Spending his formative years in the United States, Hans Petter Moland (b. 1955) got his education in film and theatre direction at Emerson College in Boston, Massachusetts, graduating in 1978. After finishing his studies he began directing commercials and music videos for clients all around the world, and became employed by the renowned New York production company Giraldi Productions.

He returned to Norway in 1985, and established Moland Film Co. in 1988, which has since grown to be the largest production company for production of commercials in Scandinavia. Moland has won numerous awards for his work in commercials, at both Scandinavian and major international festivals, including the “Golden Lion” of the Cannes Commercial Film Festival, and the prestigious “Clio Award” from the United States.

In 1993 he made his debut as a feature film director, with the WWII-drama The Last Lieutenant, based on a true story from Nazi Germanys attack on Norway in April of 1940. He followed up his debut with Zero Kelvin in 1995, which garnered him the Norwegian National Film Award Amanda for Best Picture, as well as the Grand Jury Prize at San Sebastian. Both films enjoyed widespread acclaim, from critics and audiences alike, and won several awards at festivals around the world.  Aberdeen (1999), and The Beautiful Country (2004), starring among others Nick Nolte and Tim Roth, further established Moland as a cinematic force to be reckoned with, and The Beautiful Country was also selected for Competition in Berlin. In between the latter films Moland also directed the short film United We Stand, as part of the portmanteau film Utopia – Nobody’s Perfect in the Perfect Country, a short which has been a great success in and of itself, with numerous festival participations and awards bestowed upon it.

2006 saw Moland premiering the 1970s-drama Comrade Pedersen (also a hit with both critics and audiences), before presenting yet another tour-de-force in 2010 with A Somewhat Gentle Man.