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Exclusive: Here’s a case of good timing. Paradigm today signed Swedish actress Edda Magnason, whose name recognition went up shortly after when she was awarded the Shooting Stars Award at the Berlin Film Festival, the prize that spotlight’s Europe’s best young talent. She won the Guldbagge Award for Best Actress (Sweden’s highest honor) for her portrayal of Swedish jazz singer/actress Monica Zetterlund in Monica Z, which was one of the country’s top-grossing films of last year. She’s up for the Swedish equivalent of a Grammy for the soundtrack and so far has released two albums and signed with Warner Music and Sony/Atv Music Publishing. She’s repped by Artisgruppen in Sweden. Here’s a trailer of her movie:...

Anna Odell’s drama wins best film at the Guldbagge Awards; Per Fly’sWaltz for Monica (Monica Z) wins four.

Anna Odell’s feature debut The Reunion (Återträffen) received two top prizes at the 50th Guldbagge Awards in Sweden last night. The depiction of a class reunion after 20 years won Best Film and Best Screenplay.

Odell, who wrote the screenplay, said on stage: “I usually say things how they are, but I’m really bewildered. Long live art, life and liberty! And culture and everything.”

It marks the third consecutive year that a debut female filmmaker collected the Best Film statuette after Lisa Aschan’s She Monkeys (Apflickorna) and Gabriela Pichler’s East Sleep Die (Äta sova dö).

Produced by Mathilde Dedye, for French Quarter Film, The Reunion previously picked up the Fipresci prize for Best First Feature in Venice last August and is set to screen at the Rotterdam Film Festival (Jan 22 - Feb 2).

The night’s...

Per Fly’s biopic leads Swedish film award nominations with 11 nods, followed by Shed No Tears, The Reunion and Hotell.Scroll down for full nominations

Waltz With Monica (Monica Z), from Danish director Per Fly, leads the race for the Guldbagge (Golden Beetle) – the Swedish national film awards, now in its 50th year – with 11 nominations.

The story of legendary Swedish singer-actress Monica Zetterlund stars Edda Magnason in her first film role.

The biopic has been nominated for best film, best director, best cinematography and best actress for Magnason. Its other nominations include two of the three slots in the best supporting actor category for Kjell Bergqvist and Sverrir Gudnason.

Shed No Tears (Känn ingen sorg), about a man who dreams of success in the music world, has secured nine nominations. The film is directed by Måns Mårlind and Björn Stein, back from Hollywood after directing action sequel Underworld: Awakening.

The duo have been nominated for best director...

Göteborg, Sweden – One of the year’s most anticipated films, Monica Z (also known as Waltz for Monica), made its Nordic premiere at Way Out West, a month before the theatrical release in cinemas across Sweden. From her simple life as a telephone operator in a small Swedish town, to becoming a national celebrity performing in jazz clubs in Stockholm and New York, the film chronicles the life of legendary Swedish jazz singer and actor, Monica Zetterlund. Monica played a major role in popularizing jazz in Scandinavia and beyond from the late 1950s. She was awarded a medal by the Swedish government for her contributions to the cultural life of Sweden.

Per Fly directs this fine biopic with the original script by Peter Birro. Fly’s film does a good job reproducing the style of each era portrayed in Monica Z. Centering on Monica’s dramatic and often turbulent journey...

Cannes winner Blue is the Warmest Colour also picked up a prize at the 41st Norwegian International Film Festival (Niff) awards.

Danish director Per Fly picked up the Nordic Film Prize at the Niff awards last night [Aug 20] for his biopic Monica Z (Waltz for Monica).

The story of legendary Swedish singer-actress Monica Zetterlund stars Edda Magnason in her first film role. Monica Z will be released in Norway on Sept 13.

Fly will next direct Backstabbing for Beginners, based on the true story of Un whistleblower Michael Soussan who called for an investigation of the Un’s dealings with Saddam Hussein. Fly is working on the screenplay with Us writer Daniel Pyne (The Sum of All Fears) and it marks the first project developed for the international market by Creative Alliance - a new company created earlier this year by six Nordic directors and Us outfit Parts & Labor.

Other winners included Abdellatif Kechiche’s Blue Is the Warmest Colour, which...

The Norwegian International Film Festival (Niff) is to showcase the “diversity” of the region’s current output, according to programme director Håkon Skogrand.

The 41st Niff will run from Aug 15-22 in Haugesund, opening with the world premiere of Erik Skjoldbjærg’s oil rush thriller, Pionér (Pioneer) starring Aksel Henie.

The festival will close with Gunhild Westhagen Magnor’s Optimistene (The Optimists), a documentary about a volleyball club of ladies aged 66-98.

“There is currently an impressive diversity in Norwegian cinema,” declared programme director Håkon Skogrand

However, there has been an increasing emphasis on films from Norway and the Nordic countries in recent years and festival director Gunnar Johan Løvvik has decided to give each section equal status to address this.

The sections include the main selection, Cinemagi (for children), French Touch, New British Films, Nordic Focus and New Nordic Films.

In the international line-up Skogrand will present 23 films from 13 countries and wide-ranging environments – “from New York...

Well, it's not Don Cheadle's Miles Davis project, or even a Miles Davis-centered film, but you should know that production is in full swing in Trollhättan, Sweden on a feature film titled Monica Z (full title Monica – A Lingonberry in a Cocktail) based on the life of the famous Swedish jazz vocalist and actress, Monica Zetterlund, whose career ran from the late 1950s until 2005, when she passed. Edda Magnason is playing the title role in a production that's being described as a powerful drama about a fascinating life story, based on an original screenplay by Peter Birro and directed by multiple award-winning director Per Fly. (yes, that's correct). ...