The Danish animated film Æblet & Ormen (The Apple and the Worm) by Anders Morgenthaler and the Norwegian film Appelsinpiken (The Orange Girl) to be directed by Eva Dahr based on Jostein Gaarder's best-selling novel, are among 11 feature films that have received support from the Council of Europe's Eurimages.
The Apple and the Worm which previously received production support from Nordisk Film & TV Fond and the Danish Film Institute was awarded €300,000 from Eurimages. The family animated film is produced by Sarita Christensen (Copenhagen Bombay), in co-production with Garage Film (Sweden).
Co-written by Morgenthaler and Marie Østerbye, tells the story of Torben, a shiny young apple who dreams of making it to the bright lights of the supermarket fruit section. But his dream is shattered one sunny morning when a worm pokes her head out of his perfect skin. The film is Morgenthaler's third feature film following the adult animation film Princess which screened at Cannes's Directors Fortnight in 2006, and the drama Echo, set to be released in Denmark in December.
The Orange Girl will be Eva Dahr's third feature film following Burning Flowers (1985) and Mars & Venus, one of this year's biggest local hits in Norway (over 130,000 admissions). It is based on Gaarder's eponymous novel which became, with Sophie's World, one of the Norwegian author's most successful novels.
The Orange Girl which was awarded €500,000 from Eurimages, is produced by one of Norway's most experienced producers Axel Helgeland (I Am Dina, Cold Prey), for his own production house Helgeland Film. The project is co-produced with Jaleo Films (Spain) and Tradewind Pictures (Germany) with co-financing from TV2 Norway. Sandrew Metronome will handle domestic distribution and Beta Cinema international sales.