Based on a script co-written by Halken, Bendixen and Motor co-founder Christian Torpe, Rome is a life-affirming romantic drama about Gerda (Bodil Jørgensen) and Kristoffer (Kristian Halken) who arrive in the Italian capital on an extended weekend-trip to celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary. They are reliving the city together, where Gerda used to study art when she was young. But the trip doesn't go quite as planned, when the couple meet Gerda’s charismatic art teacher and former flame, Johannes (Rolf Lassgård). Kristoffer ends up on the sideline, while Gerda chases her youth in the streets and alleys of Rome to confront the ghosts of the past.

Top crew members include cinematographer Manuel Claro (Melancholia, The Interrogation), editor My Thordal (The Rain, Journal 64), composer Jon Ekstrand (Opponent, Margret-Queen of the North) and production designer Nikolaj Danielsen (Riders of Justice).

Filming in Rome is due to wrap March 17, with an extra day in Denmark scheduled for March 21.

The film is produced by Motor’s Andreas Hjortdal and Jesper Morthorst, in co-production with Italy’s Vivo Film and Sweden’s GimmeABreak, with co-financing from TV2 Denmark, SVT, support from The Danish Film Institute, The Swedish Film Institute and Eurimages.

Scanbox will handle the domestic release in 2024.

Rome is one of two major Motor productions going into production in 2023, with the anticipated thriller drama Stranger, set in the Danish Stone Age. Mads Hedegaard’s directorial debut based on a script by Jesper Fink is due to start filming in July. Tagged as The Revenant meets Embrace of the Serpent, the film is co-produced with Hungary’s Proton Cinema and Norway’s Mer Film.