Quality Films Premiere In Small Town Sweden

March 22, 2010
Eight quality films including Hans Petter Moland's A Somewhat Gentle Man (photo) will have an exclusive premiere in a dozen smaller Swedish cities, prior to the films' national opening, as part of an industry initiative backed by the Swedish Film Institute.

‘Hela Sveriges Filmfest 2010' is the first event of its kind put together by the Swedish association of film distributors and cinema owners, with the SFI. The goal is to widen the release of quality films outside the major cities. A package of eight films will tour in 12 Swedish cities over three weeks in April, from the 8^th until the 25th.

NonStop Entertainment Sweden's managing director Jakob Abrahamsson is one of the initiators of the event, coordinated by Charlotte Wallström. "We chose films from independent distributors, than were available for an exclusive premiere. We hope this pilot initiative will be successful and will become an annual event," said Wallström.

Apart from A Somewhat Gentle Man (Nordisk Film will release it on May 14), other films in the package include France's Partir starring Kristin Scott Thomas (NonStop Entertainment) and the French/Belgian Mr Nobody by Jaco van Dormael (Pan Vision).

Lærkevej Sold To France

March 22, 2010
LevelK has sold the two first seasons of Danish hit TV series Lærkevej to Family Films in France. The deal was confirmed by LevelK CEO Tine Klint who closed the agreement with French distributor Grégory Boujnah. "The series is very Danish but I'm sure it will appeal to French audiences too. It has a certain feminine touch which can be shared with men and it is bursting with humour and originality," he said. Cosmo Film produced an initial 10x42' episode series for TV2 Denmark. Following the positive ratings, another 12 episodes are currently shooting. The series was supported by the Danish Film Institute's Public Service Fund and Nordisk Film & TV Fond.

Steam Of Life Opens In Finland

 March 22, 2010
Joonas Berghäll and Mika Hotakainen's documentary film Steam of Life (Miesten vuoro) is coming out on Finnish screens this Friday under Nordisk Film's banner. The film that captures the soul of Finnish men, filmed in different saunas across Finland, was recently awarded the Risto Jarva Prize and the Audience Award at the Tampere Film Festival. It was produced by Oktober in co-production with Sweden's Röde Orm Film, with support among others from Nordisk Film & TV Fond. Film Transit recently inked a sales deal with ARTE who will broadcast Steam of Life in Germany and France.

SVT Launches Dox With Videocracy

March 22, 2010
Some of the world's best documentary films will be shown on Swedish public broadcaster SVT1 each Tuesday at 22:00 from March 30 until June 1^st. The Dox season will feature a total of ten documentaries such as Sweden's award-winning and controversial films Videocracy by Erik Gandini, Bananas! by Fredrik Gertten, and Denmark's Blekingegadebanden by Anders Riis-Hansen, all supported by Nordisk Film & TV Fond. The SVT1 Dox season will continue in the autumn with other high-profile thought-provoking films such as the Oscar winners The Cove and Man on Wire.

Änglavakt Lands On Swedish Screens

March 16, 2010
Johan Brisinger's second feature film Änglavakt (Among Us) is coming out on Swedish screens this Friday, released by SF. Ernst (Michael Nyqvist) and Cecilia (Izabella Scorupco) live a happy life until a dramatic event turns their life upside down. When everything is at its darkest, they meet the stranger Walter (Tchéky Karyo) who changes their life in a fantastic way. The film is produced by Drama Svecia and Sonet Film with support from Nordisk Film & TV Fond.

To see trailer, click here.

Tempo Doc Award To Videocracy

March 16, 2010
Eric Gandini's Videocracy was awarded the top award last Saturday at Stockholm's Tempo Documentary Festival, the largest festival of its kind in Sweden. Videocracy was among seven Swedish docs vying for the SEK75,000 cash award. The ATMO production supported by Nordisk Film & TV Fond was launched in the US last month by Lorber Films.

Danish Emmy Award Winners Make The Eagle Jit

March 16, 2010
DR producer Sven Clausen and writing duo Mai Brostrøm and Peter Thorsboe who were recently awarded a prestigious International Emmy award for the TV series Livvagterne (The Protectors) have teamed up with Germany's ZDF to produce the English language TV series The Eagle Jit.

Brostrøm and Thorsboe will borrow some elements from The Protectors, as well as from their other Emmy award-winning crime series Unit One (Rejseholdet) The Eagle (Ørnen), such as the character Leon Hartvig played by Thomas Gabrielsson (photo).

In the 8x60' The Eagle Jit, Gabrielsson is the head of the European Joint Investigation Team (JIT). The first season will be shot in Copenhagen. Clausen initiated the project with his German colleague from ZDF Peter Nadermann. Network Movies in Germany is producing in collaboration with ZDF and DR, and other European partners (including Sweden and Norway) are expected to join them.

Photo: Mike Kollöffel, DR

Norwegians Get To Check Fares' Balls

March 16, 2010
The Swedish hit Balls (Farsan) by Josef Fares is coming out on Norwegian screens this Friday, through Sandrew Metronome. The comedy produced by Memfis Film with support from Nordisk Film & TV Fond was still number three last weekend at the Swedish Top Ten, after five weeks on national release.

