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Stockholm-based filmmaker Lovisa Sirén joins Goteborg’s Nordic competition with her feature debut, about semi-estranged sisters on a road-trip through Europe.

What inspired the story? And how do you work with your co-writer Peter Modestij?

Sirén: I was curious to do a story about women and kids, in the absence of men. How women are with each other, how their behavior changes in that space. From my own experience, many times that space creates a certain vibe that I wanted to show to the world. There are some men in the story as well and they do play an important part, but mostly it’s the relationships between the women and kids that inspired me. To have the sisters to be almost opposite to each other, still trapped in the same family, reluctantly on a road trip, made the idea interesting and dynamic to me. I wanted the film to...

After the Viking conquest at July’s Cannes Festival, where Norway (“The Worst Person in the World”), Finland (“Compartment No. 6”) and Iceland (“Lamb”) collected kudos, more than 60 possible gems from the North are to be unveiled at the hybrid market New Nordic Films which will unspool over Aug. 24-27.

Scandinavia’s major film showcase, New Nordic Films runs parallel to Haugesund’s Norwegian Intl. Film Festival, which takes place Aug. 21-27.

Sony Pictures Classics’ Finnish pick-up “Compartment No. 6”, a Grand Jury Prize co-winner in Cannes, is set to kick-start the annual event and lead the pack of 24-plus finished titles. Most pics will screen online only, except those bowing in Haugesund cinemas as well, as fest official selections, such as “The Innocents,” “The Gravedigger’s Wife,” “Margrete-Queen of the North,” and “a-ha-The Movie.”

“It’s been a bit hard to finalize the market screenings, due to social distancing measures still in place in cinemas,...

Paris-based international sales and production company Totem Films has added Gábor Fabricius’ “Erasing Frank” to its Cannes market lineup.

Set in 1983, behind the Iron Curtain of Eastern Europe in Budapest, the film follows Frank, the charismatic singer of a banned punk band that carries the voice of their generation against a totalitarian regime. Taken to the police psychiatric hospital in an attempt to silence him, Frank will sacrifice everything to resist.

The film is produced by Otherside Stories and supported by the National Film Institute Hungary.

Fabricius, a graduate of Central Saint-Martins College London, has published two novels and directed several shorts. “Erasing Frank” is his debut feature.

“‘Erasing Frank’ is an attempt to redefine direct cinema and social drama. I want to let the audience go through raw experience in a deshumanized Orwellian reality,” said Fabricius.

“Gabor’s mise en scene is flawless. He depicts the rage of a...

Rotterdam CineMart was the first coproduction market. After being duplicsted by Ifp in New York, Hong Kong Film Festival and Pusan Film Film Festival, its format became the industry standard.

This year it has been streamlined to better serve film professionals to find the right connections. Head of Iffr Pro Marit van den Elshout: “We’ve downsized the selection to 16 projects in order to give each project more care and attention. The projects now start preparations a month in advance with a specially appointed mentor. We’ve also implemented a new structure for the one-to-one meetings, which will be tailored more to the needs of each project. Additionally, CineMart presents a new format called Spotlight, in which the project teams and their mentors discuss each project publicly for all CineMart guests.”

Selected CineMart titles qualify for four awards:

the Eurimages Co-Production Development Award of €20,000 for a European co-production;the...

The 27th edition of the Stockholm International Film Festival (Nov 9 - 20) will present 200 films from 70 countries.

The Stockholm International Film Festival will kick-off with Ken Loach’s Palme d’Or winner I, Daniel Blake, followed by a mid-festival ‘middle film’ screening in the shape of Nate Parker’s Birth of A Nation, and will close with Kenneth Lonergan’s Manchester By The Sea.

Directors attending the festival include Francis Ford Coppola (who will receive the lifetime achievement award, present a public talk, and screen Apocalypse Now), Ken Loach, Francois Ozon (who receives the festival’s Visionary Award), Ira Sachs, Alice Lowe, Mark Cousins, Anne Fontaine, Gabe Klinger, and many more.

The festival’s main competition line-up is:

A Decent Woman by Lukas Valenta Rinner (Arg, S Kor, Aus)A Taste Of Ink by Morgan Simon (Fr)Albüm by Mehmet Can Mertoğlu (Tur, Fr, Rom)Are We Not Cats by Xander Robin (Us)Birth Of A Nation by [link...

Festival’s world premieres include Roxette Diaries, Taikon, Odödliga and Drottninglandet.Scroll down for full line-up

Sweden’s Way Out West Festival (Aug 13-15) will include the world premiere of Jonas Akerlund’s Roxette Diaries, about one of Sweden’s most popular bands.

“They are one of the biggest bands to come out of Sweden, and this film shows them in a new light. It was filmed during their tours from 1988 to 1995, and of course with Jonas Akerlund directing, it has a real art feel to it, he’s very brave with this material,” Svante Tidholm, Way Out West’s Head of Film Programming told Screen.

Another world premiere at the Gothenburg-based film and music festival will be Taikon, a documentary about civil rights activist and author Katarina Taikon. “She was one of the pioneers of human rights for the Romany community. It’s an amazing story and she’s an amazing character,” Tidholm added.

There...