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The Playmaker has closed a raft of pre-sales deals on “Ploey 2 – The Legend of the Winds,” which was presented to international buyers for the first time at the European Film Market this month.

The Playmaker screened an exclusive first-look teaser at its booth in Berlin as well as a promo for attending buyers. The sales agency described the film as “an endearing and funny road movie for the whole family about pursuing your own ideals to serve the greater good.”

The film, which is the sequel to the international hit “Ploey – You Never Fly Alone,” will focus on Ploveria, Ploey’s independent female friend who wants to ensure the arrival of spring and fulfil an old legend. The film has a planned release in the first quarter of 2026.

“Ploey 2″ was bought by Kmbo for France, Kinoswiat for Poland, Neo Films for Greece, Selim Ramia for Middle East and North Africa,...

The Playmaker has signed with GunHil to handle the world sales for “Ploey 2 – The Legend of the Winds,” which is described as “an endearing and funny road movie for the whole family about pursuing your own ideals to serve the greater good.”

The Playmaker will present the film at the European Film Market (Feb. 15-21), and will present an exclusive first look teaser at The Playmaker booth as well as a promo screening for attending international buyers.

The film, which is the sequel to the international hit “Ploey – You Never Fly Alone,” will focus on Ploveria, Ploey’s independent female friend who wants to ensure the arrival of spring and fulfil an old legend.

The film has a planned release in the first quarter of 2026.

The film centers on a legend that Plovers are the couriers of spring and without them summer won’t come to the northern hemisphere. When...

Operation Napoleon, an Iceland-set conspiracy thriller from director Óskar Þór Axelsson (Black’s Game) has racked up international sales ahead of its market bow at the European Film Market (EFM) in Berlin later this month.

Sales outfit Beta Cinema unveiled on Thursday that the film has been picked up by Mediawan for France, Twelve Oaks in Spain, Hagi Film in Poland and by Tohokushinsha for Japan. Smaller sales include the territories of the former Yugoslavia (MegaCom) and Taiwan (Av-Jet).

Based on the best-selling novel of the same name by Icelandic crime author Arnaldur Indriðason, Operation Napoleon is a high-concept conspiracy thriller centered on an old German World War II plane containing dangerous secrets, is discovered as it emerges from a melting glacier in Iceland, where it crossed back in 1945.

Icelandic newcomer Vivian Ólafsdóttir (It Hatched) stars in the English-language adaptation alongside an international cast including Game of Thrones’ Iain Glen, Riviera...

Ahead of the film’s market premiere at Berlin’s European Film Market, Beta Cinema has announced first deals for “Operation Napoleon” to France (Mediawan), Spain (Twelve Oaks), Poland (Hagi Film), Former Yugoslavia (MegaCom), Japan (Tohokushinsha) and Taiwan (Av-Jet).

The English-language thriller is based on the eponymous best-selling novel by Icelandic crime author Arnaldur Indriðason and stars Icelandic newcomer Vivian Ólafsdóttir (“It Hatched”) and Iain Glen, best known for his role as Dr. Alexander Isaacs in the “Resident Evil” film series and as Ser Jorah Mormont in “Game of Thrones.”

The sweeping story takes us from modern Iceland to America and Nazi Germany at the end of World War II. It centers on young Icelandic lawyer Kristin, who gets drawn into the vortex of an international conspiracy when she receives grainy footage of an old airplane wreck, recently revealed by the melting of one of Iceland’s largest glaciers.

The...

Munich-based sales agency Beta Cinema has picked up international thriller “Operation Napoleon,” and will kick off presales at the Cannes Film Market.

Shooting wrapped recently at the Langjökull glacier in Iceland, and the production has now moved to Mmc Studios in Cologne, Germany.

The Icelandic-German co-production is based on the eponymous best-selling novel by Iceland’s Arnaldur Indriðason, and features a stellar cast, led by Icelandic newcomer Vivian Ólafsdóttir (“It Hatched”), Jack Fox and Scottish actor Iain Glen, best known for his role as Dr. Alexander Isaacs in the “Resident Evil” film series and as Ser Jorah Mormont in “Game of Thrones.”

The sweeping story takes the viewer from modern Iceland to America and Nazi Germany at the end of World War II. It centers on young Icelandic lawyer Kristin, who gets drawn into the vortex of an international conspiracy when she receives grainy footage of an old airplane wreck,...

The English-language thriller is a Germany-Iceland co-production.

German outfit Beta Cinema has boarded sales on Óskar Þór Axelsson’s Icelandic feature Operation Napoleon and will introduce the film to buyers at next month’s Cannes.

The English-language thriller is a co-production between Tinna Proppé and Hilmar Sigurðsson of Reykjavík-based Sagafilm with Dirk Schweitzer and Anita Elsani of Germany’s Splendid Entertainment.

Icelandic newcomer Vivian Ólafsdóttir stars with Jack Fox and Iain Glen.

Marteinn Pórisson has adapted the screenplay from Arnaldur Indridason’s novel about a young Icelandic lawyer drawn into an international conspiracy when she receives footage of an old airplane wreck.

Icelandic film production company Sagafilm and Sweden’s LittleBig Productions are developing a historical series about 17th-century Icelanders abducted by Barbary corsairs and sold into slavery in North Africa.

