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Odd couple comedy gives way to something deeper and considerably more unsettling in Brwa Vahabpour’s South by Southwest hit about life in the Kurdish community in Oslo. It begins with school teacher Akam (Peiman Azizpour), who was born in Iraqi Kurdistan but pays no mind to that aspect of his heritage, and doesn’t feel any the poorer for it. One day, out of the blue, his uncle Khdr (Hamza Agooshi) turns up on his doorstep. This is a man he hasn’t seen since early childhood, who not only invites himself in but seems disinclined to go away again.

The situation is complicated by the fact that Aklam doesn’t live alone, but has flatmates – Stian (Magnus B Bjørlo Lysbakken) and Pernille (Theresa Frostad Eggesbø). Khdr doesn’t seem to care, quickly making himself at home, and even turning up at the school where Akam works, introducing himself as Jens because he.

How much would you sacrifice to hide a family member from the authorities? Sure, it's understandable for people to put their lives and freedom on the line for a parent or a child, but what about a niece? How long would you hide your nephew or second cousin for, if at all? What if you've only met them once in your life, and barely recall what they look like? What if they may not even be who they say they are? What are you willing to risk?

That's the interesting thought experiment at the heart of the new film, My Uncle Jens. However, it isn't the thriller it may sound like; if there is any dread, it's mostly of the awkward comedy type. Instead, My Uncle Jens is a loose, friendly dramedy that nonetheless comments on the hot-button issues of immigration and deportation. As Europe continues to grapple with constant...

Rome-based sales outfit Intramovies has picked up international rights to “My Uncle Jens,” the directorial debut of Norwegian helmer of Kurdish origin Brwa Vahabpour, credited for the hit series “Countrymen.”

Renée Hansen Mlodyszewski, associate producer on “The Worst Person in the World,” is producing for True Content Production, the Oslo branch of Scandi group True Content Entertainment, headed by Yellow Bird founder Ole Søndberg.

Anda Ionescu of Bucharest-based Tangaj Production serves as co-producer.

Crew members include cinematographer Jørgen Klüver (“Nudes”) production designer Kristian Lahn Vestby (“Nach”) and seasoned Romanian editor Cătălin Cristuțiu (“Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn”) who collaborated with the Norwegian Brynjar Lien Aune.

Vahabpour first caught festival attention with his 2020 short film “Silence”, selected for the Palm Spring International ShortFest. He went on to direct two episodes of the Norwegian award-winning series “Countrymen”.

Known earlier as “Europa”, the feature about family ties and cultural identity stars Peiman Azizpour...

Line-up for the 25th edition of the market includes 16 completed features, 15 Wip, 17 films in development.

Films by Sweat director Magnus von Horn and Margrete: Queen of the North filmmaker Charlotte Sieling will be presented at the 25th Nordic Film Market (January 31-February 2), the film marketplace of Goteborg Film Festival.

The projects are among the 15 Nordic films in post-production being showcased in the Works in Progress strand.

Scroll down for the full Market selection

Swedish director von Horn attends with The Girl With The Needle, a horror story set in 1910s Denmark, starring Trine Dyrholm and produced by Creative Alliance’s Malene Blenkov.

Miniseries “The Adrenalist” has been pre-sold to Denmark’s Dr and Iceland’s RÚV. Produced by True Content Production in Norway, and with TV2 already on board, it will be shot in Norway.

Currently casting, the show – budgeted at €10.5 million – is expected to gather “top star actors from the Nordic countries,” says producer Renée Hansen Mlodyszewski. “The Adrenalist” will mark a second miniseries for writer and director Pål Sletaune, also behind “22 July,” about the infamous terrorist attack in 2011.

Sletaune will once again refer to a true story, this time focusing on Arthur Omre: one of the most successful liquor smugglers in Norwegian history, later on transforming into a successful author. His gangster drama, set in Oslo in the 1920s during prohibition, “is a wild ride about the right man, at the right time, in the right place,” adds Hansen Mlodyszewski.

Ole Søndberg, also behind the “Millennium” trilogy, will produce as well,...

18 works in progress by some of the Nordic region’s biggest names – Bille August, Björn Runge, the multi-prized Jp Valkeapää and Malou Reymann will be showcased at the hybrid Nordic Film Market (Feb. 3-6), along with some Sundance and Rotterdam competition entries.

The Nfm runs parallel to the final stretches of the Göteborg Film Festival (Jan.28-Feb.6).

So far, over 450 international delegates have signed up for the major Nordic film confab. Only 250 will be able to attend in-person, due to Covid restrictions in Sweden.

“We’ve received a huge interest from professionals to attend in-person, following the decision of Sundance, Rotterdam and Berlin’s European Film Market to go online. It’s been very difficult to say ‘no’ to people, but our priority is to guarantee a safe event,” said Göteborg head of industry Cia Edström who underlines the various safety measures to be implemented at the Nfm, from vaccination checks,...

Showrun by Oscar-nominated Danish director Lone Sherfig, “The Shift” will battle it out with Series Mania top winner “Blackport” and Canneseries winner “Countrymen” for 2022’s 6th Nordisk Film & TV Fond Prize.

Also in contention are Finnish crime drama “Transport” and psychological thriller “Vi y Villa,” an early show from Sweden’s Discovery Plus.

All five titles, however diverse, underscore the strong social issue drive of much upscale Nordic and indeed European drama, affording a snapshot of larger tensions coursing society at large.

Winners of the Nordic TV Drama Screenplay Award, which goes to a show’s main writer, will receive a €20,000 cash prize, announced during the Göteborg Film Festival’s TV Drama Vision, a highlight of the festival, on Feb. 2.

“Good scripts form the basis of our strong Nordic drama series,. Writing talents should be cherished every day and celebrated through script honours and awards,” commented Liselott Forsman, CEO of...

Top $30,000 prize awarded to Fanny Ovesen for her couch-surfing story ’Laura’.

Fanny Ovesen, a recent graduate of the Norwegian Film School, won the Nordic Talents Pitch Prize worth $30,000, with her fiction feature project Laura (working title).

The story follows a young woman on a couch surfing trip through Europe, who wakes up having had sex with a stranger. She remembers nothing. Torn between guilt and innocence, she sets out on a journey which will influence her self-image and close relationships forever.

Two further graduates of the Norwegian Film School both earned a special mention award worth $6,000 each: Brwa Vahabpour with his fiction feature pitch Silence,...