Nordisk Film & TV Fond is proud to be associated with the directors’ latest efforts to challenge and thrill international audiences. The Nordic region is also represented by Danish newcomer Jonas Arnby Alexander competing in the Critics Week and Norway’s Hallvar Witzø (Oscar nominated in 2012 for his short film Tuba Atlantic) vying for a Palme d’or in the short film programme with Yes We Love.
“My Nordic heart beats with Ruben Östlund’s return to Cannes, taking us on an emotional family avalanche with Force Majeure, and I am bound to have my eyes wide open at Kristian Levring´s midnight screening of his western The Salvation, while eagerly waiting to be taken by the hidden secrets of Jonas Alexander Arnby's debut When Animals Dream, selected at the Critics' Week,” said Petri Kemppinen, Nordisk Film & TV Fond CEO.
Östlund will come back to the official sidebar Un Certain Regard where he had first set foot in 2008 with Involuntary. In 2011, his other film Play screened at the Directors Fortnight where it picked up a ‘Coup de Coeur’ accolade. "Ruben and I are happy to be back in Cannes for the third time,” said Erik Hemmendorff who produced the film with Marie Kjellson. “Un Certain Regard screens the world’s best and daring films and filmmakers. We can't wait to show our film”.
Force Majeure focuses on well-to-do tourists confronted with a state of emergency when they get stuck in the French Alps because of an avalanche. In the title roles are Kristofer Hivju (Game of Thrones - Season 3), Lisa Loven Hivju (The Orheim Company) and Johannes Bah Kuhnke (Real Humans). Sweden's Plattform is producing with Denmark's Co-production Office, France's Societé Parisienne de Production and Norway's Motlys. Coproduction Office handles world sales.
One of the original Dogme founders, Levring first came to the Croisette in 2000 with his film The King is Alive selected at Un Certain Regard. His latest film The Salvation produced by Sisse Graum Jørgensen for Zentropa is a large-scale western set 19th century America, but rooted in Scandinavia, co-written with Anders Thomas Jensen. The stellar international cast comprises Mads Mikkelsen, Eva Green, Mikael Persbrandt and Eric Cantona among others.
TrustNordisk just closed sales with France (Jour de Fête/Chrysalis), Greece (Hollywood Entertainment) and Estonkia (Estin Film).
When Animals Dream by Jonas Alexander Arnby is among seven international titles running in the Critics Week dedicated to first and second features. Sonia Suhl, Lars Mikkelsen and Sonja Richter play the title roles in this chiller focusing on a 16 year-old girl living in a secluded fishing village who falls in love and discovers she’s a werewolf. The film produced by Copenhagen’s Alphaville Pictures in association with Paris-based Back Up Films, has been a buyers’ favourite since the last American Film Market where it was launched for pre-buys by Gaumont International. Territories sold include the US, the UK, Germany, Australia and Greece.
Finally, rounding up the Nordic presence in Cannes is the Danish co-produced Argentinian film Jauja by Lisandro Alonso screening at Un Certain Regard, in which Viggo Mortensen plays a Danish man who travels to Argentina with his daughter in the 1800s. Star actress Ghita Nørby and the young Viilbørk Maling Agger complete the cast, while the film’s cinematographer is Finland’s Timo Salminen, collaborator to Aki Kaurismäki.
The 67th Cannes Film Festival is unspooling from May 14-25, 2014.