The new Swedish crime series Thicker than Water (pictured - Tjockare än vatten) produced by NICE Drama for SVT with support from Nordisk Film & TV Fond has been picked up by ZDF Enterprises for international distribution. The archipelago drama written by Niklas Rockström (Wallander-Blood Ties) and Morgan Jensen (Häxdansen) just finished shooting and will air on the Swedish pubcaster in the spring 2014.

Based on an idea from NICE Drama’s co-managing director Henrik Jansson-Schweizer, the 10x60’ series is the story of estranged siblings - two brothers and a sister - who reunite on the island of Sunnanö for the funeral of their mother. As part of the legacy are a guesthouse on the island and a piece of land, but the children cannot tap into it until they have fulfilled certain conditions, such as running successfully the guesthouse together during a season. Besides the family disputes, dark secrets start to emerge linked to the mysterious disappearance of the father when the siblings were teenagers.

The Swedish/Finnish creative team includes directors Erik Leijonborg (Maria Wern), Molly Hartleb (Hinsehäxan), Anette Winblad, Anders Engström (Vares) and actors Björn Bengtsson (pictured), Joel Spira,  Aliette Opheim, Molly Nutley, Torkel Petersson, Stina Ekblad, Jessica Grabowsky and Tobias Zilliacus.

“The project was born as an organic co-production between SVT and YLE, set in Åland archipelago between Sweden and Finland, so it’s important to have a mix of Nordic talents,” said Patrick Nebout, producer and co-MD of NICE Drama. For him the series is an ‘archipelago drama with an edge, revisited by Six Feet Under and  American Beauty’

Besides Thicker than Water, NICE Drama has in development the fish out of water series Midnight Sun written by Ulf Ryberg (Headhunters). The eight episode crime series is the first Swedish/French co-production with Lagardère Entertainment, Canal Plus and SVT. It’s the story of a French police officer who arrives in Kiruna to investigate a plane crash. Also in development is the 3x90’ Kristina Ohlsson crime series set to start shooting next year.

The much anticipated feature film The Centenarian Who Climbed out of the Window and Disappeared based on Jonas Jonasson’s best-selling novel is now in post-production, heading towards its Christmas release in Sweden via Disney Nordic. StudioCanal will continue pre-selling it at the American Film Market in November.