The anticipated Norwegian and Danish documentaries are among five Nordic films set to screen at New-York’s leading film festival unspooling June 9-20.

After much delay in the film’s launch due to the pandemic, the Norwegian film A-ha the Movie produced by Motlys, will world premiere at the prestigious film festival co-founded by Robert de Niro, which will take place in person at various New York boroughs.

“Tribeca and New York is a brilliant arena for the world premiere of the film, 36 years after ‘Take On Me’ topped the American charts. We look forward to sharing the film about Norway's biggest pop culture icons with the audience, both in New York and here at home” said Motlys producer Yngve Sæther.

Directed by Thomas Robsahm with Aslaug Holm who followed the band from 2016 to 2020, the film tells the full story of how three young Norwegians - Morten Harket, Magne Furuholmen and Paul Waaktaar - followed their dreams of becoming mega pop stars, still selling out arenas to this day.

The film is coproduced by Fenris Film, Norway, Germany’s Neue Impuls and music film production outfit Kinescope. The Norwegian premiere via Euforia is scheduled for June 18. First Hand Films has already licensed the film to numerous territories including Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Belgium, Finland, Israel, Sweden and South Korea.

The Lost Leonardo by Andreas Koefoed follows the battle over the fate of the Salvator Mundi, an ancient painting of Christ that, after its reappearance, was considered a long-lost Leonardo da Vinci masterpiece and became embroiled in an economic and geopolitical dispute. The film was produced by Andreas Dalsgaard for Elk Film, in co-production with France’s Pumpernickel Film and Sweden’s Mantaray Film. Dogwoof Film Sales recently licensed the film to Sony Picture Classics in the US.

Both A-Ha the Movie and The Lost Leonardo will be showcased at Tribeca’s Spotlight Documentary section for high profile premieres, alongside nine films including the Stockholm Syndrome about rapper A$AP Rocky who was jailed in Sweden on an assault charge.

Mirroring the international appeal of Nordic documentaries across opposite spectrum, the low budget Swedish entry The Scars of Ali Boulala and Netflix Original Norwegian coming of age Sisters on Track will screen respectively in the Documentary Competition and Viewpoint strands.

The Scars of Ali Boulala by debut director Max Eriksson, is produced by Mario Adamson for Sisyfos Film. The film charters the rise and fall of skateboarder Ali Boulala, as he recovers from his drug and alcohol addiction.

Spotlighting different sports prodigies, Sisters on Track tells the inspiring fairytale-like story of the US Sheppard sisters, three young-Brooklyn-based track and field athletes, who overcame adversity, and moved away from their life in a shelter with their mother, thanks to self-empowerment and training on and off the track from their no-nonsense coach Jean Bell. The film co-directed by Corinne van der Borch and Tone Grøttjord is produced by Sant & Usant for Netflix, the first time ever a Norwegian documentary is ordered as Netflix Original for worldwide distribution.

Meanwhile the Danish feature film Wild Men (Vildmænd) by Thomas Daneskov, will screen in the competitive International Narrative programme. The black comedy stars Rasmus Bjerg as man suffering from a mid-life crisis who heads into the Norwegian mountains, away from his family, with the intention of living like a Neanderthal-like man. But his project turns upside down with he meets Musa (Zaki Youssef), a drug runner, lost in the forest after a car accident. The film is produced by The Guilty’s Lina Flint for Nordisk Film Spring. The domestic release is set for October 28, 2021.

A total of 66 films from 54 countries were selected for Tribeca, out of nearly 3,000 submissions. More than 60% of the films are directed by women, BIPOC, and LGBTQ+ filmmakers.