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Frank Farelli (Pål Sverre Hagen) has been unemployed in a dying town for quite some time. The area used to attract visitors in the past—not many, but enough to staff a hotel that’s now been closed for years. So too has the local movie theater. As the so-called “Commission” explains it, they may not be able to keep the streetlights going thanks to a dwindling budget caused by a lack of taxpayers. Not only has most of the town left, but those who inexplicably remain are currently suffering from a rash of accidental tragedies. And since Town Hall consists of those three men and a secretary (Tuva Novotny’s Brenda), someone is needed to break the bad news.

Enter a newly formed government position: The Middle Man. It won’t be easy, but Frank used to work a train station window before it also shut down and left...

With a full year of creative pauses and improvisational workflow behind them, Canadian producers hit the 2021 Toronto festival bullish that in-person screenings and heightened fall fest excitement will focus critics and sales buzz to connect their films with audiences beyond their home turf.

Luc Dery and Kim McCraw of Montreal’s micro_scope, who introduced Denis Villeneuve’s “Incendies” and Philippe Falardeau’s “Monsieur Lazhar” to North American audiences at TIFF, return with Ivan Grbovic’s “Drunken Birds” (pictured), one of eight titles screening in Platform, the festival’s juried competition program.

Jorge Antonio Guerrero (“Roma”) stars as a Mexican drug-cartel worker who falls in love with his boss’s wife and whose pursuit of her lands him in rural Quebec, where he gets mixed up in his host family’s troubles. The film is exec produced by Nicolas Celis (“Roma”), with Wazabi Films selling.

“The marketplace is quite brutal right now,...

Festival will open with Stephen Chbosky’s ‘Dear Evan Hansen’.

The world premiere of Stephen Chbosky’s musical adaptation Dear Evan Hansen will open 2021 Toronto International film Festival, which runs from September 9-18.

Playing as a Gala Presentation, the film is one of 20 additions to the programme, alongside the North American premiere of Zhang Yimou’s One Second as the closing night film. Shortly after the line-up announcement, Neon said it had acquired the film for North America.

Other newly-announced Gala Presentation world premieres include Walt Becker’s Clifford The Big Red Dog; and Barry Levinson’s The Survivor starring Ben Foster.

Festival will open with Stephen Chbosky’s ‘Dear Evan Hansen’.

The world premiere of Stephen Chbosky’s musical adaptation Dear Evan Hansen will open 2021 Toronto International film Festival, which runs from September 9-18.

Playing as a Gala Presentation, the film is one of 20 additions to the programme, alongside the North American premiere of Zhang Yimou’s One Second as the closing night film. Shortly after the line-up announcement, Neon said it had acquired the film for North America.

Other newly-announced Gala Presentation world premieres include Walt Becker’s Clifford The Big Red Dog; and Barry Levinson’s The Survivor starring Ben Foster.

Iram Haq’s What Will People Say won best director, Norwegian film, actor and screenplay.

Iram Haq’s What Will People Say triumphed at the Amanda Awards on Aug 18, winning the Norwegian national awards for best director (Haq), best Norwegian film in theatrical release, best actor (Adil Hussain) and best screenplay (Haq).

The film, a hit at festivals including Toronto, Les Arcs, AFI Fest and Goteborg, is about a Norwegian teenage girl who clashes with her traditional Pakistan-born parents.

Erik Poppe’s Utoya story U-July 22 won best actress and best supporting actress for newcomers Andrea Berntzen and Solveig Koløen Birkeland.

It will be the Norwegian filmmaker’s fifth collaboration with Cologne-based Pandora Film Production.

The Match Factory has boarded Bent Hamer’s new feature The Middle Man as international sales agent. It will be the Norwegian filmmaker’s fifth collaboration with Cologne-based Pandora Film Production after O’Horten, Factotum, Kitchen Stories and 1001 Grams.

Pandora Film’s Claudia Steffen, one of the co-producers of Berlin Competition title The Heiresses, revealed that the English-language film will be a co-production between Hamer’s BulBul Film, Pandora Film and Canada’s The Film Farm, with principal photography planned for this summer on location in Manitoba and North Rhine-Westphalia.

Pandora Verleih will release the film theatrically in Germany in 2019.

Based in part on a 2012 novel by Norwegian author Lars Saabye Christensen and described as “a bizarre and absurd look at Trump’s USA”, the €3.4m production is set in Karmack, a small town in the Midwest with a declining population and a wrecked...

It will be the Norwegian filmmaker’s fifth collaboration with Cologne-based Pandora Film Production.

The Match Factory has boarded Bent Hamer’s new feature The Middle Man as international sales agent. It will be the Norwegian filmmaker’s fifth collaboration with Cologne-based Pandora Film Production after O’Horten, Factotum, Kitchen Stories and 1001 Grams.

Pandora Film’s Claudia Steffen, one of the co-producers of Berlin Competition title The Heiresses, revealed that the English-language film will be a co-production between Hamer’s BulBul Film, Pandora Film and Canada’s The Film Farm, with principal photography planned for this summer on location in Manitoba and North Rhine-Westphalia.

Pandora Verleih will release the film theatrically in Germany in 2019.

Based in part on a 2012 novel by Norwegian author Lars Saabye Christensen and described as “a bizarre and absurd look at Trump’s USA”, the €3.4m production is set in Karmack, a small town in the Midwest with a declining population and a wrecked...

Adaptation of Lars Saabye Christensen’s novel to open the 42nd Norwegian International Film Festival.

Beatles will open the 42nd Norwegian International Film Festival, which runs Aug 16-22

Dane Peter Flinth’s adaptation of Lars Saabye Christensen’s novel of the same name centres on a gang of boys who involuntarily grow up, losing each other to life’s many pitfalls. It features several original Beatles songs.

Producer Jørgen Storm Rosenberg will be at the festival, ten years after he opened the festival with his debut production Uno.

Flinth commented: “I am greatly pleased that Beatles has been chosen to open the Norwegian Film Festival in Haugesund. I have been there many times – it’s a place where there is always time, space and quiet to meet friends and colleagues from all of the Nordic countries.”

Beatles is produced by StormRosenberg and will be released in Norway on Aug 29 through Sf Norge.

Norwegian producer Jorgen Storm Rosenberg has secured a deal with Sony/Atv Music Publishing and Emi Music Nordics for an adaptation of Lars Saabye Christensen's 1984 novel "Beatles".

The story is set in Olso between 1965 and 1972, and follows four boys obsessed with the Beatles who take on the names John, Paul, George and Ringo.

It has taken years for Rosenberg to secure the music rights, but now that he has shooting will begin on the $8.6 million project in June.

"Kon-Tiki" helmets Espen Sandberg and Joachim Ronning will direct the film from a script by Axel Hellstenius. A Norwegian release is planned for Valentine's Day 2014.

Source: Screen Daily...

Norwegian producer Jørgen Storm Rosenberg has signed a deal with Sony/Atv Music Publishing and Emi Music Nordics for his adaptation of Lars Saabye Christensen's bestseller, Beatles . Here's the press release: Beatles, one of Lars Saabye Christensen.s most defining works, is now finally to make the transition to the silver screen. The film has been in the planning for several years, and can now be realised, after a long process of securing the music rights. The production company Storm Rosenberg has signed a deal that gives them the right to use the original recordings. Proud and honoured .It is a very decisive deal for us,. said Norwegian producer Jørgen Storm Rosenberg, of Norway's Storm Rosenberg production outfit, having secured a string of The Beatles. original...