Petter Næss
Petter Næss was born in 1960 in Oslo (Norway). Originally he worked as a writer, director and actor for the theatre. In 1997 he was appointed director of Oslo Nye Teater (Olso New Theatre), and he quickly made a mark for himself promoting contemporary Norwegian plays and focusing on works for young audiences. At the theatre he realized the first, very successful, staging of ELLING, based upon the Ingvar Ambjørnsen’s book Brødre i blodet (Brothers in Blood). Among his films are ELLING (2001), which was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Film in 2002.

Director’s statement
“There are three major reasons why I wanted to do this film. First of all: this story is a reminder of what we expose our children to – what kind of a world we bring them into: a world where the adults, who should know better, find prestige, prejudice and political opposition more important than the safety and responsibility for the most innocent people of all – the children. Secondly: I find that LEAPS & BOUNDS is a strong story about children’s ability to find solutions. Thirdly: I think it is an important story to tell for the sake of building up against prejudice and also to remind us about how lucky we are to live in a part of the world where both the political and social conditions are so much better than in most countries where our immigrants come from”.