News

Göteborg-based Cinenic Film, headed by Annika Hellström and Erika Malmgren, has a flawless track record in backing debut directors with global breakthrough potential.

Their roster takes in Ísold Uggadóttir (“And Breathe Normally”), Gorki Glaser-Müller (“Children of the Enemy”) and most recently Christoffer Sandler, whose fiction debut “So Damn Easy Going” opened the last Göteborg Film Festival and is now heading off to the Norwegian Film Festival in Haugesund (Aug. 20-26).

Cinenic will also be in Haugesund with its latest young filmmaking recruits, Angelika Abramovitch and Minka Jakerson and their respective feature debuts “The Braid” and “The Soft Skin,” to be pitched at the Nordic Co-production Market, part of Haugesund confab New Nordic Films (Aug. 23-26).

The Crimean-born Swede Abramovitch competed in Clermont Ferrand with her graduation film from Stockholm’s Academy of the Arts “Catcave Hysteria” and was picked for the Future Frames next generation showcase in Karlovy Vary in July.

Whenever we see them, the seven contested children at the heart of Gorki Glaser-Müller’s taut, highly emotive “Children of the Enemy” have their eyes blurred over, to help protect their identities. It’s a strangely reassuring element in a film that at certain moments may be watched through nail-bitten fingers: If the seven grandkids of Patricio Galvez, the tenacious Chilean-Swedish musician fighting to get them out of Syria, need such protections, it must mean that they are still alive — an assumption anything but guaranteed by their pitiably malnourished state and the precariousness of life in the notorious Al-Hol detention camp where they are being kept.

They are the orphaned daughters and sons of Patricio’s daughter Amanda, who became radicalized and was married off to Michael Skråmo, Sweden’s most notorious Isis convert. Together with their (then) four children, Michael and Amanda moved to Syria against Patricio’s entreaties,...

Copenhagen documentary film festival Cph:dox sees the world premiere of “Children of the Enemy,” which captures the journey of a Swedish-Chilean man to a Syrian prison camp to rescue his grandchildren, after their parents – members of the Islamic State terrorist group – are killed. Director Gorki Glaser-Müller spoke to Variety about the film, and his next projects, a Chilean thriller centering on questionable adoptions, and an interactive virtual reality experience with the American dancer and choreographer Bobbi Jene Smith.

Amanda, the daughter of bohemian musician Patricio Galvez, married a Swedish Muslim convert, and the two of them travelled with their children in 2014 to join Isis in Syria to fight for the Caliphate. Both parents were killed in 2019, and their seven children were transferred to the Kurdish-run al-Hol prison camp in north-east Syria. There are up to 22,000 foreign children of at least 60 nationalities in Syrian camps, according to Unicef, but Sweden, like many European countries,...

Copenhagen Intl. Documentary Film Festival, better known as Cph:dox, has unveiled its full program, which includes the screenings of 180 films, interactive art, and 40 live debates and talks with artists, experts and opinion-makers.

The festival offers new films from a number of leading directors. Werner Herzog, Gianfranco Rosi, Shelly Silver, Errol Morris, Ulrike Ottinger, Spike Lee and Sergei Losnitza all participate in the festival with their films, as does Muppet master Frank Oz, who is back with “In & Of Itself.”

As previously reported, Marina Abramovic, David Byrne, and Slavoj Zizek will feature in the discussion program “An Evening With.”

The digital festival will be available on Cph:dox’s digital platform from April 21 to May 5. From May 6-12, a selection of films will be screened in movie theaters in Copenhagen.

Tine Fischer, CEO of Cph:dox, said: “The lineup includes films focusing on new platform economies, the dominance of tech giants, new democratic movements,...

Award-winning filmmakers and a documentary from ‘The Act Of Killing’ producer Signe Byrge Sørensen among those selected.

Copenhagen International Documentary Film Festival (Cph:Dox) has revealed its line-up of competition titles for 2021, set to run April 21 to May 2.

The programme includes films that focus on the dominance of tech giants, new democratic movements, decolonization and climate change among other topics.

The competition programmes consist of 64 titles with 47 world premieres, nine international premieres and six European premieres. In total, 58% of the titles (37 films) are directed by one or more women. This increases to 66% when including films co-directed by male and female directors.

A wide range of Scandinavian films, including the politically-charged Danish drama “Shorta,” the supernatural Icelandic drama “Lamb” with Noomi Rapace, and the Finnish-Iranian refugee tale “Any Day Now,’ were some of the highlights at this year’s Nordic Film Market.

They were presented, along with 13 other films in post-production, as part of the Work-in-Progress section. Half of the lineup was made up of first features, notably “Lamb” from Iceland’s Valdimar Johannsson, “Any Day Now” by Finnish-Iranian helmer Hamy Ramezan and “Shorta,” by Denmark’s Fredrik Louis Hviid and Anders Ølholm.

This 21st edition of the Nordic Film Market, which also boasts the popular Drama TV Vision conference, saw record participation with 450 attendees from 25 countries. These included more than 37 sales agents from the Nordics, France, Poland, Germany, Israel and the U.K., among others, as well as 67 festival programmers and 47 buyers. Cia Edström, the head of the Nordic Film Market,...

New films by Thomas Vinterberg, Charlotte Blom and Jonas Poher Rasmussen will be presented at the Goteborg Film Festival’s Nordic Film Market. In total, 16 films in post-production will be presented to industry participants in at the Nordic Film Market as part of the Work-in-Progress section. Half of the lineup is made up of first features.

Cia Edström, the head of the Nordic Film Market, said the industry showcase is seeing a big increase in participation this year. As many as 381 attendees from 25 countries so far have signed up for the event, including 37 sales agents, 67 festival programmers and 47 buyers. Edström noted the breadth and diversity of films and projects in this year’s program.

Vinterberg’s next film, “Another Round” is a modern drama starring Mads Mikkelsen. Represented in international markets by TrustNordisk, the film follows a group of high school teachers who embark on an experiment to be intoxicated...

Films includes Juan Andrés Arango’s X-Quinientos and William Vega’s Sal.Scroll down for full list of projects

A total of 14 projects have been selected for the third Europe-Latin America Co-Production Forum, which will run Sept 22-24 during the San Sebastian Film Festival (Sept 19-27).

The films were chosen from a total of 181 projects submitted from 22 countries, including Argentina, Colombia and Sweden.

The projects include Sal, William Vega’s follow-up to Cannes Directors’ Fortnight title La Sirga. It will be produced by Andrea Estrada of Contravia Films with co-producers CineSud Promotion and Bredok Film Production.

The road movie centres on a man who takes a motorbike across Colombia to reach a village where his father was killed. After an accident en route, he does some soul searching while recovering from his injuries.

Another project is X Quinientos, set in Mexico, Canada and Colombia, and featuring three intertwining stories turn on individuals. Produced out of...