News

European Film Promotion has selected 20 rising European producers for the 26th edition of its Producers on the Move networking program, which runs during the Cannes Film Festival. Variety is the program’s main media partner.

The following producers are taking part: Blerina Hankollari (Albania), Andi G. Hess (Austria), Géraldine Sprimont (Belgium), Magdelena Ilieva (Bulgaria), Tamara Babun Zovko (Croatia), Daniel Mühlendorph (Denmark), Lionel Massol (France), Fred Burle (Germany), Claudia Sümeghy (Hungary), Deirdre Levins (Ireland), Francesca Andreoli (Italy), Kristele Pudane (Latvia), Klementina Remeikaitė (Lithuania), Vincent Quénault (Luxembourg), Bojana Radulović (Montenegro), Janne Hjeltnes (Norway), Agnieszka Wasiak (Poland), Carla Fotea (Romania), Eliza Jones (Sweden) and Thomas Reichlin (Switzerland).

They will take part in sessions designed to foster international co-productions, boost the exchange of experiences and help create new professional networks. Pre-festival kick-off online gatherings, which already started yesterday and are going to run until April 30, offer one-to-one speed meetings, roundtables and pitching sessions. All...

Denmark has submitted Nikolaj Arcel’s The Promised Land as its candidate for Best International Feature Film at the 96th Academy Awards.

The epic historic drama stars Mads Mikkelsen as the real-life Ludvig von Kahlen, a former soldier who tries to make his fortune by taming the then wild and lawless heath of the Danish Jutland peninsula, so it could be turned over to cultivation following a declaration by King Frederik V.

The film world premiered at Venice and then headed to Telluride and Toronto, is currently screening at the San Sebastian International Film Festival, and will next screen at the Zurich Film Festival, Filmfest Hamburg, Hamptons International Film Festival, and the Mill Valley Film Festival.

The film was selected from a short list which also included Anders Walter’s Before It Ends and Lea Glob’s documentary Apolonia, Apolonia.

The Danish Film Institute-backed film produced by Louise Vesth for...

ITV Studios, Fremantle and Federation Studios, partnering with Apple Tree Productions, Elisa Viihde and TV 2 Norge, will go head to head with Nordic powerhouses Glassriver and Dr at next year’s Nordisk Film & TV Fond Prize which promises to underscore the large breadth of current Scandinavia scripted series.

Backed by the Göteborg Film Festival and Nordisk Film & TV Fond, the 7th edition of the Prize, awarded to series’ main writers, also looks set to shine a spotlight on high-profile and on-the-rise writing talent such as Icelandic thesp Anita Briem, who played Jean Seymour in “The Tudors,” and Finnish creator-director Matti Kinnunen, whose “Cargo” was reckoned one of the strongest contenders at the 2021 Prize.

Carrying a €20,000 cash endowment, the Prize will be presented on Feb. 1 to the winning series’ main writer at TV Drama Vision, the Göteborg Film Festival’s conference event and series market.

“Today there is a...

Jonas Poher Rasmussen’s animated documentary won the best documentary, best editing, best score and best sound design prizes.

Flee made history at the Danish Film Academy Robert Awards, which took place on Saturday (February 5) in Copenhagen, as the first documentary to win all four awards it was nominated for, scooping the best documentary, best editing, best score and best sound design prizes.

Jonas Poher Rasmussen’s animated documentary focuses on a man, on the cusp of marriage to his boyfriend, revealing the secrets of his journey from Afghanistan to Denmark as a child refugee. Last week, the title was...

Event will include the launch of the festival’s newest and largest programme, Harbour.

International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) has unveiled the first titles for its summer event, which has shifted to a hybrid format due as the pandemic continues.

The celebration of the festival’s 50th anniversary was due to run as a physical series of screenings and events from June 2-6, complementing the online-only edition of IFFR that took place in February.

It will now be presented as a hybrid event, with a film programme that will be available online in the Netherlands and physically in Rotterdam, as...

Picture Tree International has acquired international rights to Danish director Lisa Jespersen’s feature debut, the comedy drama “Persona Non Grata” (Hvor Kragerne Vender), and will introduce the film to buyers at the upcoming Nordic Film Market, after its launch in Nordic Competition during the online edition of Goteborg Film Festival this week. Variety has been given exclusive access to the trailer.

