Danish director Per Fly is preparing two major international films featuring the United Nations and the diplomatic world. The two political thrillers Backstabbing for Beginners and The Killing of Hammarskjöld are co-produced by Creative Alliance and Eyeworks Scandi Fiction.

During the Film Väst press conference in Cannes, the director of Waltz for Monica and Swedish producer Patrik Ryborn (Eyeworks) unveiled details of both projects to nordiskfilmogtvond.com.

The first project to start filming later this year is Backstabbing for Beginners, based on the eponymous book about the UN’s 'oil for food’ scandal written by whistle-blower and former UN employee Michael Soussan. The oil-for-food programme (OFF) was set up to allow Iraq to sell its oil in return for humanitarian relief, so it would not breach sanctions imposed after the first Iraq war but it is now tainted by a vast corruption scandal. Fly has been working on the project for the last two years for the ‘Creative Alliance’ directors collective (see our story on Creative Alliance click here.)

Ryborn confirmed that the project will be co-produced by Eyeworks and cast and crew details will be announced next year.

The Killing of Hammarskjöld will focus on the life of the celebrated Swedish politician and former UN Secretary Dag Hammarskjöld, from 1953 until his mysterious death in a plane crash during the Congo crisis in 1961. Norwegian scriptwriter Ulf Ryberg (Headhunters) is attached to the mega-project. Ryborn will produce with Creative Alliance’s Malene Blenkov, in co-production with Nordisk Film and Film Väst. “The film will have a budget of around €10 million will involve international partners as only 5% of the shooting will take place in Sweden,” notes Ryborn. Principal photography is set for 2017.