Margaret Emdal

I am a Visual artist, Director, Animator, & Graphic Designer, living in Oslo, Norway.

I was born in Stranda, a village situated at Storfjorden in the western part of the country. At 16 I started out on the artistic road in Langevåg, not far from Ålesund, as one of Einar Aarø’s pupils at the school for Graphics and Drawing, called “Reklamelinja”, in 1970-71. After that a year with artistic work at Manger Fylkesskole.  In 1972 I went to Germany and studies of Visual Communication at Fachhochschule Münster. In 1977 I graduated with a Diploma as a Graphic Designer.

My working career commenced as an editorial designer at Gyldendal Norsk Forlag in Oslo. After a while I returned to Germany and some years as a freelancer – I married and almost ended up as a housewife in Westfalen! A couple of years later, back in Oslo in 1981, I started as a Graphic Designer for NRK (Norwegian Broadcast Corp). I liked the work in the Tv house, and especially I learned to love the art of animation. My leader started sending me to Animation festivals, I was impressed by the shows in Annecy and Zagreb, and I made my first short films, Tango Caramba in 1992 and Heartattack in 1997.

20 years later, in 2000, it was time to move on. I continued working as an independent artist and producer with my own projects. I also made an old dream come true, and took up Medieval studies at UiO in 2002. I graduated with a Master of Philosophy in 2008. 

Then it was also time to continue with animation film projects. Red & Silver was finished in 2016. Two years later came Den siste dagen / The Last Day. Late in 2023 Thunderstory was finished and started its road around the world. These last short films have been shown at numerous festivals, and have got lots of prizes! I continue my work as an animation artist and will, hopefully, finish my next film next year, or so.

 

Margaret Emdal, 14.06.2024