An outstanding line up of 15 projects from 20 Nordic graduating students were pitched at last week’s Nordic Talents. We’ve picked a sample of emerging voices.
The 19th pitching and networking event Nordic Talents was held September 4-5, 2019 at the National Film School of Denmark, co-host of the event with Nordisk Film & TV Fond.
PATRICIA BBAALE BANDAK (director, DK)
Nordic talents Pitch Prize winner 2019
Graduate from the National Film School of Denmark
Bandak arrived in Denmark from Uganda aged two, as a refugee, with her eight siblings, her father and grandmother. They were the first African family to settle in Nykøping on the island of Falster.
Bandak’s interest in film started with stills photography. After studying film -peace and conflict at Malmö University, she enrolled at the National Film School of Denmark. Her graduation film Villa Villekulla is inspired by her own upbringing on the island of Falster, where she and her eight siblings often had to look after themselves. "When children raise children, fun things happen," says Bandak.
In the film, we follow the siblings, as they mix Danish traditions for meals and games, with Ugandan prayers, dances and songs. Playful moments alternate with painful intimate conversations between them, as they open up about their own experiences of dealing with trauma, pain, and the lack of adult supervision.
Bandak is the first female director of African origin to graduate from the National Film School of Denmark.
Inspirations: “I get inspirations from all types of content, such as the TV drama Black Earth Rising. My big idol is Joshua Oppenheimer. His film The Act of Killing was a huge inspiration and convinced me to move from fiction to non-fiction.
Vision: “I’m interested in telling intimate stories, that trigger debates in society”
Project pitched: Better I Go Suffer (documentary film)
“My graduation film is about what we don’t talk about in my family. We grew up not discussing the trauma of coming out of Uganda. But with this film, I look at the things that were too difficult to look at,” says the director. “My mum was murdered when I was very young. My dad witnessed it in our home in Uganda. We all had to leave the country to go to Denmark. I don’t remember much, so the film will investigate how my mother was murdered; it will be a personal journey about getting to know her and myself."
Bandak continues: “My family being quite unique, there will be humour, lightness and light as well. That’s the way we have dealt with our own trauma.”
Katrin Björgvinsdöttir (director) and Mie Skjoldemose (writer)
Winners of the Nordic Talents Special Mention Prize 2019
Graduates from the National Film School of Denmark
KATRIN BJÖRGVINSDÖTTIR
Björgvinsdöttir held various jobs in film in her native Iceland, from second assistant director (Jitters, Revolution Reykjavik), line producer (Case) to writer and producer (Hae gosi). “I had a dream of becoming a director but wasn’t confident. Then I worked in advertising, hated it and simply felt the urge to turn my dream into reality. So I applied to the directing course at the National Film School of Denmark and got in,” says Björgvinsdöttir.
Her graduation film Queen Ingrid is inspired by the director’s own experience of being single. Ingrid (34) works in a lingerie shop. She has been single since she was 17, now her parents are getting a divorce. For the first time, she realises that her biggest wish is rather banal: she wants a boyfriend.
Inspirations: Hlynur Pálmason, Benedikt Erlingsson.
MIE SKJOLDEMOSE
Skjoldemose held various roles on film sets (including post-production intern on When Animal Dreams) before turning to screenwriting. She studied media and film science at University, then screenwriting at 18 Frames, and ultimately joined the National Film School of Denmark.
Vision: Björgvinsdöttir and Skjoldemose want to tell stories that look at everyday life and situations in a slightly different and honest way, so that people can feel engaged and emotionally involved. They will use a feminist viewpoint, in a playful way.
Project pitched: Queen Ingrid (TV drama series)
The project is a long-form format of Björgvinsdöttir and Skjoldemose’s graduation film. Ingrid (34) is a single alpha-female who has never been in a relationship. When her best friend moves out to start a family, Ingrid feels all alone and decides she wants to find love before it's too late.
Katarina Lundquist (director) and Tobias Dahl Orderud (art director)
Graduates from The Animation Workshop (DK)
KATARINA LUNDQUIST
Born in 1993 in Norway, Lundquist had a passion for comics from an early age, which evolved into an interest for photography and filmmaking. She studied media and communication at Oslo’s Ullern High School, took a course of classical drawing at Viborg’s drawing Academy in Denmark before joining The Animation Workshop.
