Alba August, Marco Ilsø topline Viaplay’s Bullshit Danish original series

The Viaplay Original six-part series which just wrapped filming in Copenhagen, is directed and co-written by Milad Alami (When the Dust Settles, The Charmer), together with seasoned writer Bo hr. Hansen (Families like Ours, The Art of Crying) and top editor-turned-writer Molly Malene Stensgaard.

The drama is based on the 2018 Cavling journalistic prize-winning novel ‘Bullshit-the story of a family” by Danish co-authors Camilla Stockmann and Janus Køster-Rasmussen. It is set against Denmark’s real-life bikers’ gang war between the ‘Bullshit’ MC (motorcycle club) and rivals Hells Angels in the early 1980s, known as the Copenhagen Biker War. The core of the story chronicles the fate of the rebellious youth Pia and Henning ‘Makrel’ who found a sense of belonging in the ‘Bullshit’ bikers gang, but ended up fighting for their survival.

The series kicks off with Pia who seeks freedom and a sense of community in Copenhagen’s Christiania enclave in the late 1970s. There she soon falls for Henning, aka ‘Makrel’, who dreams of brotherhood, freedom and motorbikes. Their ‘Bullshit’ gang’s life turns into an intense wild subculture, which appears alluring and festive at first, but ultimately ends in an increasingly destructive spiral.

In the starring roles as Pia and Henning are respectively Alba August (The Rain, Becoming Astrid) and Marco Ilsø (Vikings, Wild Men).

The rest of the stellar Nordic ensemble cast includes Clint Ruben (Limboland, The Venus Effect), Vic Carmen Sonne (Holiday, The Kingdom), Magnus Juhl Andersen (The Sommerdahl Murders, Chosen), Peter Christoffersen (When the Dust Settles), and Jacob Cedergren (The Guilty, Made in Oslo).

Tehran-born Copenhagen-based Alami who won numerous awards for his feature film The Charmer, says he’s approached the series “as an extended feature film revolving around themes of family and violence.”

“Bullshit is a four-and-a-half-hour thrill ride into the wildness of youth that starts as fun and innocence, but becomes increasingly serious and dangerous,” he observed.

Filippa Wallestam, Viaplay’s Chief Content officer said “the setting of this top-quality series may be unfamiliar to many viewers, but its themes are universal. This is a story about the desire for community, and how it can paradoxically push us over social boundaries.“

The series was produced by Malene Blenkov for Nordisk Film Creative Alliance, in collaboration with Estonia’s Nafta Films, with support from the Danish Film Institute’s Public Service Fund, Nordisk Film & TV Fond, Estonia’s cash rebate and Creative Europe Media Programme. Viaplay Content Sales handles international sales.

The Viaplay Danish original is set to premiere on the streaming service in 2023. Wallestam made a point to underline that the series is "an example of how Viaplay brings together top Danish talents to create shows with international potential. However, to carry on green-lighting compelling productions like this, we need regulatory certainty and a fair and balanced playing field in Denmark" she said, referring the the Danish 6% streaming levy.

Bullshit is the latest premium series produced by Creative Alliance’s co-founders - writers/directors Lone Scherfig, Ole Christian Madsen and producer Malene Blenkov - since their production outfit became part of the Scandinavian major Nordisk Film a year ago.
Scherfig’s own series The Shift produced by Creative Alliance was nominated last year for the Nordisk Film & TV Fond Prize.

Five questions to Milad Alami

How were you approached to work on the series and what convinced you to get on board?
Milad Alami: I was sent the book from Malene Blenkov, the producer of the project, and recognised some themes I had worked with in my features and was interested in exploring further. I didn't know anything about the concrete events or the gang and what happened to them. But overall, the story of Bullshit is a universal and everlasting tale of the need to belong and what it means to build identity. It’s also about how easily one step in the wrong direction may lead to many more [wrong choices]. It also reminded me of some people I knew growing up, who initially where fun being around, but ended up dead or in jail.

The Bullshit MC bikers’ gang was famous in Denmark in the 1980s. What are the core themes that make the period show appealing to a wide audience across borders and generations?
MA: Bullshit is about belonging and how violence can escalate and get out of hand. These are themes that will always be relevant. There are such high stakes in the series, the war with the other bikers’ gangs, but also the war within the characters themselves and in the group. There is something universal which is not only linked to that specific period of time. The same things happen today in other groups, gangs and environments across borders and generations.

How did you work with your cast to get them into character?
MA: It was amazing working with Marco [Ilsø] Alba [August], Vic [Carmen Sonne] and Clint [Ruben]. We had many talks, long rehearsals and I worked in a very collaborative way with them. Marco and Alba, who play the main characters, went so far in the scenes, and did such meticulous preparations, I was blown away by them. The same with Vic and Clint. I love Vic in everything she does, and it was amazing watching her work. Clint, whom we found through casting, was finishing theatre school. I felt like I saw a young Lars Mikkelsen. He had such an intensity and tenderness.

You’ve mentioned that you’ve approached the series as an extended feature film. Could you be more specific about your visual style?
MA: When we wrote the screenplay, we saw it as one long story, split into chapters/episodes, with time passing in between. It was liberating to treat it like a long feature. The story is told with a raw cinema-vérité style camera, 16 mm look, wide angle lenses with long continuous shots. This gives the show a much more modern feeling, I believe.

As a Tehran-born filmmaker, and co-signatory with Nordic filmmakers of a letter in support for Iranian women, I’m curious to hear how you feel about the on-going anti-government protests in Iran and what actions you are taking to continue to amplify the protest?
MA: I feel like I should be there, on the streets protesting against the regime who has held the people of Iran hostage for three generations. What the people are doing in Iran, their uprising and courage, is changing the behaviour in all Iranians. People who were afraid of sharing their critical thoughts about the regime, are now talking without self-censorship. We did a video that went viral where Swedish actors, directors and writers condemned the regime and urged the Swedish government to shut down the Iranian embassy. Everything is appreciated by the Iranian people, so they feel they are not alone. I will use every forum I am given to talk about this. It is the least I can do.”