Tentatively titled “Salé” — a city on the North African coast that was also a haven for pirates — the series is inspired by true events. It begins in the summer of 1627, when several hundred people in settlements along Iceland’s coast are captured by Barbary privateers under the command of the Dutch pirate Jan Janszoon, more commonly known as Admiral Murat Reis. Among his prisoners are Gunnur, the wife of a young fisherman, and her 12-year-old daughter Gríma. When they are brought to the North African slave markets, mother and daughter are separated, sold to different masters and forced to develop different strategies in order to survive.

Described as a thrilling tale of love, survival, revenge, and the power of hope, “Salé...

German sales outfit The Playmaker Munich, formerly Arri Media International, has shared with Variety the international trailer of psychological thriller “Wolka,” produced by leading Icelandic banner Sagafilm with Poland’s Film Produkcja.

The feature will bow as a market premiere at Haugesund’s New Nordic Films, Scandinavia’s major film showcase which runs Aug. 24-27.

The atmospheric trailer follows Anna (Olga Bołądź) as she gets out of a Polish jail on parole after 15 years behind bars. She soon travels from Warsaw to Iceland, on the tail of a mysterious Dorota (Anna Moskal) who has blended into the nation’s largest ethnic minority. Composer Atli Örvarsson and cinematographer Marek Rajca (“South by North”) capture the escalating tension as Anna’s arrival rocks Dorota’s life, established under a false identity.

The images reveal the cultural challenges for the strong community of nearly 10,000 immigrant Poles living in Iceland, tagged by Dorota in...

Final film ‘Wolka’ is set for release later this year.

Icelandic filmmaker Árni Ólafur Ásgeirsson has died aged 49 following a short illness.

The filmmaker was finishing his latest feature film Wolka, a Poland-Iceland co-production that is planned for release later in 2021.

The crime drama, produced by Iceland’s Sagafilm and Poland’s Film Produkcja, is sold internationally by Arri Media. The story follows a woman who is released from a Polish prison and breaks her parole to try to find a woman in Iceland’s Westman Islands.

Ásgeirsson, known in Iceland as Árni Óli, debuted with short film Anna’s Day starring Iben Hjejle,...

Sagafilm and Film Produkcja produce. Arri Media handles sales.

Shooting is underway in Iceland on Wolka, a rare Iceland-Poland co-production.

The crime drama is directed by Iceland’s Árni Ólafur Ásgeirsson, whose credits include Thicker Than Water, Undercurrent and family animation Ploey – You’ll Never Fly Alone.

Producers are Hilmar Sigurðsson and Beggi Jónsson at Iceland’s Sagafilm and Stanislaw Dziedzic at Poland’s Film Produkcja. Co-producers are Human Ark and Sound Making are co-producing. International sales are handled by Munich-based Arri Media International.

The 22-day Icelandic shoot started on August 6 in the Westman Islands. It will next move to...

Venue facing closure due to a hike in rent and cost of essential repairs.

The group behind Iceland’s only arthouse cinema is mounting a final effort to keep the venue open as it faces imminent closure due to a proposed rental hike.

Bíó Paradís was opened in 2010 by non-profit group Heimili kvikmyndanna – comprised of the professional societies and filmmaking guilds of Iceland – on Hverfisgata, one of Reykjavik’s main streets.

However, Karls Mikla ehf, the company that took ownership of the property in 2014, is looking to increase rent by 150% when the current rental agreement ends on June 30 – more in...

Cineflix Rights, a leading U.K. content distributor, has acquired “The Minister,” the anticipated political drama series headlined by Icelandic star Ólafur Darri Ólafsson (“Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald”).

Produced by the Icelandic company Sagafilm, “The Minister” centres on Benedikt Ríkhardsson (Ólafsson), a populist politician who becomes Iceland’s Prime Minister. However, Benedikt is suffering from an underlying bipolar disorder which progressively worsens. The Prime Minister’s team and their allies are forced to endanger both the stability of the government and their private lives to hide his illness while others abuse it.

“The charm and charisma that Ólafur Darri brings to the conflicted character is unique and we are extremely excited to see how his unorthodox way of doing things touches viewers around the world,” said Sagafilm’s CEO, Hilmar Sigurðsson.

Ólafsson’s credits include “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald,” as well as the series “Trapped,” “True Detective” and “The Missing.

Hilmar Sigurðsson, current CEO of animation specialists GunHil, will become CEO of Sagafilm.

Iceland production company Sagafilm has acquired animation specialist GunHil Ltd., which will become a subsidiary of Sagafilm as of Jan 1.

Guðný Guðjónsdóttir, CEO of Sagafilm, will leave the company after 10 years to pursue personal endeavors. From Jan 1, Hilmar Sigurðsson, current CEO of GunHil, will become CEO of Sagafilm.

The combined company will have 40 employees. There will be no redundancies. Sigurðsson told Screen, “There is just strength coming out of the merger. Our current animation projects fit wonderfully alongside Sagafilm’s projects as a new dimension. We have been working on live action as well, which also fits right into their current slate. GunHil will also benefit from Sagafilm’s stronger post-production, finance, sales and marketing and can furthermore enhance the services that Sagafilm offers.”

Sagafilm, established in 1978, has credits including current Netflix series Case, documentary Last Days of the Arctic, and the local...