Hope and Wildland among first Nordic Berlinale feature entries

The Norwegian film Hope (Håp) starring Andrea Bræin Hovig and Stellan Skarsgård will have its European premiere at the 70^th Berlinale unspooling February 20-March 1, 2020.

Sødahl’s personal drama is currently playing on Norwegian screens via SF Studios and seduced nearly 40,000 filmgoers after four weeks. The film is produced by Motlys in co-production with Oslo Pictures, Zentropa Sweden, with support among others from Nordisk Film & TV Fond.

Sales agent TrustNordisk has closed deals so far with Spain, Benelux, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and South Korea.

The Danish contemporary crime drama Wildland (Kød & Blod) by debut director Nordahl, will have its world premiere in Berlin. Sandra Guldberg Kampp plays Ida (17) who moves in with her aunt Bodil (Sidse Babett Knudsen) and cousins (Joachim Fjelstrup, Elliott Crosset Hove) when her mother dies. The new home is filled with physical tenderness and love, but outside, the family leads a violent and criminal life. The drama produced by Snowglobe is sold by Paris-based Bac Films. The domestic release via Scanbox is set for March 21, 2020.

Sweden is repped by the short film animation Something to Remember (Något att minnas) by Niki Lindroth von Bahr, screening at the Generation 14Plus sidebar. The rest of the programme will be announced over the next weeks.

The Berlinale is run for the first time by executive director Marietter Rissenbeek and artistic director Carlo Chatrian. Among the new measures they have introduced is the inclusion of the non-competitive films in the Berlinale Special section, with Matteo Garrone’s Pinocchio as first entry and the introduction of a new Documentary Film Award endowed with a €40,000 cash prize to be shared between the director and the producer. The award ceremony will be held at the Berlinale Palast on February 29, 2020.