New Board At NRK

June 14, 2010
William Nygaard, (photo) former managing director of Achehoug, one of Norway's leading publishing houses, has been appointed Chairman of the Board at Norway's public broadcaster NRK. The announcement was made last Thursday by Norway's Culture Minister Anniken Huitfeldt. Aside from Nygaard, the new NRK Board consists of Alexandra Bech Gjørv, vice-chair, Steinar Gudmund Ness, Gunnar Flikke, Sif Vik, and Audhild Gregoriusdotter Rotevatn. The Board substitutes are Long Litt Woon and Harald Schjelderup.

NonStop Picks Second Magic Silver

June 9, 2010
Stockholm based NonStop Sales is going to handle world sales on Arne Lindtner Næss's (photo) Magic Silver 2, a sequel in 3D to the Norwegian family movie Magic Silver by Roar Uthaug & Katarina Launing that sold over 350,000 tickets in Norway last year. The sequel is again set high up in the Blue Mountain, where young queen Bluerose finds it more and more difficult to live within the boundaries of the Blue Gnome community. The film produced by Jørgen Storm Rosenberg and Lasse Greve Alsos will be ready for Christmas 2011.

Football Is God On DR

June 10, 2010
Ole Bendtzen's documentary film Football is God (previously known as The Believers) exploring the thin boundaries between faith and football, is going to be aired on DR2 Dokumania slot this Tuesday on the eve of the World Cup 2010 kick off. Produced by Final Cut, Bendtzen portrays the Argentinean football club Boca Juniors who have founded the ‘Maradona Church' - also known as the Hand of God Church - to worship their football idol Diego Maradona. Football is God was co-produced by Finland's Making Movies. Apart from Denmark's public broadcaster DR, the film air on SVT in Sweden, VPRO in Holland, SBS in Australia and IBA in Israel.

Branagh Collects BAFTA For Wallander

June 8, 2010
UK star actor Kenneth Branagh (photo) won a BAFTA for Best Leading Actor in Wallander 2, produced by Sweden's Yellow Bird for the BBC, together with Left Bank Pictures in the UK and Kenneth Branagh. Britain's top television awards were announced on Sunday evening.  The three feature length TV films based on Henning Mankell best-selling novels Faceless Killers, The Fifth Woman and The Man Who Smiled screened on BBC One last January with an average six million viewers. They will also be available on DVD in Sweden this autumn. Last year, the first UK Wallander series with Branagh in the lead scooped a BAFTA award for Best Drama.

Alfredson Makes Another Crime With Rapace

June 7, 2010
Daniel Alfredson, the director of Stieg Larsson's Millennium 2 and 3 is going to bring another crime best-seller to Swedish screens. The Beast (Odjuret) written by Anders Roslund and Börge Hellström will have Ola Rapace (husband to Noomi Rapace, star of Millenium Trilogy) in the lead according to press agency TT Spektra. The book is the first of five crime novels by Roslung & Hellström acquired by SVT. "Ever since I read the first book, I've dreamt of seeing it on TV", said Stefan Baron, head of programming for SVT. Over 17 countries have acquired rights to the novel. Filming will start on September 13. SVT will air it in the winter 2011-2012.

Nordic TV Series Compete In Monte-Carlo - June 6-10

June 3, 2010
Sweden's Millennium is competing for Best mini-series and Noomi Rapace for Best Actress; Johan Falk has 4 nominations in the Drama category for Best International and Best European Producer (Joackim Hansson), Best Actors (Joel Kinnaman and Jens Jultén) and Best Actress (Meliz Karlge). Denmark's The Killing 2 (Forbrydelsen 2) is competing in the same categories with Piv Bernth (DR) as Best International and European Producer, Nicolas Bro as Best Actor and Sofie Gråbøl as Best Actress. In the Comedy series category, TV2 Denmark's Park Road (Lækervej) is running for Best International and European producers (Mie Andreasen Tomas Hostrup-Larsen Rasmus Thorsen), Henrik Prip and Christian Tafdrup for Best Actors and Søs Egelind and Anette Støvelbæk for Best actresses.

MEDIA Backing Major Nordic TV Dramas

June 2, 2010
The three major Nordic TV dramas supported by Nordisk Film & TV Fond have just received additional funding from the MEDIA Programme. The two crime series Those Who Kill (photo, 6 x 90' and 12 x 42') produced by Denmark's Miso Film and The Bridge (10 x 60') produced by Sweden's Flmlance International have received the maximum grant of €400,000 each. The Sacrifice (4 x 58' and 2 x 90') produced by Sweden's Bob Film was awarded €200,000. The three TV Dramas will be available in 2011. Yellow Bird's German production arm was awarded €400,000 towards the television adaptation of Henning Mankell's best-seller The Chinese Man.

