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'Miss Landmine to be staged'
By Ole Peder Giæver, TV 2 Nettavisen, Norway

Norwegian director Morten Traavik is taking off to Angola at the end of February to prepare ”Miss Landmine”.

Ideally, we will follow the recipe of a classic Miss contest, says Traavik to TV 2 Nettavisen.

The contest itself is to take place in December. Traavik starts looking for contestants in Angola at the end of February.

The Angolan civil war ended in 2002 after 27 years of fighting. In the course of the war of liberation against Portugal and the subsequent civil war, there’s been no less that seven parties involved.

- Most of these made use of landmines as tactical weapons, and none have left any kind of documentation of where the mines are located, says outgoing Programme Director for Norwegian People’s Aid’s mine clearance programme in Angola, Sigbjørn Langvik, to TV 2 Nettavisen.

He estimates the number of landmines in Angola today to total 2-4 million.
- We believe there are approximately 80.000 landmine survivors in Angola, out of a total population of around 13 million, Langvik says.

Morten Traavik has worked as both director and actor in Norway and abroad since 1998.He describes the project as a “mix of art and aid”.

- We hope to be able to highlight the situation of landmine survivors in Angola. If the concept is successful, perhaps we can outsource it to other countries with many landmine victims, says Traavik.

- Maybe in a few years we can stage “Miss World Landmine”?, he adds.

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According to the newspaper Morgenbladet, the Arts Council Norway has contributed half a million kroner (USD 80.000) to the project.

- At first glance, the title “Miss Landmine” can seem provocative, but after having read the project description and talked to Morten I have personally become very supportive of the idea, says Langvik of Norwegian People’s Aid.

- In Angola, there’s a real tradition for Miss contests. They are very popular. The project will automatically receive a lot of attention.

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