Faithless, The Summer Book, The Children of Silver Street among Fund recipients

PRODUCTION SUPPORT

Feature Films

• The Children of Silver Street (Børnene fra Sølvgade)
  Grant: NOK 1,500,000
  Recipient: Rocket Road Pictures, Denmark
  Producer: Stephanie Wiese
  Director: Mehdi Avaz
  Writer: Renée Toft Simonsen based on her book
  Cast: Anders W. Berthelsen, Jakob Fauerby, Ida Skelbæk-Knudsen, Alfred Nordhøj Kann
  Domestic distribution: Nordisk Film
  
  Logline: Katinka (11) lives alone with her siblings Tristan, Kirk and Petra in Silver Street. When the school inspector starts to question their always absent parents, the four kids come up with a cunning plan to avoid being sent to an orphanage. They will hire a housekeeper. When their choice falls on the colourful Miss Nelly - a male maid in a skirt and high heels - the plan changes completely.
  
  Filming has just started on the family film co-financed by TV2 Denmark, and supported by the Danish Film Institute and the West Danish Film Fund. Nordisk Film Distribution will handle the release set for the fall 2024.
  
  (Photo caption above: From back left: Dick Kaysø, Mehdi Avaz, Jakob Fauerby, Anders W. Berthelsen and Renée Toft Simonsen. From left front: Alfred Rivera, Alfred Nordhøj Kann, Ida Skelbæk-Knudsen and Amelia Ahmad Abdullatif).
• The Summer Book
  Grant: NOK 1,800,000
  Recipient: Helsinki filmi, Finland
  Producers: Aleksi Bardy, Helen Vinogradov
  Director: Charlie McDowell
  Writer: Robert Jones, based on Tove Jansson’s classic novel
  Cast: Glenn Close, Anders Danielsen Lie, Pekka Strang, Alma Pöysti
  Domestic distribution: Aurora Studios
  
  Logline: The film follows the inspirational tale of a young girl and her grandmother spending a summer on a small, uninhabited island in the Gulf of Finland.
  
  The major international feature is produced by Helsinki-filmi with Kevin Loader of Free Range Films, Alex Orlovsky of Case Study Films, Kath Mattock of Stille Productions, and Duncan Montgomery of High Frequency Entertainment in the US.
• Arru
  Grant: NOK 1,000,000
  Recipient: Stær Film, Norway
  Producer: Elisa Pirir Ruiz
  Director: Elle Sofe Sara
  Writers: Johan Fasting, Elle Sofe Sara
  Domestic distribution: Scandinavian Film Distribution
  
  Logline: ÁRRU is a Sami joik musical about Maia a reindeer herder who joins the fight against the destruction of the reindeer grazing area. As the fight escalates, Maia is confronted with the reality that their leader is an abuser. She faces a difficult choice: stay quiet and save her family heritage, or speak up and stop the abuse in the community?
  
  Sara who is an experienced choreographer said: “The musical format is an effective way to show emotions and thoughts. Árru thematises the silence surrounding abuse within communities. Through song you can express yourself differently than through normal dialogue and it becomes a way for Maia to free herself and use her own voice to stand up for the injustice.”
  
  The feature set to start filming in 2024, is co-produced by Sweden’s Garagefilm and Finland’s It’s Alive Films, with co-financing from YLE, NRK, SVT, support from the Norwegian Film Institute, the International Sami Film Institute, New Dawn, the Finnish Film Foundation, the Swedish Film Institute, and Filmfond Nord.

• Where the Light Comes In (Kærlighedens triumph)
  Grant: NOK 1,500,000
  Recipient: Snowglobe, Denmark
  Details to be announced at a later date.
• When Mumbo Jumbo Grew Giant
  Grant: NOK 1,500,000
  Recipient: A Film Production, Denmark
  Producer: Anders Mastrup
  Director: Karsten Kiilerich
  Domestic distribution: Nordisk Film
  Sales: LevelK
  
  Logline: When Mumbo Jumbo magically grows giant he has to go on a perilous journey with his three friends. They need to find the scary witch Baba Yaga so she can make him small again, and maybe the journey has made Mumbo Jumbo bigger on the inside than he was!
  
  The 3D animation film is an adaptation of the children’s book ‘When Mumbo Jumbo Grew Giant’ by multi-awarded author/illustrator Jakob Martin Strid (The Incredible Story of the Giant Pear). The film has received support from the Danish Film Institute, the West Danish Film Fund, and DR. The national premiere is set for 2025.