DFI Launches Carl Dreyer Website

June 1, 2010
The Danish Film Institute has launched the new website entirely dedicated to the legendary Danish filmmaker Carl Theodor Dreyer. Forty two years after his death, the director of La passion de Jeanne d'Arc is still an inspiration for contemporary filmmakers both in Denmark and abroad who can now explore the extent of his work through a wide collection of original materials (stills, posters, film clips, scripts, personal letters- available on the website. The launch of http://www.carlthdreyer.dk/ was introduced last week by Danish Culture Minister Per Stig Møller.
Photo: Rie Nissen

Straume Brings Faith To Zentropa

May 31, 2010 
Norwegian filmmaker Unni Straume -(photo, Music for Weddings and Funerals) has teamed up with Oscar-nominated Polish scriptwriter Krzysztof Piesiewicz (The Decalogue) to direct Faith for Zentropa Norway. Faith tells the story of 20-year-old Madelaine, who moves from her small hometown on the western coast of Norway to Bergen in search of her biological father. Once she finds him, Lennart denies fatherhood, but nonetheless feels a connection to Madelaine. As their lives intertwine, we come to understand the dark secrets of their past. Valerie Saunders, produces for Zentropa Norway.

New Kids Commissioner At DFI

May 27, 2010
Rasmus Horskjær (photo) has been hired by the Danish Film Institute as the new feature film Commissioner, with special focus on Children and Youth films. He will replace Thomas Kragh as of September 1, 2010. A trained journalist, Horskjær has been working for DR's youth editorial department since 1998 as scriptwriter and director of comedy classics such as Banjos Likørstue or Jul i Verdensrummet.

Easy Money Opens In Norway

May 26, 2010
Daniel Espinosa's slick thriller Easy Money (Snabba Cash) is opening in Norway this Friday through Nordisk Film Distribution. The Swedish hit produced by Tre Vänner is still playing in Sweden, Finland and Iceland.

Celluloid Picks Up Ninja Troops

May 25, 2010
Thomas Cappelen Malling's feature debut Norwegian Ninja (Kommandør Treholt & Ninjatroppen) was picked up in Cannes for international distribution by Paris-based Celluloid Dreams for its new genre label Celluloid Nightmares, co-run with LA based XYZ Films. The action film is inspired by the true life story of Arne Treholt, a Norwegian diplomat who was convicted of espionage on behalf of Russia and Irak. The film was produced by Eric Vogel (Tordenfilm) with support from the Norwegian Film Institute, Film Fond Fuzz and Nordisk Film & TV Fond. Euforia Film will release it in Norway on August 13, 2010.

Photo: Ellen Ugelstad/Tordenfilm

 

SF Signs DVD Deal With Sony

May 24, 2010
Svensk Filmindustri (SF) has just inked a deal with Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (SPHE) to release the US major's products on the DVD and Blu-ray rental market in the Nordic region. "The rental business is still a vigorous and important part of the home entertainment market in the Nordic region and we are proud to be SPHE's appointed partner in this area," said SF CEO Rasmus Ramstad. The agreement will take full effect from October 1^st 2010.

Nordic Star Trio Back Moomin Troll

May 20, 2010
The Moomin troll was in great company in Cannes this weekend with Nordic stars Stellan Skarsgård, Helena Mattson and Mads Mikkelsen who came to support the launch of Filmkompaniet Alpha's Moomins and the Comet Chase. The Finnish stereoscopic 3D animation film by Maria Lindberg had a full house at its world premiere on Friday May 14. The film will be released domestically by FS Film on August 8. Nordisk Film will open the film in Scandinavian rights and Myndform in Iceland. The film's producer Tom Carpelan said a second Moomin film based on the Polish TV series from the 1970s will start production in the autumn.

Photo: Noomi Rapace with Mads Mikkelsen in Cannes - Reuters Pictures

GIFF Nordic Award Upped To SEK 1 Million

May 19, 2010
The Dragon Award for Best Nordic Film at the Göteborg International Film Festival (GIFF) will reach a record SEK 1 million (around €105,000). The announcement was made in Cannes by the festival's artistic director Marit Kaplan and managing director Åsa Bernlo (photo). This substantial cash award raised by the City of Göteborg, Western Götaland county and private sponsors is one of the highest in the world. The previous cash award was SEK100,000. The next GIFF will take place between January 28 and February 2, 2011. GIFF held its annual beach party in Cannes on Monday, co-hosted by the Norwegian International Film Festival in Haugesund, Nordisk Film & TV Fond and the Nordic Council of Ministers.