Annual Report 2023

Nordic audiences kept coming back to cinema theatres, also to watch domestic films. The leap was biggest in Iceland, where box office numbers were up by 32.5% compared to 2022. In Sweden, numbers were up by 8% and reached 11.2 million. The Norwegian, Finnish and Danish populations are only about 55% of the Swedish one, but the countries’ cinema ticket sale followed close after. In Denmark, 10 million tickets were sold in 2023 (a slight drop from 2022). Ticket sales in Norway were up 6.7% since 2022 to 9.3 million and in Finland up 24%, with 7.2 million tickets sold. Norway reached the biggest domestic ticket share (27%), followed by Denmark (25%), Finland (23%) Sweden (17%) and Iceland (17%). In Iceland the number almost doubled from the 9.25% share in 2022.

Some features that attracted audiences to domestic films, were also highly awarded. Finnish Aki Kaurismäki’s sympathetic love story Fallen Leaves (Kuolleet lehdet) won the hearts of international critics and domestic audiences alike. The film premiered in Cannes, where it received the Jury Prize. It was also the 4th most watched film in Finland in 2023, falling short only to Barbie, Oppenheimer and Super Mario. Another gentle comedy, Icelandic director Elfar Adalstein's philosophical Summerlight… and Then Comes the Night, won the Valhalla Award for Best Nordic Film in Santa Barbara. The funny and heartwarming Norwegian film Listen Up! (Hør her’a!) by Kaveh Tehrani received the Children’s and Youth Film Prize at Nordic Film Days Lübeck.

Two Danish period dramas based on cruel historical events made a strong impact in 2023. The truly epic film The Promised Land (Bastarden), directed by Nicolaj Arcel, tells a brutal story about an 18th century settler. It premiered in Venice and won three European Film Awards: Mads Mikkelsen received Best Actor, Rasmus Vidbæk Best Cinematographer, and Kicki Ilander the Best Costume Designer award. The Nordic Council Film Prize 2023 went to writer Anna Neye, director Frederikke Aspöck and producers Pernille Munk Skydsgaard, Nina Leidersdorff and Meta Louise Foldager Sørensen for Empire (Viften). The film is a grim, witty and playful analysis of Denmark’s colonial past in the West Indies.

There was also a strong Nordic presence at the 2023 Academy Awards, as Swedish Ruben Östlund’s 2022 Palme d’Or winner Triangle of Sadness competed in three categories (Best Film, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay), and Danish Simon Lereng Wilmont’s Sundance winner A House Made of Splinters (Et hus af splinter) in the documentary category.

Another documentary that was well noted in 2023 is the Swedish And the King Said, What a Fantastic Machine, by Maximilien Van Aertryck and Axel Danielsson. The film that discusses the role of cameras throughout history, won the Creative Vision Award at Sundance, the Best FutureWave Feature in Seattle, and the Cinema Vision 14plus Award in Berlin. These prizes evaluate new insights, visions, and young audience appeal, all essential for the future success of Nordic productions.

The Fund’s 2023 applications indicate what the future might bring. Family stories are still popular, but we now see less of the traditional Nordic theme “bad parenting”. Family stories are getting more complex. Identity issues are often dealt with in stories featuring multicultural families. Upcoming Sámi filmmakers are changing their industry’s focus from near-history arenas to strong, contemporary stories in multiple genres.

Nordic productions are still inspired by well-known IP’s, but even more often by real life persons (often in films) and by events close to our times (often in series), such as the early 2000s Pirate Bay story (series), the 2001 tragic Holmlia murder (film and a series), Lars Norén’s disastrous 1999 prison project (series), and Nordic UN soldiers in Bosnia in the 1990s (series). Especially in Sweden, actual people’s lives are often fictionalised; from business mogul Jan Stenbeck (series) and pop star Per Gessle (film) to swimmer Sally Bauer (film), not to forget the loner Karl-Göran Persson, who spent his life building a fortress for his whole village, just in case of war (film).

