May el-Toukhy’s Queen of Hearts starring Trine Dyrholm and Magnus Krepper which started filming this week, is among the 7 new films backed the Fund, three of which have female directors, three have male directors and one film has both a female and a male director.

Queen of Hearts produced by Caroline Blanco and Rene Ezra of Nordisk Film Production Denmark, was granted NOK 1,650,000. Danish director of Egyptian origin May el-Toukhy made her breakthrough with the film Long Story Short for which Trine Dyrholm won a Robert award-Best Supporting Actress and el-Toukhy a Bodil for Best Script.

The two women are reunited again for Queen of Hearts which started filming on April 16. The A-list cast also includes Sweden’s Magnus Krepper (Liberty, Call Girl) and Gustav Lindh (Jordskott, Spring Tide).

Based on el-Toukhy’s original idea and script, the film is about ‘a fall from grace, about the responsibility we have due to our positions, private or professional and the impact it has when we don’t take that responsibility seriously.’

The film is co-produced by Nordisk Film Sweden, in association with DR, SVT, support from the Danish Film Institute and the Swedish Film Institute. Nordisk Film handles Scandinavian distribution.

The Middle Man produced/directed/written by Bent Hamer was granted NOK 2,300,000. Loosely based on the novel ‘Sluk’ by author/screenwriter Lars Saabye Christensen (The Half Brother, King of Devil’s Island), the Norwegian feature is described as a ‘bizarre and absurd look upon Trump’s USA today, dark but humorous in tone, with a touch of love and dash of hope‘.

The English-language film is co-produced by Germany’s Pandora Film, Canada’s The Film Farm, Sweden’s Garagefilm, Denmark’s Profile Pictures, with support among others from the Norwegian Film Institute. Scanbox and sales agent The Match Factory are on board. Filming is set to start this summer.

Psycho Bitch produced by Ruben Thorkildsen of Norway’s Ape&Björn was granted NOK 1,000,000. Writer/director Martin Lund directed the high concept short format TV series Match and award-winning film The Almost Man. Inspired by Skam and Fucking Åmål, his new film is a coming of age story about a teenage boy who learns to accept not being the best, simply and happily ‘average’.

Marius is a middle school pupil, tormented by the very thought of not being a success. When the teacher teams him up with Frida, the outsider of his class, so begins a tumultuous relationship that will truly test Marius’ character and status.

The film is co-produced by Denmark’s Profile Pictures, with co-financing from the Norwegian Film Institute, NRK, DR among others. Norsk Filmdistribusjon will release it domestically early 2018. Cast and crew will be announced soon.

Psychosis in Stockholm produced by Anna-Maria Kantarius of Sweden’s Garagefilm was granted NOK 1,100,000. Writer/director Maria Bäck (I Remember When I Die) digs into her own past, for this surreal drama set in Sweden and in space. It focuses on five life-changing days when the director was 14 years old.

The project is co-produced by Denmark’s Nordisk Film Spring, in association with DR, SVT, support from the Swedish Film Institute, the Danish Film Institute, Creative Media. It won the Eurimages Co-production Development award at CPHDOX 2017. Distributors attached are TriArt in Sweden and Mer Film in Norway. The expected delivery is fall 2019.

Ella Bella Bingo produced by Frank Mosvold of Norway’s Kool Production, was granted NOK 1,350,000. The 3D animated film is a spin-off of the successful animated TV series. Mosvold is co-directing with Danish animator Mette Tange (Tumblehead) who worked on Illumination’s Sing and Minions. Mosvold says the film will challenge the stereotype of the passive princess-type female characters predominant in many family films. It’s an adventurous road trip, exploring the fear of losing your best friend, about parents not having time for their children and about being alone. The film is co-produced by Norway’s Gimpville and Denmark’s Thumblehead and Happy Flyfish, with support from Mediefondet Zefyr in Bergen. Norsk Filmdistribusjon will release it in 2020 in Norway; Scanbox handles rights in the rest of the Nordics.

Pelle No-Tail (Pelle Svanlös) produced by Jon Nohrstedt and Gila Bergqvist Ulfung of SF Studios was granted NOK 1,350,000. The Swedish animated film based on the beloved character created by Swedish author Gösta Knutsson will be directed by Christian Ryltenius, behind the successful Bamse film franchise. Producer Jon Nohrstedt says the adventurous and emotional journey will be “a visual and thrilling tale about Pelle and how he ends up in Uppsala for the first time. The film will also contain a lot of music that takes our well-known characters, including Måns, Bill, Bull, Maja, through the story about how it is to be a little cat in a new world and how sometimes the hardest thing is to dare to be kind”.

The project is produced by SF Studios in association with Film i Väst, SVT, Sluggerfilm AB, Bonnierförlagen. SF Studios will release it end of December 2019.

The documentary Josefin & Florin produced by Anna Weitz of Sweden’s Mantaray Film was granted NOK 350,000. Ellen Fiske and Joanna Karlsberg co-direct. The film is a Romeo and Juliet story about an unpredictable couple - a Swedish single mother and a beggar from Romania - struggling to find affiliation in the cross fire of prejudice and xenophobia.
The project won the Tempo Pitch Award 2016.

Co-producers and co-financiers include The Swedish Film Institute, SVT, Film i Halland, Filmbasen/Film Stockholm, Film i Uppland, Filmregion Stockholm-Mälardalen, YLE and NRK. Folkets Bio handles domestic distribution.

The Fund also allocated the following distribution support:

  • NOK120,000 in slate support to Iceland’s Bío Paradís for the release of the two Norwegian family films Doctor Proctor’s Fart Powder and Doctor Proctor’s Bubble in the Bathtub. The latter also received a dubbing grant of NOK95,000. 
  • NOK80,000 to Denmark’s DOXBIO for the release of the Swedish documentary Silvana. 
  • NOK100,000 to Norway’s Selmer Media for the release of the Icelandic film I Remember You.