The NRK/Arte’s premium show Countrymen and Elisa Viihde’s Mister 8 are both running against 8 high-end international series in the long-form competition in Cannes.
For its fourth edition, the TV festival Canneseries will be running from October 8-13, alongside the fall TV market MIPCOM in Cannes, and not its original MIPTV spring slot, due to Covid-19.
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau presides over the jury of the long-form series competition.
The programme comprises 10 long-running series selected out of 194 submissions, 10 short-form series chosen from 58 candidates, and 4 out-of-competition shows.
The Nordics have again a privileged spot with three strong offerings in totally different genres.
Norway’s Countrymen (Jordbrukerne) making its world premiere in Cannes, is produced by Rubicon for NRK, in co-production with Arte, support from the Norwegian Film Institute and Nordisk Film & TV Fond. Banijay Rights handles global distribution.
The eight-part TV show was created and written by the award-winning Izer Aliu (Hunting Flies, To Guard a Mountain) alongside Rubicon’s creative director Anne Bjørnstad, co-creator of Beforeigners and Lillyhammer. Splitting the directing duties were concept director Aliu and rising talents Brwa Vahabpour (Nordic Talents Special Mention winner 2018) and Aurora Gassé (Tainted).
The ensemble cast comprises Nader Khademi (Ninjababy, Beforeigners), Ayaz Hussain (Kasim Bæder), Jonas Strand Gravli (Ragnarok, Wisting, July 22) Arben Bala (Exit, Lilyhammer) and newcomer Erika Strand Mamelund.
The satirical drama features four young men with dubious plans, who move to a farm in the Norwegian countryside. More or less against their will, they end up as the founders of Norway's first halal cheesemaking business.
Speaking to nordicfilmandtvnews.com, NRK Head of Drama Ivar Køhn said: “I am very happy that Canneseries has selected a show like Countrymen this year. In my opinion, it’s an original mix between a warm drama and satirical comedy, and it's a highly relevant story about finding a meaning in life where you least expect it. It feels both provocative and very human.”
The series will premiere on NRK October 21.
Finland’s Mister8 was created by producer Jani Pösö and director Teemu Nikki, behind the Venice Orizzonti Extra Audience Award winning film A Blind Man Who Didn’t Want to See Titanic. The eight-part series commissioned by Finland’s streamer Eisa Viihde, was written by Vesa Virtanen, with Antero Jokinen and Nikki. Federation Entertainment handles global distribution.
Tagged as Finland’s first neo-noir love story, Mister8 follows engineer Juho (Pekka Strang) who falls in love with a mysterious woman, Maria (Krista Kosonen). Crazy about her, Juho is ready to commit, but he has to accept certain conditions: she already has seven men in her life-one for every day of the week.
‘’We are always looking for high concept shows, and the promise of Mister8 is both clear and fascinating,” said Monica Levy, co-Head of International sales at Federation.” It is an amazing series that has all the ingredients to attract both traditional broadcasters and platforms: a feminist and hilarious comedy-drama with very modern themes; a strong and innovative artistic proposition; a universal concept, with a strong format potential. “
The show premiered on the leading Finnish streamer Elisa Viihde January 31, 2021.
Meanwhile the Norwegian YA short series About Saturday (Etter Lørdag) commissioned by TV2 was produced by the established production outfit Maipo (State of Happiness).
Written and directed by Liv Mari Ulla Mortensen, the 12-part 4-12 minutes show focuses on the tough theme of sexual abuse and guilt.
After a boozy Saturday night, 22-year-old Klara (Darin Hagi) wakes up and realises she has been abused in her apartment after a date. Ashamed and feeling guilty, she says nothing to her friends Mohammed and Lotte and starts to question if she doesn’t bear some responsibility for what happened.
The TV show which premiered on TV2 Play in June received positive reviews in the Norwegian press.
Mortensen said she is proud to have her series selected at Canneseries. “It's absolutely amazing! We have had great ambitions all the way, but have also had a modest budget, we filmed during a pandemic and worked on a complicated topic. It will be fantastic to see my debut series in Cannes,” she said.
Canneseries will open with the French show from Canal+ All the Way Up season 2 and close with the cult Italian mafia show Gomorra-The Final, produced by Sky Studios, Cattleya, in association with Beta Film which handles sales.
The awards ceremony will be held October 13.
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