The Lives of My Father

When Didrik was ten years old, his father – Norwegian television journalist Bjørn Hallstrøm – told him he was a secret intelligence agent. Years later, Didrik sets out to uncover whether his father, who spent years traveling the world and reporting from conflict zones, was lying or telling the truth. He seeks to determine whether this childhood memory was merely a farce or fabrication, or a carefully guarded secret of a man who lived a double life and may indeed have been a CIA spy. Step by step, we follow a long-term family investigation that reveals a man of many faces and a complex past shaped by half-truths and secrets. The film portrays a figure marked by conflicted identity and divided loyalties, and exposes the personal costs of living a double life. Combining family archives, candid interviews with relatives, friends, and witnesses, and a detective-style narrative, the film explores the complex relationship between family bonds and historical and geopolitical truth. It raises questions about memory, identity, and the secrets we keep within families – and how they ultimately shape personal choices and individual destinies.