The film follows Laura who has distanced herself from her family in the countryside, and moved to Copenhagen to live the bohemian lifestyle as a writer. When she is forced to return home to attend her brother’s wedding, she discovers that he’s about to marry her worst childhood enemy Catrine. Laura realizes that Catrine has taken over her place in the family and is now ready to do anything to get it back.

Jespersen studied film directing at the National Film School of Denmark, and has...

The festival’s 44th edition runs online (due to the pandemic) Jan 29-Feb 8.

The Goteborg Film Festival has unveiled its slimmed-down lineup of 70 films from 39 countries (compared to the usual size of about 400 films); the festival’s 44th edition runs online (due to the pandemic) Jan 29-Feb 8.

Goteborg will open with the Swedish premiere of Zaida Bergroth’s Tove, a biopic of Finnish artist and Moomins creator Tove Jansson; and will close with the European premiere of Frida Kempff’s Knocking, an unnerving psychological drama about a woman hearing strange noises in her new house. Knocking premieres at Sundance and is sold by Bankside.

Rolling off a strong year for Scandinavian filmmaking, the virtual 44rd edition of the Goteborg Film Festival will kick off with Zaida Bergroth’s “Tove,” which will compete alongside Thomas Vinterberg’s “Another Round” and Ninja Thyberg’s “Pleasure,” among other Nordic pics.

Telling the story of one of Finland’s most beloved and inspiring artists, “Tove” broke box office records in Finland last year in spite of the pandemic, and now ranks as the highest grossing Finnish film in the last 40 years.

“Tove,” which is also Finland’s Oscar candidate, will be one of the seven films vying for the Dragon Award Best Nordic Film. The lineup comprises “Another Round,” one of the most prominent titles in Cannes 2020’s official selection, and “Pleasure,” which is set to world premiere at Sundance, as well as Ronnie Sandahl’s “Tigers,” Lisa Jespersen’s “Persona Non Grata,” Itonje Søimer Guttormsen’s “Gritt...

Since “Sons of Denmark’s” world bow at Rotterdam in 2019, Danish writer/director Ulaa Salim and producer Daniel Mühlendorph have enjoyed invites to 50 world festivals, and won nine awards – including best director at Seattle – and distribution in eight territories, negotiated by New Europe Film Sales. Those take in China (Huanxi Films), the U.K./Ireland (Eureka), Benelux (Windmill), Germany (Koch Media), Filmin (Spain), Programestore (France), Windmill (Benelux), Ale Kino (Poland) and Arthouse Traffic (Ukraine).

The partners in the fledging Danish outfit Hyæne Film are at Göteborg’s Nordic Film Market with two titles from recent Danish Film School graduates: Lisa Jespersen’s “Persona non Grata” (“Hvor kragerne vender”) pitched at the work in progress session, and Christian Bengtson’s “Chrysanthemum,” showcased within the Discovery section.

For her debut feature, Jespersen has attracted heavyweight DoP and Lars von Trier’s regular cinematographer Manuel Alberto Claro (“Melancholia”), and an ensemble cast of...

The leading Scandinavian market is all set to welcome the new projects by Thomas Vinterberg, Magnus von Horn, Eskil Vogt, Teemu Nikki and Charlotte Blom, among others. A total of 25 new feature-film projects, 16 in post-production and nine in development, will be featured and presented at the upcoming 21st edition of the Nordic Film Market, the principal hub for Nordic features, which is due to run from 30 January-2 February. Taking place during the 43rd Göteborg Film Festival (24 January–3 February), the market is a top-quality meeting and networking platform for the Scandinavian and international film industry guests attending the gathering. As for the selection, some of the highlights include the highly anticipated new film Another Round by Danish helmer Thomas Vinterberg, starring Mads Mikkelsen (see the news), while the remainder of the Danes are debutants Jonas Kærup Hjort with The Penultimate, Lisa Jespersen with Persona non grata, and...

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...

Hot projects include Runar Runarsson’s Echo, Grimur Hakonarson’s The County and Hlynur Palmason’s A White, White Day.

The three Icelandic films presented at Goteborg’s Works In Progress were some of the most buzzed about by festival programmers and buyers.

Runar Runarsson’s Echo is a stylistic departure for the Volcano and Sparrows director. He paints a portrait of contemporary society by presenting 59 difference scenes, in a mix of fiction and documentary. Jour2Fete handles sales.

The County will mark Grimur Hakonarson’s follow-up to his international hit Rams. The film, previously pitched at Les Arcs’ works in progress,...