To understand our restless world, our industry still looks back a lot, but in fiction the new stories have moved from past centuries and World War 2 arenas to our Nordic near history. Upcoming documentaries are covering current human-interest aspects and looking at complex international issues with the perspective of our recent history. The Swedish 12-part series 1 Holy Land (Israel Palestine i svensk TV 1959-1993) investigates the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through SVT’s 1959-1993 news archives, while the story of the Finnish 6-part series Untold Artic Wars – The Cold War starts in 1944. A growing number of documentary series receive Fund support. Some complex themes need longer formats.

When looking at the total number of the Fund’s top-financing supports, female producers are in a clear majority in drama series and documentaries, while a higher number of male producers get film support. Among writers and directors, the male dominance is evident. We had expected this gap to decrease in 2023, but unfortunately it seems to have grown. This motivates us now to study gender differences between the countries in our region.

Since 2021, the Fund’s theme years have mobilised the Nordic industry around vital issues. The 2023 theme year Nordic Green activated the Nordic industry to work together for a greener region. During the kick-off summit in Berlin, co-hosted by the Fund and the Nordic Film Commissions, the green national strategies were co-ordinated and discussed on a pan-Nordic basis. The active participants were key decision-makers and green experts from Nordic film institutes, the NFC, public and private broadcasters, and production company associations. After the summit the Fund founded the Nordic Green Action Group, which continues the co-ordination and the concrete pan-Nordic work on green trainings, pledges, and standards. The Fund installed a Nordic Green Data Base online in late 2023.

As the year 2023 started, few people in our industry discussed AI, and when it ended, everyone did. By then, most of us had tested ChatGPT and followed the US writers and actors strikes. For years, tech experts have warned us against ignoring the AI paradigm shift. Now legislation is moving, but way slower than AI develops. Hence, we are facing new challenging changes that we should collaborate around. The Fund’s next theme year will focus on AI, but this is stuff for our next annual report.

I ended my 2022 text with a wish for peace in Ukraine. As this devastating war continues, and a new violent war started in 2023, my wish is now for peace both in Ukraine and in Gaza.

The Danish film Empire (Viften), directed by Frederikke Aspöck, was awarded the 2023 Nordic Council Film Prize. The film is a critical, serious and absurdly funny analysis of Denmark’s colonial past in the West Indies. It was written by Anna Neye, who plays the leading character.

Kids in Crime, which won the 2023 Nordisk Film & TV Fond Prize (the screenwriting award) for a series, is a raunchy, dynamically told story with a serious topic. The series was written and directed by Kenneth Karlstad, and produced by TV 2 Norway.

Nordic drama series made a strong impact in international forums. At Prix Italia, the Danish Prisoner (Huset), created by Kim Fupz Aakeson, won the award for Best Series. At Prix Europa, the Swedish series Blackwater (Händelser vid vatten) was awarded the Best Miniseries prize. The series is based on Kerstin Ekman’s classic crime novel. It was written by Maren Louise Käehne and Karin Arrhenius and directed by Mikael Marcimain.

In Berlin, another Prix Europa prize went to a Nordic series, as the Norwegian Power Play (Makta) received the Special Commendation. This Norwegian series also won the Best Series award at the Cannesseries 2023. The series is created by Johan Fasting, Kristin Grue and Silje Storstein, and deals with the power play within the Norwegian Labour Party in the 1970s. With an exciting style, in which the past and present blend seamlessly, and scenes in which the “fourth wall” is removed. Yngvild Sve Flikke was conceptual director of the series.

Two examples of well-received drama series are the Swedish The Detective from Beledweyne (Detektiven från Beledweyne), created by Aron Levander and directed by Finnish Zaida Bergroth, and the successful Icelandic dramedy series As Long As We Live (Svo lengi sem vi∂ lifum), created by Anita Briem, who also plays the lead.

