Play Awarded Largest SFI Grant

January 11, 2010
Ruben Östlund's (photo) upcoming film Play produced by Erik Hemmendorff (Plattform Production) with support from Nordisk Film & TV Fond, was awarded the biggest grant (SEK5.9m) from the Swedish Film Institute in its latest round of production support. Play focuses on a gang of young robbers who make their victims race for their belongings. Other SFI grant recipients were Finnish filmmaker Dome Karukoski for his comedy Lapland Odyssey, minority co-produced in Sweden by Martin Persson (Anagram) - with support from the Fund- and Andreas Öhman's directorial debut I rymden finns inga känslor produced by Peter Possne and Bonnie Skoog Feeney. Both films were awarded SEK1m each. The documentaries Tusen och en natt (jävla sköna män) by Fateme Gosheh, produced by Scorpionfilm, and Future for Sale by Maja Borg, produced by Lisbet Gabrielsson, were also granted SFI support.

Trapp New CEO At EAVE

January 11, 2010
The Media Programme's training and development programme EAVE (European Audiovisual Entrepreneurs) has appointed Kristina Trapp (photo) as their new Chief executive in replacement of Alan Fountain who becomes Head of Studies. Trapp has worked in the film industry in Germany, France, Belgium and Luxembourg since 1999. She joined EAVE in 2004 and worked as the programme's Deputy Chief Executive since 2007. EAVE Nordic coordinators include Ulrik Bolt Jørgensen (Denmark), Aleksi Bardy (Finland), Snorri Thorisson (Iceland), and Helena Danielsson (Sweden).

Double BAFTA Nomination For Let the Right One In

January 11, 2010
Already announced as a contender for a BAFTA award from the British Film Academy in the category Best Adapted Screenplay, Tomas Alfredson's Let the Right One In has also been nominated for Best Foreign Language Film. The Swedish vampire film produced by EFTI, with support from Nordisk Film & TV Fond, will be running for the prestigious BAFTA award against Coco, Before Chanel, Broken Embraces, A Prophet and The White Ribbon. Released last year in the UK through Momentum Pictures, Let the Right One In received rave reviews in the UK press and was voted Best Film of 2009 by UK critic Xan Brooks from The Guardian newspaper. The film was voted Best Foreign Film at the BIFA (British Independent Film Awards) ceremony early December. The BAFTA ceremony will be held on February 21, 2010 at the Royal Opera House in London's Covent Garden.

EDN Publishes New Financing Guide

January 11, 2010
The 2010 edition of the EDN (European Documentary Network) Financing Guide is now available as a print and on line versions. The Guide provides detailed contact information and profiles of international institutions and financiers specialising in the documentary genre, from broadcasters, sales agents, distributors, to funding organisations. In the online edition, documentary professionals can search for relevant financiers in terms of themes, territories and length. For more information on how to buy or receive a copy of The Guide, click here: http://www.edn.dk./

YLE Acquires Icelandic Shift Series

January 5, 2010
The Finnish national broadcasting corporation YLE has acquired the three Icelandic TV series The Night Shift, The Day Shift (photo) and The Prison Shift directed by Ragnar Bragason (Parents, Children) for Saga Film. The deal was negotiated by UK based ShineReveille International. The series about three hapless characters have enjoyed a record TV audience on Iceland's Channel 2 over the last few years. The feature film version Mr Bjarnfredarson based on the same characters, was released in Iceland on December 26 and went straight to the top of the charts for Samfilm, selling over 15,000 tickets in three days.

Mankell Brings Ingmar Bergman Back To Life For SVT

January 5, 2010
The best-selling Swedish novelist Henning Mankell (photo) is going to write for Swedish public broadcaster SVT a TV drama in four episodes featuring the life of legendary filmmaker Ingmar Bergman.

"What fascinates me is the price that Ingmar Bergman had to pay for his uncompromising creativity", said Mankell. The drama will be very wide in scope, spanning from Bergman's very first theatre experience at a youth centre in Stockholm to his last moments in his beloved island of Fårö. "This is a major and difficult project that involves great responsibility, but we are convinced that SVT and the public service have the experience and skills needed to carry it through," comment Eva Hamilton, SVT managing director. The ambitious project is scheduled to start filming in 2011.

Photo: Lina ikse Bergman

Norwegian Rock Star Cast As Cornelis Vreeswijk

January 5, 2010
Norwegian rock star Hans Erik Husby (alias Hans von Hell) photo, is set to embody Sweden's legendary musician and poet Coernelis Vreeswijk in the Swedish biopic Medborgare Godafton (Citizen, Good Evening) to be directed by Amir Chamdin.

Citizen, Good Evening (working title) will start shooting this spring for producer Martina Stöhr (Chamdin & Stöhr Film). The project is co-produced by Peter Possne for Svensk Filmindustri's production arm Sonet Film, with co-financing from Film i Väst, SVT, Warner Music, and support from the Swedish Film Institute and Nordisk Film & TV Fond.

Hank von Hell is known as the lead singer of the band Turbonegro. He also appeared on stage at Oslo Theatre last autumn in the Norwegian version of Jesus Christ Superstar.

North World Tour Reaches Germany

January 5, 2010
Almost a year after its launch at the 2009 Berlinale's Panorama section, Rune Denstad Langlo's dark comedy North is opening nationwide in Germany this Thursday, released by Alamode Film. The Norwegian film supported by Nordisk Film & TV Fond won numerous awards in 2009, including the audience award at the Leipzig Film Festival last September.

