Icelandic Cold, Norwegian co-pro Mr K, headline LevelK’s Cannes slate

The directorial debut of Belgium’s Paloma Sermon-Daï has been added to LevelK’s Cannes slate
due to temporary cooperation with the Greek sales outfit Heretic Sales.

Scheduled to world premiere at the Cannes sidebar May 19, It’s Raining in the House is a coming-of-age drama, set by a tourist lake in the midst of a hot and stormy summer. Purdey (17) and her younger brother Makenzy walk the line between experiencing adolescence, finding love and fending for themselves.

LevelK’s own pick-ups to be discussed in Cannes by Tine Klint’s sales team include the Icelandic crime drama Cold by Erlingur Thoroddsen. The feature based on the novel Kuldi by seasoned crime author Yrsa Sigurðardóttir (I Remember You) is currently in post-production, with a domestic release via Sena set for October 2023.

The story centres on Óðinn Hafsteinsson who lives alone with his daughter Rún. As he investigates decades old deaths at a juvenile treatment centre, he begins to suspect that the sinister secrets he uncovers are connected to his ex-wife's mysterious suicide, as well to his teen daughter’s strange behaviour.

In the title roles are Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson (Succession, Vikings-Valhalla) Ólöf Halla Jóhannesdóttir, Halldóra Geirharðsdóttir (Woman at War), and Sara Dögg Ásgeirsdóttir (Summerlight and then Comes the Night, Fractures).

“We have a promo and a script ready to show buyers,” said Levelk’s managing director Klint who picked up the title at an early stage from production mogul Sigurjón Sighvatsson and Compass Film’s Heather Millard. The film was backed by Nordisk Film & TV Fond.

Also headlining LevelK’s Cannes slate is the Dutch surrealistic drama Mr K by Tallulah Schwab, about a travelling magician who checks into a remote hotel and finds out that the walls are alive and the hotel is shrinking, preventing him from leaving.

The international cast includes Crispin Glover (Back to the Future), Sunnyi Melles, (Triangle of Sadness) and Björn Sundquist (Wild Men, Here is Harold). The Dutch/Belgium/Norwegian co-production led by Lemming Film is co-produced by Norway’s Turid Øversveen among others.

Other Nordic titles on LevelK’s Cannes slate take in Axel Pétersen’s Shame on Dry Land, currently in post-production and Iceland’s thriller Natatorium by Helena Magneudóttir, voted Best Nordic Project at the last Finnish Film Affair.

The sales company is also representing two new Czech features ready for delivery this month: the stop-motion animated Tony, Shelly and the Magic Light due to screen in competition in Annecy, and the period drama We Have Never Been Modern.