Jakob Abrahamsson and Patrik Andersson launch genre-bending Mylla Films

Launched today on the opening of the Cannes Film Festival, Mylla Films is meant to fill a gap on the Swedish market of high-quality and high-concept genre projects, already available in the neighbouring Scandi countries, as explained to nordicfimandtvnews.com by seasoned producer Andersson, formerly Head of Development at B-Reel Films (BR.F).

“We will make sure our projects will challenge genre filmmaking and bring to Sweden -and the world - the bold and original projects that we’ve seen so far coming out of Denmark, Norway or even Finland,” said Andersson, a long-time genre fan.

Andersson who co-created, developed and produced Ari Aster’s cult film Midsommar for BR.F, says his journey with the film triggered his desire to exploit more stories based on Scandinavian myths and sagas. “With Mylla Films, we will aim to create worlds that hit global audiences with wonder, yet make sure to keep our feet in the Scandinavian soil,” he said.

The Swedish producer who has known Abrahamsson for almost three decades, says the seasoned distributor - also co-owner of the prestigious arthouse cinema Capitol in Stockholm - was the first to approach him with the idea for the supernatural thriller Hoin, one of Mylla Films’ upcoming projects. Since last fall, the two have been planning the launch of their company.

Asked if NonStop Entertainment would have a first look deal with Mylla Films, Andersson said: “No, Mylla Films is fully independent. We will work with the distributors that are best-suited for each project.”

"Mylla is Swedish for fertile soil, epitomising a hands-on, home-grown and tactile approach that we believe will benefit the kind of ideas and universes currently sprouting in Nordic filmmaking,” said Abrahamsson.

Hoin is among Mylla Films’ first three projects announced today in Cannes.

The feature thriller is based on a popular eponymous podcast by Andreas Ericson, to be adapted for the screens by Black Crab’s writer Jerker Virdborg. The story is set in the Stockholm archipelago. Food is scarce, help far away, and foreign military powers are at the doorsteps. It's a perfect cultivating ground for conspiracy, superstition, and for summoning the seafarer's tale of a demon called Hoin, a female entity with powers to calm the Baltic waters.

Devastation is tagged by Anderson as the first Swedish gothic western, set in 1867, during the famine. Two brothers are keeping a sawmill society in Västerbotten under a tyrannical stronghold, when an uprising begins from the most unexpected place. The project is being created by Andersson, Martin Karlqvist (co-originator of the Hårga cult in Midsommar) and Jakob Beckman (I Am Zlatan).

The Aquanauts is an eco-friendly sci-fi series set in 1897, about two female scientists looking for a new, potentially dangerous, human species in the depths of the valley of lake Siljan in Dalarna, Sweden. The project will take inspiration from the Aquanauts exhibition and instalment from artist Pompe Hedengren.

NonStop Entertainment which distributes films across the Nordics and the Baltics, has a strong slate of films lined up for this fall, including the Danish chiller Speak No Evil by Christian Tafstrup, and Mia Hansen-Løve’s Léa Seydoux starrer One Fine Morning, selected for the Directors’ Fortnight in Cannes.