstvedt has been a key figure in the Scandinavian cinema industry for more than 30 years.
He played a pivotal role in making Nordic Cinema Group, and later the Odeon Cinemas Group, a standard-bearer in the region and a reference point for the premium cinema experience. Halstvedt was also closely involved in the three merger and acquisition processes leading up to the Nordic Cinema Group becoming part of the world’s largest cinema company, AMC, in 2017.
In addition, Halstvedt has been a long-time board member of the Norwegian Cinema Association, Film & Kino, playing a key role in the digitalisation of all Norwegian cinemas and the publication of the 2010 guide “How to build a modern cinema multiplex?”. He is to this day still an active cinema developer, currently involved in ten new cinema projects in the Nordics.
He was meant to receive this recognition at CineEurope 2020, but due to the unavoidable cancellation of that event, his award has been held over to this year.
Phil Clapp, president of UNIC said, “We are absolutely delighted to honor Ivar at CineEurope 2021. The award recognizes his distinguished career and leadership in the European exhibition sector, his continued passion and commitment to the highest standards of theatrical presentation and his key role in developing both the Norwegian and European cinema-going experience. I know that it will be warmly welcomed by colleagues from across the industry.”
Union Internationale des Cinémas | International Union of Cinemas www.unic-cinemas.org