News

The industry programme at the Norwegian festival included a focus on UK projects.

Two veryr different projects from female directors have been the talk of the industry at Haugesund’s New Nordic Films market this week.

Amanda Kernell won the pitching prize after the Co-Production Market presentation of her third feature film, The Curse - A Love Story while Thea Hvistendahl’s work in progress Handling The Undead, which reunites Renate Reinsve and Anders Danielsen Lie after The Worst Person in the World, hugely impressed buyers and festival programmers alike

The Curse will follow Kernell’s Venice 2016 premiere Sami Blood and Sundance 2020 selection Charter.

Hot Nordic works-in-progress at the Norwegian event include ’Handing The Undead’ starring Renate Reinsve.

Haugesund’s New Nordic Films industry event will have a two-year special focus on Nordic co-productions with the UK in 2023 and 2024.

Activities in 2023 include a session with Denitsa Yordanova, head of the UK Global Screen Fund, and a case study of Iceland-shot The Damned, Thordur Palsson’s upcoming psychological horror, with producer Kamilla Kristiane Hodøl of the UK’s Elation Pictures.

At Haugesund’s Nordic Co-Production and Finance Market, four UK projects will be presented: Gunnar’s Daughter, produced by Angeli Marie Macfarlane at Script Cube...

Faroese-born emerging director Andrias Høgenni, winner of a Canal+ award at Cannes Critics’ Week in 2021 with his short film “Illi illa meint,” just got married this summer.

His project “Anything for Her,” introduced at this year’s Nordic Co-Production Market in Haugesund, is precisely about a wedding, and much more. Family conflicts, especially with step-parents involved, and the uniquely chaotic nature of a Faroese wedding set in a tightly-knit community of 52,000 souls.

Spearheaded by Danish production partners Johannes Rothaus Nørregaard of Studiocanal-backed Sam Productions (“Borgen”) and Rikke Tambo Andersen of Tambo Film (“The Penultimate”), the project has secured co-production partners from France and the Faroe Islands, Variety has learned.

La Rochelle-based In Vivo Films, behind the 2022 Toronto-bound “Autobiography” and 2019 Rotterdam entry “La Fortaleza,” has come on board at script stage, together with the leading Faroese producer, Jón Hammer of “Trom” backer Kyk Pictures.

Tambo Andersen, set to pitch the...

The 39th edition of the Munich Film Festival, which runs June 23-July 2, will screen 120 films from 52 countries, including 35 world premieres, such as “Paloma” by Marcelo Gomes, one of several films in the festival that tackles the subject of trans identities.

The three international competition sections will feature numerous highlights from the Cannes Film Festival, including “Corsage,” which opens the event. Vicky Krieps was honored in Cannes with the best actress award in the Un Certain Regard section for her performance as Empress Elisabeth of Austria, also known as “Sissi.”

Four films come to Munich fresh from Cannes’ main competition: “Leila’s Brothers” by Iranian director Saeed Roustayi, about a family’s struggle for survival in an Iran economically weakened by Western sanctions and consumed by corruption; “Pacifiction” by Albert Serra, in which Benoît Magimel excels as a conflicted police commissioner; “The Eight Mountains,” directed by Charlotte Vandermeersch and Felix van Groeningen,...

Festival has programmed 120 films from 52 countries

The Munich Film Festival (June 23 – July 2) is showcasing many of the highlights from last month’s Cannes Film Festival when it returns with a full programme of features for the first time since 2019.

Munich pivoted online in 2020 due to the pandemic, and programmed a reduced number of films in 2021, mainly in open-air locations.

Munich is opening this year with Marie Kreutzer’s Corsage, which saw Vicky Krieps win the Un Certain Regard best performance award for her portrayal of Empress Elisabeth of Austria.

Corsage will play in Munich’s main Cinemasters Competition, alongside Cannes...

Festival has programmed 120 films from 52 countries

The Munich Film Festival (June 23 – July 2) is showcasing many of the highlights from last month’s Cannes Film Festival when it returns with a full programme of features for the first time since 2019.

Munich pivoted online in 2020 due to the pandemic, and programmed a reduced number of films in 2021, mainly in open-air locations.

Munich is opening this year with Marie Kreutzer’s Corsage, which saw Vicky Krieps win the Un Certain Regard best performance award for her portrayal of Empress Elisabeth of Austria.

Corsage will play in Munich’s main Cinemasters Competition, alongside Cannes...

Less Is More (Lim), a European development scheme for limited-budget feature films, has unveiled its selection of 16 projects, a majority of which are from women filmmakers and talents coming from theater, visual arts or documentary.

In spite of the pandemic, the 7th edition received as many as 350 applications from more than 70 countries. The final roster includes projects from territories that were not represented in previous editions, such as Uganda, Vietnam and South Africa.

Among the projects selected are “I Love My Guodoheaddji,” set in the Arctic Circle within Norway’s Sámi community; “I Matter,” about a Romany community in Romania, and “A Song That Slays,” set in a Pokot tribe in Kenya. Other projects explore a cult in Czech Republic (“Goddess), sex addiction in Lithuania (Sofia’s World), and Celtic tales (“Birds of a Feather…).

Lim, which develops first, second and third feature projects, is organized by the Groupe Ouest,...

Rome-based international sales and production company Tvco has scooped up sales rights to Argentine comedy “El Padre de Mis Hijos” (“The Father of My Sons”) which Tvco is presenting along with drama “El Silencio del Cazador” (“The Hunter’s Silence”) at the Malaga Spanish screenings (Nov. 17-20). Both are directed by Martin de Salvo and produced by Domenica Films of Argentina.

“El Padre de Mis Hijos” centers on Eva, who is in her late 30s and is facing the pressure of friends and family about missing out on her peak child-bearing years. She becomes obsessed about having a child, but the problem is finding a suitable father.

