Canvas is the second channel of Belgian public broadcaster VRT. During a Scandinavian Week, the brand name was changed to Kånvas and the channel’s programming shifted focus to Nordic (flavoured)content. In the TV spot announcing the themed week, we are taken on a tour by a misacted, less than enthusiastic Norwegian tour guide who doesn’t understand what people find so interesting about Scandinavia and would rather open a bar in Spain. This is a funny reference to a documentary about the Norwegian government exporting its elderly and infirm to the Costa Blanca in the hope that the Mediterranean climate will help them live longer - and that lower costs will save the state money.

We didn't want to cast in the traditional way and started looking in a new direction. We knew about a film editor that had roughly the same ideas on what life is about, so we thought it would be a good idea to work with him and cast him as our Norwegian tour guide. We had no script, but just a vague idea of what he should talk about. So he had to improvise a lot what lead to some unexpected, awkward but also funny moments, for example when he pointed out where a friend of his lived who killed himself.

Our guy had no acting experience either, hence great limitations as an actor but this is what we were looking for as it brings a certain truth to the performance.