Concerning Violence is the new documentary by the director of The Black Power Mixtape-1967-1975 that won the World Cinema Documentary Editing Award at Sundance 2011. After his portrayal of African-American activists in the late 60s, Göran Hugo Olsson is using again powerful archival material (newly discovered) to illustrate the struggle for liberation from colonial rule, combined with text from Frantz Fanon’s text ‘The Wretched of the Earth’. Hip Hop artist Ms Lauryn is narrator on the film produced by Story AB in co-production with Denmark’s Final Cut for Real, Finland’s Helsinki Filmi, Danny Glover’s Louverture Films and SVT. Film Boutique is handling sales.
Sepideh, the story of the young Iranian woman dreaming of becoming an astronaut against her family’s wish has already received warm responses from its international premiere at IDFA’s competition programme. Sales agent LevelK reported a recent distribution deal with Moving Turtle for the Middle East, among a dozen sales. Denmark’s Radiator Film is producing.
Also running in the World Doc competition section is the Finnish minority co-production Happiness about the arrival of television in the life of a nine-year-old monk in a Bhutanese village. French born Thomas Balmès is behind the camera. Kaarle Aho from Finland’s Making Movies Oy is co-producing.
Norway has two features in competition. Blind which is running in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition is the directorial debut of Eskil Vogt, long time writing collaborator to director Joachim Trier. It’s the story of a blind woman who gets the feeling that her husband is observing her without her knowledge. Motlys is producing and Versatile Films is handling international sales. The Norwegian premiere is set for February 28, 2014. Mona Fastvold’s The Sleepwalker is the first Norwegian film to take part in the US Dramatic competition as it was shot on location in the US and stars in the lead roles US actors Brady Corbet and Christopher Abbot. Brooklyn and Oslo-based writer/director/actress Fastvold makes her directorial debut. Norway’s 4½ is producing and LevelK is handling world sales.
Iceland rounds up the Nordic selection with the film Land Ho! co-produced by Reykjavik-based Vintage Pictures’ Hlin Johannesdottir and Birgitta Björnsdottir. The buddy comedy tells the story of two ex-brothers in law on a road trip in Iceland. David Gordon Green (Prince Avalanche) is executive producing the film screening at Sundance’s NEXT sidebar.