Her graduation film Forget-Me-Not (Forglemmegei) tells of a friendship between a troll and an old man, living in a cabin in the middle of the forest. Rooted in Norwegian folklore, it’s also a tale of loss and grief. Shortlisted for the BAFTA student awards, the film won the audience award at Frame by Frame Festival and screened at Animafest Zabreb’s student competition programme.
Inspirations: Perfect Blue by Satoshi Kon, Ivo Caprino.
TOBIAS DAHL ORDERUD
Norwegian-born Orderud has an education in classic drawing from the Drawing Academy in Viborg, Denmark and entered The Animation Workshop in 2014. He works with concept design, painting, illustration, and 3D.
He was technical art director on the animated short Reverie by Philip Piaget, which toured numerous festivals. Inspired by Mexican mythology and the work of Andrew Wyeth, the film tells of a boy, tormented with grief, who battles an inescapable beast, in a desolated countryside.
Inspirations: Tonko House’s Oscar-nominated short film The Dam Keeper, Anomalisa by Duke Johnson and Charlie Kaufman, and Norway’s legendary Ivo Caprino’s Pinchcliffe Grand Prix (Flåklypa Grand Prix).
Vision: Orderud and Lundquist want to tell visually-engaging stories that matter and entertain, deeply rooted in Nordic culture.
Project pitched: PROJECT RIP (animation)
Two young women find themselves trapped in limbo after dying in separate accidents. As they get to know each other, the truths about their previous lives begin to unravel in the pursuit of moving on to the afterlife.
ASSA RYTTER (director)
Graduate from the National Film School of Denmark
Rytter grew up in a household where both her Danish father and Czech mother – a painter– were film buffs who introduced her to world cinema from a young age. Initially interested in a career in acting, Rytter eventually turned to documentary filmmaking.
Her graduation film Manifest is about wanting to be free and to rebel against collective legacy. Rytter turns the camera towards herself, to try to capture where her anger comes from. At the same time, her mother paints her portrait. Conversations between them about shame, sexuality, identity, gradually evolve into an intimate portrait of legacy between a mother and a daughter.
Inspiration: Viktor Kossakovski’s !Vivan las antipodas!
Vision: “Trust your personal story. If it’s relevant to you it will be to others”
Project pitched: The Beetle Hunters (documentary series)
The documentary is an educational and entertaining series about the world of insects through the work of Rytter’s scientist brother and his colleagues.
Amanda Adele Björk (writer/director) and Kaja Haidl (producer)
Graduates from Stockholm’s Academy of Dramatic Arts
AMANDA ADELE BJÖRK
Björk’s interest for photography evolved into a passion for filmmaking. She joined the production company Lampray AB and worked as production manager on the award-winning Swedish short film and viral sensation Kung Fury by David Sandberg. Björk also founded the feminist film collective Lynx Studios, campaigning for gender equality. Her graduation fiction film To Discharge, a drama with comic undertones, follows a couple, Ingrid and August, as they attend an alternative psychology camp to try to fix their relationship. The gap between them widens, as Ingrid is gradually isolated from the rest of the group. But who is sane and who is insane?
Inspirations: Lars von Trier, Andrea Arnold, Stanley Kubrick
KAJSA HAIDL
Haidl has a wide experience in the cultural scene in Sweden, as experienced music journalist, editor and DJ, She has worked across digital, TV, radio, film and print media for companies including SVT and the leading newspaper Dagens Nyheter. She studied art history at Lund University and enrolled at Stockholm’s Academy of Dramatic Arts in 2016. She was also co-editor and co-director with Lucas Fratini of the graduation film Polaris.
Vision: Haidl and Björk want to create character-driven films that do not shy away from difficult and taboo subjects, using dark humour and a strong visual style.
Project pitched: Hysterika (feature film)
Inspired by Amanda Adele Björk’s own experience of dealing with mental issues, the film follows up on the director’s graduation film To Discharge. The main character Ingrid vanishes from life into mental illness. She is institutionalised and put into a mental ward, before finding her true self and freedom.
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