The Danish director will direct and executive produce the ambitious series adapted from Karen Blixen’s 1937 memoirs.

The English language returnable series will be produced by David Heyman Television and NBCUniversal International Studios. It will focus on the seventeen years that the celebrated Danish author spent in the Ngong Hills of Kenya during the last decades of the British Empire, a universe memorably brought to the screens by Sydney Pollack in his Oscar winning film Out of Africa.

Susanne Bier said she has always been fascinated by Blixen who wrote the best-selling novel under the pseudonym Isak Dinesen. “Karen Blixen defied the male-dominated world at every turn. Despite heavy resistance, she single-handedly ran her farm in Africa. She felt a greater kinship with the indigenous Kenyan population than any of her class peers. This opportunity to engage with her enduring legacy is a great challenge and even greater privilege.”

Producer David Heyman, known for the Harry Potter film franchise said: "'I had a farm in Africa' is Blixen’s most famous line: she was a survivor, unpredictable and non-conformist, and a determined explorer. We are beyond delighted that Susanne Bier has such a passionate attachment to Karen’s story: with such critically acclaimed work in both film and television, she is the ideal director to transport us to Africa through the eyes of Denmark’s most celebrated writer. And of course, the long form series offers us the chance to explore not only Karen’s world, but also the perspective of the Kenyans she encounters.”