Kim Fupz Aakeson is among five screenwriters competing for the Nordisk Film & TV Fond Prize-Best Screenplay of a Nordic drama series. The winner will be announced on February 3^rd during the virtual edition of Göteborg’s TV Drama Vision.

Aakeson is one of Denmark’s most established and versatile writers, working not only for film and television, but also as an author of plays, books for children and youth, and as an illustrator.

The former alumnus of the National Film School of Denmark has written over 40 screenplays since the mid-90s. He had his breakthrough with Susanne Bier’s hit comedy feature The One and Only (1999) and fruitful collaborations with top directors over the years notably with Annette K. Olesen (A Soap) and Pernille Fischer Christensen (A Family).

He also wrote the screenplays of the acclaimed noir comedies A Somewhat Gentle Man and In Order of Disappearance, both directed by Hans Petter Moland for Paradox. His previous TV series was DR’s Broke (Bankerot).

The quirky comedy drama Welcome to Utmark (Velkommen til Utmark) is set somewhere up north in the wilderness, in a remote spot, Utmark, that lives by its own rules. There we meet a set of eccentric and flawed characters - a corrupt sheriff, cross-dressing farmer, possessed shopkeeper, alcoholic shepherd, nature-loving bootlegger, God-hating pastor, even a grieving pimp. And everyone knows everyone.

In some of the title roles are Tobias Santelman (The Last Kingdom, Out Stealing Horses), Stig Henrik Hoff (The River, Beforeigners), Alma Günther (Side by Side) and Marie Blokhus (The 12^th Man).

The series is directed by Iceland’s Dagur Kári (The Good Heart, Virgin Mountain) for Paradox producers Finn Gjerdrum, Stein Kvæ and HBO Europe.

The show will premiere this year across HBO Europe territories.

What does it mean for you to be nominated for Best Nordic Screenplay with Welcome to Utmark, a truly Nordic TV show, produced in Norway, for HBO Nordic, with you as a Danish writer, an Icelandic director and a Nordic cast & crew?
Kim Fupz Aakeson: Oh, we have been with this series, the idea, the drafts, the notes, the actors, the editing, for a long time and at some point, it’s hard to know what’s at hand, is it good, is it okay, does anyone outside the crew find this appealing? Hard to keep a clear, fresh eye on a project like this, size does matter, so this nomination feels like a welcome light in the mist.

When did you first understand that fiction writing was an essential part of your life?
KFA: I started up as an illustrator way back in my 20’s, that was where my ambition thrived, and I only began writing short stories to have something to illustrate - children's books - and slowly I drifted towards writing, more and more hungry and targeted on storytelling, and after some years doing both pics and words, I felt I had to choose between the two, and fiction writing it was!

What type of stories are you drawn to?
KFA: It seems I am too greedy to limit myself when it comes to stories. I still write children's books, I write novels, shorts stories, feature film and series and also mood-wise, I am all over the place, feel-good, feel-bad, drama, comedy, dramedy, you name it! I think life has all these emotions, lows, highs and countless shades of grey, and they are all attractive to explore telling a story.

What are the pros and cons of writing for television vs writing for film?
KFA: Again, size does matter, a TV series is a big one, with lots of writing, lots of re-writing. You also have an eye on a possible second season, so there are lots of strings and knots to tie or loosen up. It’s at the same time overwhelming and rich, you can really get around the smaller characters, have detours, take your time when its needed. And you can get lost in the woods.

A feature film is a more tight and straight job, a story where you are aiming to make a point in the end and tie the knot. It can be quite fulfilling and at the same time feel a bit claustrophobic or limited.

How did you get involved in Welcome to Utmark? Did you come up with the idea?
KFA: I wrote two feature films for Paradox, A Somewhat Gentle Man and In Order of Disappearance, and I had an idea for a third one, a war between a sheep farmer and a guy with a big dog, set in the harsh north. While it was still just a synopsis, my producer, Finn Gjerdrum, asked if I could think of the story as a series instead. And I could.

Very much like In Order of Disappearance, A Somewhat Gentle Man, Welcome to Utmark is an oddball comedy set in a snowy outback, with an overriding theme of revenge. Could you detail your writing process-how you’ve developed the characters and mixed the Nordic noir with Western conventions?
KFA: We pitched HBO the basic plot of the two men, mixed with some elements of crime and had a pretty clear answer: Keep the men, loose the crime and give us characters enough to populate a small city. Losing the crime was a great relief (I am really bad at crime!) and we started thinking western - priest, sheriff, teacher, saloon, brothel, booze, guns…I don’t think it would have worked in a narrow Danish setting, but Norway has the space, the nature, the untouched.

From there, we lined up characters and then connected them as siblings, as married or divorced, as partners in business, as players around a poker table, and had the basic story from the synopsis unfold in this world.

Beyond the theme of revenge as the engine for the plot, would you say that search for love from the various characters is what gives the series its universal dimension?
KFA: Yeah, revenge is kind of a dead end, you can’t really go anywhere fruitful if you go down that road. Revenge calls for revenge, but combine it with a longing and desire for love, you suddenly have something to work with, and lighter place to head towards.

Was the full script finished when shooting started, or did you continue to write some episodes while shooting was progressing, adapting some scenes from the energy on the set?
KFA: The basics where written, from episode 1 to 8, full drafts approved by HBO, but a lot of things emerge during such a long period of shooting. New ideas, good questions from actors, unforeseen problems and time-saving issues popped up along the way. So Dagur [Kári] would call me and we would agree on rewrites, sometimes on very short notice. Luckily I am pretty fast when I have to be.

How was it to work with Dagur Kári?
KFA: We never worked together before, but I am a great fan of his features and know he masters this delicate balance between humour and tragedy. He knows when a character should talk and when a pause tells you more, and having him commit to all eight episodes was also a really big thing. I know from the series I did for DR some years ago [Bankerot/Broke], that it’s not that easy when new directors get on board and have to adapt to the given tone and melody of the former episodes made by someone else.

So even though a lot was in place when Dagur came on, many things changed for the better during shooting. You should never underestimate the ideas that pop up on set, when actors start looking into their character, when the first dailies roll in.

What’s next for you?
KFA: Well, I do hope for a second season. We’ve made the arrangements and the groundwork; we would like to give some of the characters from season one more space and story, change the view somewhat and stay fresh. But that’s all in the hands of the audience and HBO.

In what way has the pandemic impacted your life and work?
KFA: We were finished shooting at the first lockdown, luckily, but editing was of course hit hard. Usually I join the director and the editor, we bounce ideas and thoughts and try to come up with solutions together. This time, all the discussions were zoomed or on mail and I miss the good old process of an enclosed editing room with limited oxygen and bad coffee :)

But besides that, life has looked the same. I basically sit at home and write - pandemic or no pandemic. At the moment my daughters school is closed, so a little home-schooling and math is sneaking in, but this too shall pass ...

Can you cite the top 3 TV shows (Nordic or non-Nordic) that you’ve watched recently?
KFA: Your Honour and before that I ate the fourth season of Fargo, and the fourth season of The Crown.