Nordic Talents 2019 Pitch Competition Unveiled

PRESS RELEASE: 24.06.19
The 15 projects to be pitched by 21 Nordic film graduates will compete for the NOK 250,000 Nordic Talents Pitch Prize and the NOK 50,000 Special Mention Prize.

The National Film School of Denmark will be out in force with six projects. The other film schools represented are The Animation Workshop in Viborg, Denmark with three projects, Valand Academy-University of Gothenburg and Stockholm Academy of Dramatic Arts with two projects each, as well as ELO Helsinki Film School and Norway’s Westerdals with one project each.

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Promising talents set to pitch include Nitesh Anjaan, winner of the Audience Award-Best Mid-Length Documentary at Hot Docs 2018 for Dreaming of Murakami, Christian Bengtson, Robert nominated in 2016 for his short film Shiva. Shahab Mehrabi, winner Best Swedish Short Film in Göteborg 2018 for Götaplatsen #flerochfler, and Katarina Lundquist, BAFTA short-listed for her animated short film Forget-Me-Not.

Petri Kemppinen, CEO at Nordisk Film & TV Fond said: “This year`s selection is really diverse. We have graduation students across all the five Nordic countries that bring a huge amount of fresh consciousness in the varied themes they wish to develop. I am really looking forward to two enjoyable days with them in September.”

The 2019 jury consists of director May el-Toukhy (Denmark), producer and director of AVEK Ulla Simonen (Finland), producer and managing director of Netop Films Grímar Jonsson (Iceland), film and TV commissioner at the Norwegian Film Institute Ståle Stein Berg (Norway) with a fifth person to be confirmed.

Other highlights at Nordic Talents 2019 include: 

• Masterclass with the multi-awarded Icelandic writer/director Benedikt Erlingsson on Thursday September 5, moderated by Silje Riise Næss, film commissioner at the Danish Film Institute. 
• a Producers’ Pitch to be moderated by Noemi Ferrer, Head of International at the Danish Film Institute.   

This year a reduced number of Nordic producers (12 against 20 in 2018) will be invited to pitch during a dinner at the National Film School of Denmark on Wednesday September 4.

Sign up NOW to the exclusive Nordic Producers’ Pitch by contacting Nordic Talents Project Manager Ann-Sophie W. Birkenes (ann-sophie@nordiskfilmogtvfond.com) with the name of the participant and an answer to the following question: What can my company offer for a young Nordic Talent?

Producers have until August 7 to register.

To register for Nordic Talents and for further information CLICK HERE.

Full list of 2019 Nordic Talents pitch projects: 

• Ayda Queen of Höglunda Resort (fiction film)
  Valand Academy, Göteborg Pitched by Lisa Meyer, director and producer (graduation film Melanie) Six years old Kurdish Ayda moves in to a hostel in Sweden with her family.
• Better I Go Suffer (documentary film)
  The National School of Denmark Pitched by Patricia Bbaale Bandak, director (graduation film Villa Villekulla) By confronting my worst nightmares I will get to my own history. 
• Downs of the Dead (fiction film)
  Wesderdals Pitched by Even Husby Grødahl, director (graduation film Downs of the Dead) and Jesper Breen Frilseth, scriptwriter (graduation film Downs of the Dead). Their syndrome may be down, but their hopes are up.
• Fast & Frightening – working title (documentary film)
  ELO Helsinki Film School Pitched by Marja Pihlaja, producer (graduation film Untitled/burned rubber on asphalt). Fast and Frightening is a creative documentary about mid-life crisis, motorcycles and menopause.
• Freya (TV drama series) Stockholm Academy of Dramatic Arts Pitched by Nilas Lindgren, scriptwriter (graduation film Polaris) An edgy youth series with the potential to be hopelessly dark. It won’t be.
• Hard Drive (fiction film)
  The National Film School of Denmark Pitched by Mads Mengel, director (graduation film For Juliane) and Christian Bengtson, scriptwriter (graduation film A treatise of the human animal n°38: Heartache) Would you relive your past to reshape your future?
   
• Lucky (hybrid fiction) The National Film School of Denmark Pitched by Nitesh Anjaan, director (graduation film Night Bus) Lucky is a modern tragedy about human exile and our longing for a better tomorrow.
• Project RIP (animated series)
  The Animation Workshop Viborg Pitched by director/cinematographer Katarina Lundquist (graduation film Forget-Me-Not) and cinematographer/art director Tobias Dahl Orderud (graduation film Rêverie). After dying, two women have to confront the truths and tragedies of their previous lives.
• Queen Ingrid (TV drama series)
  The National Film School of Denmark Pitched by Katrín Björgvinsdóttir, director (graduation film Queen Ingrid) and Mie Skjoldemose, scriptwriter (graduation film Queen Ingrid) Your mom lied. You’re not special. 
• Sofa Surfer (TV drama series)
  The National Film School of Denmark Pitched by Denise Kræmer, scriptwriter (graduation film Below the Waves, Above the Clouds) Skating for a brighter future, but the past catches up.
• Soul for a Hot Dog – working title (animated series) The Animation Workshop, Viborg Pitched by Myra Hild, director (graduation film Of Aska) A mysterious hot dog vendor trades fast food for souls in the late city night. 
• Tales of Zale (animated series)
  The Animation Workshop, Viborg Pitched by Sif Savery, director (graduation film Of Aska). Throughout all kinds of hardships, life always rises from the ashes.
• The Beetle Hunters (documentary series)
  The National Film School of Denmark Pitched by Assa Rytter, director (graduation film Manifest). We’ve lost touch with nature, but fear not. The Beetle Hunters are on the case! 
• The Trial of a Chameleon (documentary film)
  Valand Academy, Göteborg. Pitched by Shahab Mehrabi, director/editor (graduation film The Trip to Istanbul) and Edvina Koda Sander, producer (graduation film Grown-Up Men & Me) A chameleon in a dark room, crying and trying to find its own colours.
• Woman Occupied (fiction film) Stockholm Academy of Dramatic Arts Pitched by Amanda Björk, producer (graduation film To Discharge) and Kajsa Haidl, producer (graduation film To Discharge) How can you be sane in a sick world?