Max Manus Ventures On Danish Screens

January 5, 2010
Promoted as the Norwegian version of Flame & Citron, Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg's Max Manus is being launched this Friday by Nordisk Film on 15 Danish screens. The Norwegian WW2 drama should capture a piece of the large Danish audience that flocked into cinemas in 2008 to watch Ole Christian Madsen's Flame & Citron (over 670,000 admissions).

Eurimages Grant Reaches Iron Sky

January 5, 2010
In its latest round of production support, the Council of Europe's Eurimages fund awarded its maximum grant (€600,000) to the Finnish sci-fi project Iron Sky by Timo Vuorensola. The €5m project is produced by Blind Spot and Energia in Finland, in co-production with 27 Films in Germany. Sales are handled by Stealth Media in the UK. A second Finnish project was awarded €150,000: The Garbage Prince (Roskisprinsi) by Raimo O Niemi. The film is produced by Markku Flink (Periferia Productions) in co-production with Norway's Lars Løge (Flimmer Film). Both projects are supported by Nordisk Film & TV Fond.

Mamma Gógó Kicks Off New Year In Iceland

December 17, 2009
The New year for Icelandic cinema will start splendidly with the release on January 1^st of Fridrik Thor Fridriksson's much awaited new feature Mamma Gógó. Based on the director's personal life, the film tells of a filmmaker struggling with financial problems while trying to deal with his aging mother, diagnosed with Alzheimer disease. In the lead roles are Kristbjörg Kjeld and Hilmir Snaer Gudnason. The film is produced by the Oscar-winning director and Gudrun Edda Thorhannesdottir for Spellbound Productions, in co-production with Filmhuset (Norway) and Pandora (Germany), with support from the Icelandic Film Centre and Nordisk Film & TV Fond.

The Pact Works For Danish Kids

December 15, 2009
The Christmas calendar's TV series Pagten (photo, The Pact) produced by DR has worked its magic with Danish kids. Shown every day on DR1 at 19.30 since December 1 (and on DR Ramasjang at 20.00), the 24x25' series for kids aged 8+ has attracted around 800,000 to 900,000 viewers per episode. Producer Katrine Vogelsang (DR Fiktion) is hopeful the series will reach one million viewers closer to Christmas. The Pact  is directed by Jesper W Nielsen (Through a Glass Darkly). It is described as a ‘Da Vinci Code for children with a thrilling plot and mysteries that stimulate imagination and curiosity. DR Sales handles world distribution.

Cornelis, Spot and Splodge Get SFI Support

December 15, 2009
Medborgare Godafton, Amir Chamdin's portrayal of music legend Cornelis Vreeswijks, Östra Station by Simon Kaijser da Silva, Prick och Fläck Sommarpaketet (photo - Spot and Splodge Summer) by Uzi and Lotta Geffenblad and the Norwegian film Limbo by Maria Sødahl received a total of SEK15.6m production support from the Swedish Film Institute (SFI).

Medborgare Godafton which received the biggest grant (SEK7m) will be produced by Martina Stöhr for Chamdin & Stöhr Film, in co-production with Sonet Film.

Östra Station will be the feature debut of the established TV director Kaijser da Silva (The Half Hidden). Based on a script by Pernilla Oljelund, the film tells the story of two people who start a passionate affair after their lives are brought together by an accident. The project is produced by Filmlance International.

Spot and Splodge Summer features six new stories about the rabbit-like animation characters created by Uzi and Lotta Geffenblad. The kids animation series produced by Zigzag Animation was also supported by Nordisk Film & TV Fond, alongside the Norwegian film Limbo, produced by SF Norge, with Bob Film (Sweden) and Nimbus Film (Denmark).

Magne Pettersen Hired By Zentropa Norway

December 15, 2009
The promising Norwegian filmmaker Magne Pettersen (photo) will make his directorial debut for Valerie Saunders, head of Zentropa Norway. His film will be based on Joachim Førsund's debut novel Jeg kunne gått hjem blinde. Pettersen graduated in Film & Media Production from Trondheim University in 2001. He directed several shorts such as Hopp, winner of a Canal + International award in Valencia 2005.

"Magne has a deep understanding of human emotions which makes him an ideal fit for Førsund's highly intimate novel", commented Saunders. Other Norwegian filmmakers on Zentropa Norway's production line-up for 2010 include Petter Næss, Jens Lien, Morten Tyldum, Unni Straume and Anita Killi.

Christiansen And Viitala Are Shooting Stars

December 15, 2009
Norway's Anders Baasmo Christiansen and Finland's Pihla Viitala (photo) have been selected from a list of 21 promising European talents as this year's European Film Promotion's ‘Shooting Stars'. They will attend the upcoming Berlinale from February 13-15.

Christiansen who graduated from the Oslo National Academy of Arts, had his international breakthrough last year in Berlin with Rune Denstad Langlo's debut feature North. He also appeared in Arn-the Knight Templar, Christian Loe's Best Friends, Gunnar Vikene's Vegas and will be seen in 2010 in Hans Petter Moland's Bad Accounting (Regnskap).

The 27 year-old Viitala started her film career with JP Siili's Ganes (2007). She subsequently appeared in the Iceland film Reykjavik Whale Watching Massacre by Julius Kemp, the Finnish hit Hellsinki by Aleksi Mäkelä and Aku Louhimies' Tears of April. Her next appearance will be in Aleksi Salmenperä's Bad Family (Paha perhe) to be released domestically in January 21.

Photo: Marko Rantanen