To see trailer, click here.

Bornedal's Evil Wins In Fantasporto

March 16, 2010
Ole Bornedal's Deliver Us from Evil was awarded a Special Jury Award at the 30^th Fantasporto Film Festival in Portugal. This is the second major award for the Danish thriller from an Iberian festival, with the Best Film Prize collected at the Sitges Film Festival at the end of 2009. The film was produced by Thura Film with support from Nordisk Film & TV Fond.

 

 

Tattoo Girl Seduces UK Audiences And Critics

March 16, 2010
Niels Arden Oplev's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo entered the UK Top ten chart last weekend at number six, grossing over £570,000 from 114 screens for Momentum Distribution, according to Screendaily. The first Millennium film adaptation was backed by very good reviews in the UK press. Ratings went from three stars (The Independent, The Guardian, The Financial Times) to five stars (The Sun, Empire magazine). The film produced by Yellow Bird, with support - among others - from Nordisk Film & TV Fond, will open this Friday in the US via Music Box Films. In Sweden, the film has sold 365,000 copies on DVD, making it the biggest selling Swedish title ever.

DFI Backs Award-winning Female Directors

March 10, 2010
Birgitte Stærmose (photo) and Heidi Maria Faisst have just received production support from the Danish Film Institute for their new projects Dagen derpå and Den der hvisker respectively.

Stærmose won a Special Mention at the last Berlinale for her documentary film Ønskebørn (Out of Love). Her feature debut is a thriller set in a hotel where staff members and guests are both actors and witnesses of a murder. The story is based on an original script by the established Kim Fupz Aakeson. The European cast includes Danish talents David Dencik, Mikael Birkkjær, Trine Dyrholm and Stine Stengade, Magnus Krepper (Sweden), Ariadna Gil (Spain), Luan Jaha (Kosovo) and Leon Lucev (Croatia). The project, currently shooting, is produced by Alphaville Pictures Copenhagen.

Faisst received the FIPRESCI award and Church of Sweden award in 2009 for her debut feature The Blessing. Her new project Den du hvisker, based on her own script, tells of a teenage girl and her search for the unattainable love of her mother. Meta Louise Foldager produces for Zentropa. The film will start shooting on March 19.

Strong Norwegians Presence In Rouen

March 9, 2010
With three films in competition (North, Upperdog and Shooting the Sun), Norway has a strong presence at the 23^rd Nordic Film Festival unspooling from March 10- 21 in the former Viking city of Rouen in France.

Rune Denstad Langlo's North is being platformed in Rouen, as part of the film's opening across France (via Bodega Films) on Wednesday. Other Nordic films among the eight titles competing in Rouen include Iceland's White Night Wedding, Denmark's Applause and Finland's Letters to Father Jacob, all supported by Nordisk Film & TV Fond. Nicolas Winding Refn will be on hand to introduce Valhalla Rising (opening in France on Wednesday as well), screening as part of a tribute to him.

Although absent from the main competition programme, Sweden has three films in the Panorama section: the documentary films The Queen and I and Videocracy as well as The King of Ping Pong. Eager to continue to strengthen local audiences' taste for Nordic films, festival programmer Isabelle Duault has added a wider range of themes to this year's film event. Those include Nordic choirs, resistance and war films, Finnish, Norwegian and Icelandic docs, and kids' movies. Around 35,000 visitors attend the festival each year.

Ingjerd Egeberg Heads 2010 Amanda Jury

March 9, 2010
Norwegian actress Ingjerd Egeberg (photo) will be heading the jury of the annual national film award, the ‘Amandas' set to take place in Haugesund on August 20. Egeberg has appeared in many theatre plays, TV series and feature films such as Vibeke' Ringen's Maria's Men, Pål Jackman's Detector. She also has a part in Petter Næss' Maskeblomstfamilen set to open in the autumn. The Amanda awards takes place during the Norwegian International Film Festival in Haugesund (August 18-26), headed by Gunnar Johan Løvvik.

Nordisk Film Denmark Doubles Digital Screens

March 9, 2010
As Avatar shows no sign of fatigue on the Danish Top ten (number three after 12 weeks with over one million admissions), Nordisk Film Cinemas, the largest cinema chain in Denmark, has announced that they have increased their investment in digital technology to double their existing 3D screen capacity from nine to 18 screens within the year. Early February, Arts Alliance Media signed a deal with Denmark Digital, a group of 31 Danish independent cinemas, to convert around 50 screens to digital.

Arn Invades Danish TV Screens

March 9, 2010
The epic series Arn based on Jan Guillou's best-selling trilogy, is going to enter Danish homes this Sunday evening at 20.00. DR1 will programme the Scandinavian series by Peter Flinth over a six week period, on prime time Danish television, a slot most recently filled by the Danish hit series Livvagterne (The Protectors). The Arn series was produced by SF with support from Nordisk Film & TV Fond.