2023 Nordic Talents to watch

Marlene Emilie Lyngstad, writer/director-Carl Olsbæk Adelkilde, producer
National Film School of Denmark graduates
Co-winners Nordic Talents Pitch Prize 2023

Marlene Emilie Lyngstad (Norway)
Tronheim-born Marlene Emilie Lyngstad (26) is one of the Nordic region’s most promising and singular voices, already recipient of prestigious accolades.

Born in a family of true film buffs, she was introduced to world cinema at an early age. “I remember watching The Secret Garden aged 4 or 5. I got hugely emotional and cried a lot. I felt it was so intoxicating. I told my friends at Kindergarten to come and watch the movie with me. It will make you cry, I said. And we did! That’s the power of cinema.“

A big fan of Harry Potter, Lyngstad flirted for a moment with the idea of becoming a writer, until her mother suggested filmmaking.

Her first short film Lakenfort received an honourable mention at Grimstad Short Film Festival 2018 and was shortlisted for an Amanda award. After joining the National Film School of Denmark, her graduation film Norwegian Offspring won this year’s La Cinef first prize from the Cannes Film Festival and the Haugesund Next Generation top Award. The short film will next compete at Nordisk Panorama.

Lyngstad also took part in the talent incubator programme Filmskapere (Filmmakers) run by Thomas Robsahm (The Worst Person the World).

Inspirations: “So many filmmakers inspire me. I love in particular filmmakers who not only create amazing films, but also deliver a meaningful message. Roy Andersson for instance is a huge inspiration to me. Then I also admire Ulrich Seidl’s cross genre between reality and fiction, Gaspar Noé’s ability to provoke.

Vision: “I like to explore things that feel ambivalent, subjects that challenge my own moral codes and references, and trigger an almost physical reaction.”

Carl Olsbæk Adelkilde, Danish producer
Copenhagen-based Adelkilde has had a passion for filmmaking since a very young age. “I first thought I wanted to direct, but then discovered I was good at orchestrating, organising things and so turned to production,” he said.

After a few short films and commercials, he enrolled at the National Film School of Denmark where he met Marlene Emilie Lyngstad. Their joint graduation film is the multi-awarded Norwegian Offspring.

Adelkilde also served as line producer on Aske Bang’s Oscar-nominated Silent Nights and producer of Daisies for Dave by Marc Louis Sutto among others.

Vision: “I’m interested in creating organic Nordic projects, with talent from different Nordic countries, in front and behind the camera.”

Joint graduation film: Norwegian Offspring (fiction film)
A mother passes away, and her estranged son, obsessed with theories about the repression of male sexuality in modern society, starts longing for offspring of his own. To see the trailer: CLICK HERE.

Project pitched: Cute (fiction film)
Exploration of the grotesque and tenderness in the human desire for “the cute”. A mass-produced stuffed animal becomes the physical link between different human destinies, in a global tale about the longing for innocence in a world filled with guilt.

Las Dyhrcrone, writer/director/actor (Denmark)
National Film School of Denmark graduate
Winner Nordic Talents Special Mention Prize 2023

Copenhagen born Las Dyhrcrone (27) got a camera from their father at the age of 8 and immediately started filming the world around them, bringing to life their comic books super heroes. "This is when my passion for filmmaking was awaken,” they said. “I was a lot in front of the camera, until I realised I preferred to direct and create small films with my action figures.”

Dyhrcrone first studied philosophy at university, before applying for Ebeltoft’s European Film College (2015-2016) and for the National Film School of Denmark, where they studied directing. “Their graduation film Out of Line (Fri) was produced by Alma Giese.

Vision: I am narrative-driven and freely navigate between fiction and non-fiction. Stylistically, I try to find poetry in the raw and disturbing in life. Because if you zoom in on something that from a distance might look ugly, you can find beauty. It is everywhere and I want to enhance this.”

Graduation film: Out of Line (Fri)
When Frederik, Alexander and Christian painted graffiti together, the three brothers felt invincible. But since Alexander died, everything has changed. Christian has turned to alcohol and Frederik – who has lost faith in life itself – is using opioids. One night, Frederik meets a stranger who revives his curiosity and understanding. In the darkness of night, on the run from the police, his new friend becomes the catalyst for Frederik’s redemption. To see the trailer: CLICK HERE.

Project pitched: Medication (fiction film)
Three young people in a godforsaken town navigate the fine line between pleasure and self-destructiveness, in the pursuit of identity and belonging.

The project will be produced by Daniel Mühlendorph and Robin Hounisen for Denmark’s Hyæne Film.

Mikael Syrjälä-writer/director/producer (Finland)
ELO Film School Finland graduate

As a Swedish-speaking Finn, Mikael Syrjälä (33) often felt like an outsider in his native Finland, struggling with self-doubt, identity.

His existential questioning is what first got him interested in filmmaking. Then after a successful creative experience in his early 20s with clothes branding, he started to consider a career in film. “I’ve always loved watching films, reading fiction. So I thought let’s give it a try!”

In 2023 he enrolled at the ELO Film School’s master programme for producing and directing, alternating experiences in writing, directing, acting and producing. He graduated with the mid-length film Elvis & Onerva (also known as Somebody Should Do Something) a coming-of-age story about first love, masculinity and group pressure starring Mimosa Willamo (Sisu, Aurora) and Johannes Brotherus (Bordertown, Concrete Night). The film was released in 2019 and travelled to various festivals.

Inspirations: Wong-Kar Wai (“Chungking Express got me to apply for film school”), Thomas Vinterberg.

Vision: Interested in unmasking vulnerability, using dramedy or drama, working in tight collaboration with actors.

Graduation film Elvis & Onerva (fiction film)
When Onerva moves to a small provincial town, she falls in love with her new classmate Elvis. It’s soon obvious to everyone that they have feelings for each other. One evening all the young people of the town go to party and Elvis and Onerva have a chance to be alone. Later, Elvis brags to his friends about the great sex they had – a lie that spreads like wildfire. When the rumours spread, it reveals the downside of peer pressure, strong group dynamics, and the need of acceptance. To see the trailer: CLICK HERE.

Project pitched: B-Men (fiction film)
After getting caught of having asthma and getting degraded into a B-soldier, recruit Pelle Tötterman (19) and his gang of misfit soldiers turn their conscription into a game where they try to fake sick leave as much as possible and realize too late that some of them are actually ill.