Nordisk Film & TV Fond has selected 15 projects from 18 Nordic graduation film students for its 21st Nordic Talents Pitch Competition to be held online September 8-9, 2021.

This year’s 15 selected projects consist of seven fiction films, four drama series, two documentaries, one documentary series and one animation series.

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Among the 18 young talents set to pitch are the National Film School of Denmark graduate Óskar Vignisson, selected for this year’s Cinéfondation of the Cannes Film Festival with his short film Free Men (Frie mænd), as well as Stockholm University of the Arts alumna Elin Övergaard, Palme d’or candidate in Cannes 2019 with her short film Who Talks (Ingen lyssnar).

  • 11 of the selected promising talents are women, 6 are men and 1 is non-binary.
  • 6 of them are graduates from Stockholm University of the Arts, against 5 from the National Film School of Denmark, 2 each from HDK Valand, Göteborg and the Elo Film School Finland, and 1 each from the California Institute of the Arts (MFA Film Directing course), The Animation Workshop (Animation and Graphic Storytelling course) in Viborg, Denmark, and ARCADA University of Applied Science (Film course) in Helsinki, Finland.

The selected projects will be competing for the NOK 250,000 Nordic Talents Pitch Prize and NOK 50,000 Nordic Talents Special Mention, granted as development support from Nordisk Film & TV Fond.

Commenting on this year’s roster of talents, Project Manager Ann-Sophie W. Birkenes said: “The number of graduation students from the different schools, and programmes they graduate from, vary from year to year. This is naturally reflected in the yearly selection. As opposed to last year, in 2021 we had a low number of Norwegian applicants. Fortunately, we see a good balance between the other Nordic countries among the 15 promising projects selected to pitch. They show a great variation in themes, formats and culture arenas.”

“We look very much forward to the 21st edition of our popular event that continues to build bridges between Nordic up-and-coming talents and established audiovisual professionals.”

This year’s Nordic Talents jury of prominent audiovisual professionals comprises:

  • Milad Alami writer/director (Sweden)
  • Karoline Leth, producer at Zentropa (Denmark),
  • Cecilie Mosli, actress/writer/director (Norway),
  • Steven Meyers, script consultant at the Icelandic Film Centre and film educator (Iceland)
  • Elli Toivoniemi, director/producer at Tuffi Films (Finland)

Other highlights at Nordic Talents 2021 include:

  • a Producers’ Pitch from 12 leading Nordic producers
  • a Vimeo Showcase with graduation films from the pitching talents
  • a case study (to be announced in August)
  • networking opportunities for Nordic talents with round tables and speed-dating with experts from the film and TV industry.

FOR FUTHER INFORMATION ON NORDIC TALENTS: CLICK HERE
or contact
Ann-Sophie W. Birkenes
Project Manager
ann-sophie@nftvfond.com

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FULL LIST OF NORDIC TALENTS PITCH PROJECTS 2021

  • A Soviet Love Story
    Fiction film
    Pitcher: Angelika Abramovitch, director (graduation film Catcave Hyterica)
    Stockholm University of the Arts (SKH)
    Tagline: Sex, Drugs and Rock ’n’ Roll - Soviet style
  • Beautiful
    Fiction film
    Pitcher: Alireza Teimori, writer/director (graduation film Ziba)
    Stockholm University of the Arts (SKH)
    Tagline: Inner conflict sourced by culture, religion, society and traditions.
  • Feud
    Drama series
    Pitcher: Marion Saares, writer/director (graduation film Feud-pitch trailer)
    ARCADA University of Applied Science
    Tagline: They were told young people learn best by travelling. They ended up in 1661.
  • Field Flowers
    Documentary series
    Pitchers: Søren Brydesen, director (graduation film Kraftenlos)
    The National Film School of Denmark
    Tagline: A group of people travel to a small yellow house to express themselves.
  • Fleas
    Drama series
    Pitcher: Frederik Ringtved, scriptwriter (graduation film The Hole)
    The National Film School of Denmark
    Tagline: How to disguise a hidden addiction.
  • Free Men
    Fiction film
    Pitcher: Óskar Vignisson, writer/director (graduation film Free Men)
    The National Film School of Denmark
    Tagline: Sometimes its cheaper to steal.
  • Inside Your Border
    Fiction film
    Pitcher: Simon Elvås, writer/director (graduation film A Swedish Defence)
    Stockholm University of the Arts (SKH)
    Tagline: A father/daughter drama portrayed in the surroundings of a Swedish weapon deal in Thailand.
  • Lovette
    Fiction film
    Pitcher: Hawa Sanneh, producer (graduation film Catcave Hysteria) and Jimm Garbis, producer (graduation film A Swedish Defence)
    Stockholm University of the Arts (SKH)
    Tagline: They wanted forgiveness but got Love:tte
  • Non-binary Bones
    Documentary film
    Pitcher: August Joensalo, writer/director (graduation film Space is Quite a Lot of Things)
    HDK-Valand
    Tagline: Film about four non-binary people fighting for agency over their bodies.
  • Sad Girls Club
    Drama series
    Pitcher: Anni Pulkkinen, writer (graduation film Verge) and Meri Itäkodes, director (graduation film Homebound)
    ELO Film School Finland
    Tagline: Don’t miss the target.
  • The Blowfish
    Fiction film
    Pitcher: Elin Övergaard, writer/director (graduation film Patient & Undersigned)
    Stockholm University of the Arts (SKH)
    Tagline: “The biggest roadblock to success is you”. For a 23-year-old blowfish, this is actually true.
  • The Great Unknown (Min ljusa stad)
    Drama series
    Pitcher: Inka Rusi, director (graduation film: Bind)
    California Institute of the Arts, Film Directing MFA
    Tagline: A young ambitious woman travels to New York City in the 1930's in pursuit of becoming a great writer, encountering resistance and war as she returns back to Europe.
  • The Great Unknown (Det store ukendte)
    Pitchers: Charlotte Brodthagen, director (graduation film Adieu) and Sophie D’Souza, producer (graduation film Adieu)
    The National Film School of Denmark
    Tagline: Prepare for take-off.
  • The Last Untouched Wilderness
    Documentary film
    Pitcher: Kirsikka Paakkinen, writer/director (graduation film When the Mill Hill Trees Spoke to Me) HDK-Valand
    Tagline: What if the last untouched wilderness is lost?
  • Riot5
    Animated series
    Pitcher: Violeta Fellay, director/producer (graduation film Riot5)
    The Animation Workshop
    Tagline: Cherry finds out it takes more than falling to succeed, both on and off track!