“Tvco’s Vincenzo Mosca and Doménica Films’ producer Pepe Salvia worked together in the past on a co-production project between Argentina and Italy that eventually did not happen, but the professional bond, borne from that experience, paved the way for a stronger professional relationship,...

Italy-based sales outlet Tvco has acquired international rights to Jonas Kærup Hjort’s Danish black comedy “The Penultimate” ahead of its world premiere in competition at the Tallinn Black Night Film Festival.

Described as a “Kafkaesque tale” by Tallinn festival, “The Penultimate” follows an insignificant clerk (Joen Højerslev), who gets trapped inside a secluded building facing an endless maze of obstacles. While he desperately tries to escape, the clerk starts having a distorted perception of reality and “the remnants of his human existence are turned upside down.”

“The Penultimate” marks the feature debut of Jonas Kærup Hjort who graduated from Denmark’s National Film School in 2017 with the short film “In a Month.”

“I met producer Rikke Tambo and the director in October at the Mia Market 2020 in Rome, and I was stunned by the grotesque humor and the pitch-black atmosphere of the film, which led me to vote for...

"Something is bothering you?" Tambo Film has released an early teaser trailer for a Danish film titled The Penultimate, marking the feature debut of Danish filmmaker Jonas Kærup Hjort. It's premiering at the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival this fall - hence the teaser. Dark comedy The Penultimate is a Kafkaesque tale of an insignificant Water Inspector (Joen Højerslev) who arrives at a giant remote building to register the residents' water meters. Before he knows, he finds himself trapped inside the building facing an endless maze of obstacles. In his attempt to escape, perception of reality, the rational, and remnants of his human existence are turned upside down. "Through absurdity and black humor The Penultimate mirrors the story of our time's world of despair. The fear, the hopelessness, the negligence, the feeling of abandonment, the ambiguity, the relentless objectivity – all of these are put into play to confront the audience with themselves.

Three out of competition titles also added to programme.

Estonian film festival Tallinn Black Nights has selected 15 titles for the First Feature Competition at its hybrid 24th edition which runs November 13-29.

The festival has also added three out of competition debut films to the programme; the 18 titles in total include 10 world premieres, seven international, and one European.

Scroll down for the full list of titles

World premieres include The Translator, from Syrian filmmakers Rana Kazkaz and Anas Khalaf. Set during the 2011 Syrian revolution, it follows a political refugee living in Australia who makes the journey back to his native country,...

Three out of competition titles also added to programme.

Estonian film festival Tallinn Black Nights has selected 15 titles for the First Feature Competition at its hybrid 24th edition which runs November 13-29.

The festival has also added three out of competition debut films to the programme; the 18 titles in total include 10 world premieres, seven international, and one European.

Scroll down for the full list of titles

World premieres include The Translator, from Syrian filmmakers Rana Kazkaz and Anas Khalaf. Set during the 2011 Syrian revolution, it follows a political refugee living in Australia who makes the journey back to his native country,...

Haugesund’s New Nordic Films will run as a hybrid event Aug 18-21.

Isabella Eklof, the Danish director of Sundance 2018 selection Holiday and co-writer of Cannes 2018 award-winner Border, is presenting her new feature project Kalak as part of Haugesund’s New Nordic Films Co-Production Market (August 18-21).

This year’s hybrid event will see with some participants physically attend the event in Norway and others watching online films and presentations.

Scroll down for the full list

Kalak is Eklof’s second feature and is set in Greenland. It is about a man who tries to escape the demons of childhood...

The leading Scandinavian market is all set to welcome the new projects by Thomas Vinterberg, Magnus von Horn, Eskil Vogt, Teemu Nikki and Charlotte Blom, among others. A total of 25 new feature-film projects, 16 in post-production and nine in development, will be featured and presented at the upcoming 21st edition of the Nordic Film Market, the principal hub for Nordic features, which is due to run from 30 January-2 February. Taking place during the 43rd Göteborg Film Festival (24 January–3 February), the market is a top-quality meeting and networking platform for the Scandinavian and international film industry guests attending the gathering. As for the selection, some of the highlights include the highly anticipated new film Another Round by Danish helmer Thomas Vinterberg, starring Mads Mikkelsen (see the news), while the remainder of the Danes are debutants Jonas Kærup Hjort with The Penultimate, Lisa Jespersen with Persona non grata, and...

New films by Thomas Vinterberg, Charlotte Blom and Jonas Poher Rasmussen will be presented at the Goteborg Film Festival’s Nordic Film Market. In total, 16 films in post-production will be presented to industry participants in at the Nordic Film Market as part of the Work-in-Progress section. Half of the lineup is made up of first features.

Cia Edström, the head of the Nordic Film Market, said the industry showcase is seeing a big increase in participation this year. As many as 381 attendees from 25 countries so far have signed up for the event, including 37 sales agents, 67 festival programmers and 47 buyers. Edström noted the breadth and diversity of films and projects in this year’s program.

Vinterberg’s next film, “Another Round” is a modern drama starring Mads Mikkelsen. Represented in international markets by TrustNordisk, the film follows a group of high school teachers who embark on an experiment to be intoxicated...

20 feature films, 17 documentaries and 20 TV dramas set for pitching forum.

A slate of 20 feature films, 17 documentaries and 20 TV dramas have been selected for the pitching session at the fourth edition of the Mia Market in Rome (October 17-21).

Feature Film

This year’s feature film projects, which come from 16 different countries, were selected by Jason Ishikawa (international sales at Cinetic Media), Anne Lai (cirector of creative producing and artist support for the feature film program at the Sundance Institute) and Sophie Mas (producer at Rt Features). Half the projects are directed by women.

Among these are productions that passed through the Sundance Screenwriting lab,...