The Finnish series Estonia, with Måns Månsson as conceptual director, attracted a lot of attention as it premiered in late 2023. The series was penned by main writer Miikko Oikkonen, and follows three persons which, each in their own way, got involved in the tragic accident after it had occurred, which provided the series with an exciting perspective.

Among films supported in earlier years and successfully received in 2023 was the Norwegian film Listen Up! (Hør her’a!) by Kaveh Tehrani. With warmth and humour it tackles cultural and gender identity themes from the angle of two teenagers in a Pakistani-Norwegian family. The film won the Children’s and Youth Film Prize at the Nordic Film Days Lübeck.

In the Swedish writer-director Mika Gustafson’s feature Paradise is burning (Paradiset brinner), three teenage sisters struggle to keep living by themselves and not being caught by social services after their mother has left their home. The film won prizes in Lisbon & Estoril, London, Venice, and at home in Sweden.

Six Nordic documentaries received distribution support in 2023. Four of these were Swedish documentaries: And the King Said, What a Fantastic Machine by Axel Danielson and Maximilien Van Aertryck, Every Face has a Name by Magnus Gertten, After Work by Erik Gandini, and The Gullspång Miracle (Miraklet i Gullspång) by Maria Fredriksson. The other documentaries receiving distribution support were the Norwegian film Songs of Earth (Fedrelandet) by Margreth Olin, and the Danish film Apolonia, Apolonia by Lea Glob.

The nominated series were:

Denmark:
Carmen Curlers
Nominated writer: Mette Heeno.
To read interview: CLICK HERE.

Finland:
The Invincibles (Rosvopankki)
Nominated writer: Matti Kinnunen.
To read interview: CLICK HERE.

Iceland:
As Long as We Live (Svo lengi sem við lifum)
Nominated writer: Aníta Briem.
To read interview: CLICK HERE.

Norway:
Kids in Crime
Nominated writer: Kenneth Karlstad.
To read interview: CLICK HERE.

Sweden:
Blackwater (Händelser vid vatten)
Nominated writers: Maren Louise Käehne and Karin Arrhenius.
To read interview: CLICK HERE.

The nominees of 2023 were:

Denmark:
Empire (Viften)
Directed by Frederikke Aspöck, written by Anna Neye and produced by Pernille Munk Skydsgaard, Nina Leidersdorff and Meta Louise Foldager Sørensen for Meta Film.

Finland:
Bubble (Kupla)
Directed by Aleksi Salmenperä, written by Reeta Ruotsalainen and Aleksi Salmenperä, produced by Minna Haapkylä for Rabbit Films.

Greenland:
The Edge of the Shadows (Alanngut Killinganni)
Directed and written by Malik Kleist, produced by Nina Paninnguaq Skydsbjerg for PaniNoir / Imalik Film.

Iceland:
Driving Mum (Á Ferð með Mömmu)
Directed and written by Hilmar Oddsson, produced by Hlín Jóhannesdóttir for Ursus Parvus.

Norway:
War Sailor (Krigsseileren)
Directed and written by Gunnar Vikene, produced by Maria Ekerhovd for Mer Film.

Sweden:
Opponent (Motståndaren)
Directed and written by Milad Alami, produced by Annika Rogell for Tangy.

To read more on Helsinki Script: CLICK HERE.
Info on 2022/2023 mentors, participants and projects: CLICK HERE.

The second edition of Nordic Script that started in September in Oslo, is built around the development of feature films and close-ended mini-series.

Once again nine projects were selected from five Nordic countries by a pan-Nordic jury, out of the more than 60 projects applying, some with multiple writers aboard. In the new round, eleven scriptwriters and three producers/story editors from all the Nordic countries work with three Scandinavian mentors.

Info on 2023/2024 mentors, participants and projects: CLICK HERE.

Gender statistics

*Mixed: cases where the role was shared by persons of different genders
**Writer: only a role in feature film/drama series

Note: No other genders than female/male applied for support in 2023. If two or more of the same gender shared the role, they are counted as one.