DRAMA SERIES

• Faithless (Trolösa)
  Format: 6x45’
  Grant: NOK 3,600,000
  Recipient: Miso Film, Sweden
  Producers: Christian Rank, Peter Bose, Jonas Allen
  Main writer: Sara Johnsen
  Director: Tomas Alfredson
  Cast: Jesper Christensen, Lena Endre, Frida Gustavsson, Gustav Lindh
  Commissioner: SVT
  Sales: Fremantle
  
  Logline: The love triangle between David, Marianne and Markus based on Ingmar Bergman’s original script, is told in two time periods. In the present-day storyline, the renowned director David Howard (73), is reunited with his former great love, actress Marianne Vogler (75). Together, they reminisce about their previous relationship and its painful consequences, not just for themselves, but for their families. In the main storyline set 40 years earlier, we follow the young David and Marianne as they fall in love and embark on a passionate love affair, kept secret as Marianne is married to David’s best friend Markus Vogler.
  
  The series co-produced by Arte France, has received co-financing from DR, NRK, Yle and RÚV.

• Heajastallan-A Sámi Wedding Party (Heajastallan-bryllupsfesten)
  Format: 8X30’
  Grant: NOK 2,500,000
  Recipient: Mer Film, Norway
  Producers: Eric Vogel, Maria Ekerhovd, Nina Figenschow
  Main writer: Åse Kathrin Voulab
  Director: Pål Jackman
  Commissioner: NRK
  
  Logline: Dark comedy series about a dysfunctional family coming together to host a traditional Sámi wedding in Kautokeino.
  
  The series is produced by Mer Film with Tordenfilm and Forest People, with support from the Norwegian Film Institute, International Sámi Film Institute, and Creative Europe MEDIA Programme. The premiere is scheduled for 2025.
• The Hedge of the World
  Format: 26x7’
  Grant: NOK 1,000,000
  Recipient: Tall & Small, Denmark
  Main writers: Jannik Tai Mosholt, Rune Schjøtt-Wieth
  Director: Esben Toft Jacobsen
  Commissioner: DR
  
  Logline: Not all heroes wear hero hats that unfold into maps full of hero quests. There is one little hero who does though. Only problem is, he is scared of everything. Luckily for him his best friend is scared of nothing. She might be a perfectly ordinary human girl, but she is just the ordinary no-hat-wearing hero a hat-wearing hero needs to do real hero stuff.
  
  The animation series from the acclaimed director of The Great Bear and Beyond Beyond is co-produced by Snowcloud Films, Vi Glæder Os Preben, Nørlum, with co-financing from DR, SVT, NRK, YLE, RÚV, The West Danish Film Fund and Newen Connect.

DOCUMENTARIES

• I Belong to Nowhere
  Grant: NOK 600,000
  Recipient: Good Company Pictures, Denmark
  Producers: Katrine A. Sahlstrøm, Maria Helga Stürup
  Director: Kaspar Astrup Schröder
  Domestic distribution: DR
  
  Logline: Multi-character, universal story about loneliness. Set in modern Japan, the film centres around a mental health hotline, where a group of young volunteers are chatting with thousands in need, every single day.
  
  The film is co-produced by Sweden’s Memento Film, with co-financing from DR, SVT, VGTV, support from the Danish Film Institute and the Swedish Film Institute. Delivery is slated for early 2025.

• Tax Wars
  Grant: NOK 800,000
  Recipient: Mechanix Film, Norway
  Director: Hege Dehli
  Domestic distribution: NRK
  Logline: Tax Wars takes viewers behind the scenes of a global effort to put people before profit, hold multinationals accountable and demand that the world's most powerful and richest companies and billionaires ‘pay their fair share of taxes’.
  
  Among the famous activists and economists that Dehli is following are Eva Joly, Thomas Piketty, Joseph Stieglitz, Jayati Ghosh, Irene Ovonji-Odida and Magdalena Sepúlveda. The film is co-produced by France’s Yuzu Productions.

DISTRIBUTION AND DUBBING SUPPORT

• NOK 280,000 in slate distribution to Fidalgo, Norway.
• NOK 270,000 in slate distribution to Iceland’s Bío Paradís for the release of the Danish film Unruly, Finnish film Fallen Leaves and Norwegian film Dancing Queen.
• NOK 200,000 to Studio Show Entertainment, Sweden for the release of the Norwegian animation film A Mystery on the Cattle Hill Express.
• NOK 160,000 to SF Studios, Norway for the release of the Swedish animation film Who Are You, Mamma Moo?
• NOK 150,000 to Nordisk Film, Sweden for the release of the Danish film Unruly.
• NOK 150,000 to SF Studios, Sweden for the dubbing of the children’s film Nelly Rapp-The Secret of the Black Forest.
• NOK 120,000 to SF Studios, Norway for the distribution of the Swedish film Together 99.
  

INDUSTRY INITIATIVES SUPPORT

• NOK 420,000 to Nordisk Panorama Industry 2023.
• NOK 150,000 to the International Sámi Film Institute for the Indigenous Film Conference 2023.
• NOK 70,000 to the European Film Promotion for their Film Sales Support 2023.