TrustNordisk’s Norwegian competition entry In Order of Disappearance was a huge hit with the media and foreign buyers. So far more than 40 territories have acquired Hans Petter Moland’s comedy including Italy (Teodora Film), Switzerland (Xenix Film), France/Andorra (Chrysalis Films), Benelux (Wildbunch), and Hungary (Vertigo).
Just before its Berlinale Special screening, Pernille Fischer Christensen’s Someone You Love sold to a dozen territories including Australia/New Zealand (Madman Entertainment, Spain/Andorra (Golem), Benelux (Wildbunch and Korea (Atnine). Upcoming titles also received positive responses. Rikke Ennis, the company’s CEO told nordiskfilmogtvfond.com: “The presales market was good as always and we had great reactions to all promos including Susanne Bier’s A Second Chance, Mikkel Nørgaard’s The Absent One and Anders Morgenthaler’s I'm Here and to the scenes showed on Kristian Levring’s Salvation. As for The Shamers Daughter, we will soon be announcing sales made in Berlin and the film is already hyped among buyers based on the script by Anders Thomas Jensen.”
Svensk Filmindustri International also reported brisk sales across its slate. The Danish love story and war epic 1864 was sold to the UK (Arrow Films), Iran (Century 21), Ex-Yugoslavia (Mega Com) on top of a previously announced deal with Lumiere for Benelux. Sales executive Anita Simovic said: “There is plenty of more interest in the project, especially after the screening of another 20 minutes of selected scenes in the market. Tarik Saleh’s Tommy was sold to the UK (Arrow Films), Iran (Century 21) with several deals in negotiations. Already pre-sold to a dozen territories, the Swedish box office hit Waltz for Monica was picked up by the UK (Arrow Films), Colombia and Central America (Cineplex), CIS (Russian Report), and Ex-Yugoslavia (Mega Com).
SF’s rich slate of children’s films also caught buyers’ attention, such as Trio-Odin’s Gold, the Norwegian action thriller series that was sold to Germany (MFA), with interest from countries such as France, Baltics and Benelux. The Jerry Maya trilogy was sold to Poland (Spinka) and Estonia (Estin Film). Finally very strong interest was reported on Filmkameratene’s upcoming projects Børning, the first Norwegian car racing movie and the TV drama series The Heavy Water War, both closed to VIP Media International for Ex-Yugoslavia.
The Yellow Affair’s CEO Miira Paasilinna said she had an ‘extremely busy’ market and reported all rights sales deals on Dome Karukoski’s Heart of a Lion for Czech Republic & Slovakia (Film Europe), Hungary (Vertigo), Australia & New Zealand (Vendetta), Russia (Starlet) and Estonia (EstinFilm) while Simo Halinen’s Open Up to Me was sold to Poland (Aurora Films). Other titles that received good responses are the Generation entry Broken Hill Blues, Finnish documentary Pixadores and Mika Kaurismäki’s upcoming high profile period film The Girl King.
At press time LevelK was still concluding deals on the Generation Danish entry The Contest and Forum selected Free Range by Estonian auteur Veiko Õunpuu. The company’s high profile Australian title The Turning starring Cate Blanchett shown at the Berlinale Special Gala was sold to more than 15 territories and Bille August’s upcoming drama Silent Heart starring Ghita Nørby, Paprika Steen and Pilou Asbæk, was popular EFM addition to LevelK’s slate.
Commenting on the overall market trends, CEO Tine Klint said: “Many people felt the market was rather quiet in terms of deal-making, but not regarding meetings and negotiations on upcoming titles. The core arthouse titles are still facing difficulties with regard to traditional distribution while digital distribution is rapidly growing”.
Among the Non-Nordic based sales companies Cinephil launched the high profile international doc series Cathedrals of Culture that premiered on Wednesday at a Berlinale Special Gala screening. The Wim Wenders initiated homage to landmark buildings gathered a lot of media attention with the presence of Robert Redford alongside Denmark’s Michael Madsen and Norway’s Margreth Olin among the six directors of the 3D series. Cathedrals of Culture has been licenced to over 10 broadcasters including Arte, DR, Canal Plus Spain and Poland.
Gaumont reported major deals on the Danish genre film When Animals Dream sold to The Weinstein Company’s genre label Radius, Altitude (UK), Australia (Madman), Germany (Prokino), and Odeon (Greece). Described as a ‘Let the Right One In meets Carrie’, the horror film produced by Alphaville Pictures Copenhagen stars Sonia Maria Suhl, Jakob Oftebro, Lars Mikkelsen and Sonja Richter.
The Weinstein Company also made headlines by offering the biggest bid ever in Berlin ($7 million) for The Imitation Game, the English language debut of Norwegian director Morten Tyldum (Headhunters).