Shorta is the first collaboration for Hviid and Ølholm who have already made a mark individually in directing and screenwriting. 

A graduate from the Super 16 Danish film school, Hviid has received several awards for his short film Half Man and was episodic director on the series Follow the Money season 3.

Ølholm studied screenwriting at the National Film School of Denmark and wrote the screenplay for the three acclaimed Antboy kids films. He also wrote the script for Fenar Ahmad’s first film Flow (Ækte vare) and Jacob Bitsch’s Letters for Amina. 

Shorta (which means police in Arabic) is a nerve-wracking thriller, filmed in real time in a fictitious ghetto near Copenhagen. In the starring roles are Jacob Lohmann (Out of Tune, The Rain, That Time of Year) and Simon Sears (Ride Upon the Storm) as two police officers, on a routine patrol in the Svalegården ghetto, when the news of the death of Talib Ben Hassi (19), who was held in police custody, suddenly arrives to the neighbourhood.

The two men must suddenly fight for their lives as the youth from the ghetto rise in anger and want revenge.

Co-stars include Dulfi Al-Jabouri (Northwest, Valhalla), Özlem Saglanmak (Greyzone, Follow the Money 3, Sons of Denmark) and newcomers Tarek Zayat, Issa Khatab, Abdelmalik Dhaflaoui and Arian Kashef.

The film is produced by Morten Kaufmann and Signe Leick Jensen of Toolbox Film, with support from the Danish Film Institute and Creative Europe. Scanbox Entertainment handles domestic distribution.

The national release is set for October 22, 2020