News

Global sales shingle The Yellow Affair has acquired world rights to the modern love story “Power of Love” by German helmer Jonas Rothlaender, whose breakthrough movie “Fado” nabbed a Silver Hugo at Chicago and a German Film Critics’ for best feature debut.

Julia M. Müller and Luisa Leopold are producing for Germany’s StickUp Filmproduktion, in co-production with Misha Jaari and Mark Lwoff of Finland’s Bufo (“The Gravedigger’s Wife”).

The director’s sophomore feature film turns on power dynamics in a couple and the social norms expected of a male/female relationship.

Toplining the feature are Saara Kotkaniemi and Nicola Perot as Saara and Robert, both in their 30s, who set off on an extensive summer holiday in the Finnish archipelago.

Their love is a constant play with gender role clichés, yet behind the unconventional façade, they struggle with their own insecurities. Stuck on the island and influenced by its rough nature,...

Exclusive: Pti handling international distribution on Maria Blom project.

Picture Tree International (Pti) has picked up Swedish family film Monky, from prolific director Maria Blom (Nina Frisk, Dalecarlians).

Berlin-based Pti will handle international distribution on the project and have also released the first English language trailer.

Watch below or on mobile Here.

The film is produced by Patrick Ryborn for Unlimited Stories, in co-production with the Chimney Group’s Swedish and German branch, Film i Väst, Nouvago Capital and Svt, with the support from Swedish Film Institute and Nordisk Film & TV Fond.

Monky is set for a wide Swedish Christmas release at the end of this year through Nordisk Film.

Pti will launch sales on Monky at the upcoming Cannes film market. Other new titles in their lineup includes Wolfgang Petersen’s Four Against The Bank and Julian Pölsler’s Killing Stella.

Monky tells the story of Frank, 11, and his friendship with a mysterious gibbon ape that...

Exclusive: Pti handling international distribution on Maria Blom project.

Picture Tree International (Pti) has picked up Swedish family film Monky from prolific director Maria Blom (Nina Frisk, Dalecarlians).

Berlin-based Pti will handle international distribution on the project and have also released the first English language trailer.

Watch below or on mobile Here.

The film is produced by Patrick Ryborn for Unlimited Stories, in co-production with the Chimney Group’s Swedish and German branch, Film i Väst, Nouvago Capital and Svt, with the support from Swedish Film Institute and Nordisk Film & TV Fond.

Monky is set for a wide Swedish Christmas release at the end of this year through Nordisk Film.

Pti will launch sales on Monky at the upcoming Cannes film market. Other new titles in their lineup includes Wolfgang Petersen’s Four Against The Bank and Julian Pölsler’s Killing Stella.

Monky tells the story of Frank, 11, and his friendship with a mysterious gibbon ape that...

Exclusive: New Europe Film Sales will sell the Iceland-Denmark-Poland co-production.

Iceland’s Netop Films, Denmark’s Profile Pictures and Poland’s Madants, a trio who previously collaborated on Icelandic hit Rams, are reuniting to co-produce Under The Tree, the new film from Hafsteinn Gunnar Sigurdsson, whose credits include Paris Of the North and Either Way.

The film starts shooting in Iceland on July 19 for six weeks.

The Nordisk TV & Film Fond has now confirmed backing of $156,400 (Nok 1.3m) for the $2.2m (€2m) budget. Other backers are The Icelandic Film Centre, Danish Film Institute and Polish Film Institute.

Under The Tree has been pre-sold to Sena for Icelandic distribution and to Ruv for free TV in Iceland. Scanbox has acquired Scandinavian rights. New Europe Film Sales, which also teamed with Netop on Icelandic hit Rams, will handle international sales.

“Grimar [Netop Films producer Grimar Jónsson] and I had an amazing journey with Rams, so when he approached me with a new project it was...

Iceland’s Oscar submission takes top prize in Lübeck; Edward Snowden gives video introduction to Citizenfour at Dok Leipzig; arson attack hits Lgbt screening in Kyiv.

Baldvin Baldvin Zophoníasson’s Life In A Fishbowl was the big winner at this year’s Nordic Film Days in Lübeck, taking home the Ndr Film Prize, worth $15,655 (€12,500)

Lead actor Thorsteinn Bachmann accepted the award in person from the five-person jury, which said it was “a touching and hopeful film about seemingly hopeless situations”.

The co-production between Iceland, Finland, Sweden and the Czech Republic is Iceland’s submission for the Best Foreign-Language Film Oscar and is being handled internationally by Films Boutique.

Special mentions were also given to Hisham Zaman’s Letter To The King (Norway) and J-p Valkeapää’s They Have Escaped (Finland) by the jury comprising actors Victoria Trauttmansdorff and Niklas Osterloh, producer Christoph Thoke, Ndr commissioning editor Diana Schulte-Kellinghaus and Finnish film-maker Kirsi Marie Liimatainen.

Festival-goers voted for...

Russian feminist punk rock protest group Pussy Riot is on the poster and Russia is in focus at Sweden’s 37th Göteborg International Film Festival (Jan 24-Feb 3) – the largest showcase in the Nordic countries.

The selection of 20 films “is both artistically strong and takes up current subjects, such as freedom of speech and distribution of resources,” explained the festival’s artistic director Marit Kapla.

The focus includes Russian director Aleksej German’s Hard to Be a God (Trudno byt Bogom), completed by his wife Svetlana Karmelita and son after German’s death.

Taisija Krugovykh and Vasilij Bogatov’s Pussy versus Putin, about Pussy Riot’s action, will be introduced by the directors, as will Alexander Gentelev’s Putin’s Games.

Unspooling almost 500 films from 76 countries at 25 venues, adding seminars, concerts, talk-shows and exhibtions, the festival – which last year registered 132,447 admissions – will again honour Best Nordic Film with a Dragon Award and Sek 1 million ($150,000) cash, this year from...