The high concept refugee comedy Welcome to Norway directed by Rune Denstad Langlo (North) has been pre-sold to a handful of territories by Beta Cinema just before its world premiere in competition at the Göteborg International Film Festival.

The Norwegian film was acquired by Neue Visionen (Germany and Austria), Filmcoopi (Switzerland) and Good Films (Italy), with negotiations continuing with other major territories including France, the UK and Benelux.

Anders Baasmo Christiansen has the title role as Per Primus, owner of a hotel in a ski resort who decides to turn his family business into a refugee reception centre in order to save it from financial ruin.

Beta Cinema’s Thorsten Ritter who picked up the film after watching a 6 minute clip in Cannes said: “It couldn’t be more appropriate to tackle this subject matter in the form of a smart but warm-hearted comedy that teaches us a lesson or two about the current state of the so-called ‘refugee crisis’. Comedy is a form much more powerful than a drama beating it over your head about how severe the situation is. It is, but we need films like this to keep our optimism.”

The film produced by Sigve Endresen for Motlys, with support from Nordisk Film & TV Fond, will screen both at the Nordic Film Market in Göteborg and the European Film Market in Berlin.

Beta Cinema handles as well the Norwegian film The King’s Choice by Erik Poppe scheduled for an autumn premiere.