The Norwegian film Congo inspired by the real life story of Joshua French and Tjostolv Moland is supported by Nordisk Film & TV Fond.

Aksel Hennie (Nobel, The Martian) and Tobia Santelmann (Kon-Tiki, The Last Kingdom) will reportedly play the titles roles in the film produced by Christian Fredrik Martin and Asle Vatn of Friland Film.

Norwegian/UK citizen Joshua French and his Norwegian friend Tjostolv Moland were sentenced to death in Congo in 2009 after being accused of the death of their Congolese driver, although they had claimed that they were ambushed by gunmen. Their story rapidly escalated into a political and diplomatic case known as the ‘Congo case’ as the two men were carrying military ID at the time of their arrest and were also condemned for spying for the Norwegian government, an accusation rejected by the latter authorities.

The case took a new twist in 2013 when Moland was found dead in his cell. French claimed his friend had committed suicide, but in 2014 he was sentenced to life imprisonment. Last week French (35) was finally released from prison and returned to Norway after the Congolese and Norwegian governments agreed on a ‘humanitarian deal’.

NOK2.8 million from the Fund
Headhunters producers Christian Fredrik Martin and Asle Vatn have been working on the project for several years with director Marius Holst (King of Devil’s Island) and scriptwriter Nikolaj Frobelius, and had received funding from various sources in 2016, including NOK 2.8 million (around €300,000) from Nordisk Film & TV Fond and €1.5 million from the Norwegian Film Institute.

The project was kept secret to protect the security of Joshua French, but his release made it possible for the producers to go public. Marius Holst said: ”We have chosen to let all the known facts and very comprehensive research form the basis of the dramatic narrative in the upcoming feature Congo. The audience will be taking on an epic journey, keeping the characters in focus in this fictional story based on the incredible true events from the Congo case.” 

The film is co-produced by Nordisk Film, Germany’s Pandora Film Produktion, Denmark’s Nimbus Film, Sweden’s Garagefilm International and Film i Väst in collaboration with DO Productions, with support as well from Eurimages, The Danish Film Institute, The Swedish Film Institute and MEDIA.

Nordisk Film Distribution has set the Norwegian theatrical release for the fall 2018. TrustNordisk handles sales.