Carbonell’s directorial debut Dogborn is produced by Erik Andersson, Farima Karimi and David Herdies for Momento Film, Sweden with support from Moving Sweden. 

The Jury of the Nordic Co-production Market Award comprising artistic director of Lübeck Nordic Film Days Lübeck Linde Fröhlich, TrustNordisk’s sales/project manager Silje Nikoline Glimsdal, and Screendaily contributing editor/festival consultant Wendy Mitchell said: “We were impressed by the pitch itself, especially the director’s passionate and personal explanation of her connection to the story. The short clip also impressed us. We think this film will have a big international potential at festivals and beyond.”

Isabella Carbonell was Grand Jury Award-winner at AFI Fest 2015 for her short film Boys and Dogborn was part of the Cannes Critics’ Week’s Next Step scheme in 2015. It is the story of twins - a brother and a sister, Syrian refugees in Sweden, who turn to the criminal world in order to survive. But when the goods they are paid to transport turn out to be two young Asian girls, everything changes. 

Explaining her project via a video link, Carbonell says “Dogborn tackles highly relevant themes through a raw thriller lens”, and the two-day time frame for the story will “create an out-of-breath feel”.

Swedish rapper Silvana Imam, “the most celebrated and outspoken name from the Nordic and Baltic music scene” according to producer Erik Andersson, is playing the twin sister. Filming is set to start in February 2021. Delivery is set for May 2022. 

In an exceptional move, the jury of the Nordic Co-production Market also awarded a Special Mention to the Norwegian/Polish film Norwegian Dream.

Jurors mentioned the project’s ‘great potential’ and the way it was ‘very thoughtfully and professionally pitched” online. “We think this is a story we haven’t seen before and we look forward to seeing a final film that will be very moving,” they said. 

Norwegian Dream is directed by award-winning Leiv Igor Devold (The Accidental Rockstar), a graduate from the Polish National Film School in Lodz. The romantic coming of age drama is based on a script by Justyna Bilik.

Polish immigrant Robert (19) who works in a fish factory in Norway, falls for his Norwegian colleague Ivar, a local drag queen. He hides his affair from his catholic mother and his co-workers. When a strike unfolds in the fish plant, Robert has to fight not only for his work rights, but also for his love. 

The €1m project produced by Håvard W. Gossé for Spætt Film, is backed so far by Film i Väst, the Norwegian Film Institute, Polish Film Institute, Storytelling Media Distribution in Norway and Aurora Films in Poland. Delivery is set for early 2022.

The other films pitched at the Nordic co-production Market are the following:

• Cop Secret by Hannes Halldórsson (Iceland), produced by Pegasus Pictures. 90ish-action style movie set in Reykjavik about a cop who struggles with his sexuality.
• Friday (Finland) by Alli Haapasalo, produced by Citizen Jane Productions. Teen-girl love story exploring sexuality and identity. Shooting November 2020. Ready summer 2021.
• Kalak (Denmark/Sweden/Greenland) by Isabella Eklöf (Holiday) co-written by Eklöf with Danish/Norwegian author Kim Leine from his auto-biographical debut novel. Set in Greenland, we follow Jan, in a downward spiral, trying to escape his demons of his childhood abuse with casual sex, while his daughter struggles to stick by his side. Produced by Denmark’s Manna Film in co-production with Sweden’s Momento Film and Polorama Greenland. Scanbox Distribution is on board. Ready in 2022.
• Loss (Iceland) by Ari Alexander Ergil Magnússon and legendary Fridrik Thor Fridriksson, produced by Spellbound Productions. Existential drama based on a novella by author Gudbergur Bergsson. An old man comes home with the urn of his dead wife. He stirs some of the ashes in his tea, bringing her back to life. Sena Distribution is on board.
• Malecón (Norway) by Jan Vardøen, produced by Beacon Isle Films. Comedy drama about Aaron, a dreamer, working in Oslo sewers, who falls for the wife of a local gang boss.
• Mister (France, Germany, Norway, Luxembourg) by Amily Atef, produced by Eaux Vives Productions. A woman with a rare lung disease, gets inspired by a Norwegian blogger, ‘Mister’, and travels to Norway to find a new meaning in life. The stellar cast includes Vicky Krieps, Jesper Christensen, Gaspard Ulliel and Liv Ullmann. Mer Film Norway is co-producing. Filming is set to start in May/June 2021.
• Ravengirl (Norway) by Christian Lo, produced by Filmbin. Viking film for children about finding friendship, identity and belonging. The €4.5m project is backed by Nordisk Film. To be shot both in Norwegian and in English language.
• Resistance (Norway) by Dalja Huerta Cano and Caj Cojoc, produced by Mer Film. About an indigenous teen girl and her relationship with her mother who fights a Norwegian hydroelectric company to save her village’s natural resources.
• Room for Travellers (Sweden) by Åsa Kalmér, produced by Götafilm. Psycho-thriller starring Lena Endre and Alexander Karim. A woman who was adopted, travels with her husband and child to a remote guest house to meet her biological mother, who doesn’t know the woman’s true identity. Shooting is slated for summer 2021. Delivery in 2022.
• The Scars of Al Boulala (Sweden/Norway) by Max Eriksson, produced by Sisyfos Film Production. Documentary about famous Swedish skateboarder Ali Boulala, trying to overcome his emotional demons. Norway’s Anita Norfolk is co-producing. Delivery late 2021.
• Snot and Splash (Finland) by Teemu Nikki, produced by It’s Alive Films. First children’s film by the award-winning director of Euthanizer, All Inclusive. Mysterious family adventure film about two young brothers on a winter holiday who end up saving the whole world from collapsing into a black hole. Filming set to start in 2021.
• The Squirrel (Finland) by Markus Lehmusruusu, produced by Citizen Jane Productions. Sci-fi movie about a designer of synthetic animals, who finds the last real-life squirrel in the world and starts to take care of it. Delivery in 2022.
• Tiger Martindale’s Survival Experts (Latvia) by Sergei Serpuhov, produced Baltic Pine Films. At their father’s sudden death, two teen sisters set on an adventure to try to hide the bitter truth and fight their step mum. Shooting slated for August 2021.
• Tuesday Club (Sweden) by Annika Appelin, produced by Anagram Sweden. Feelgood movie about an ageing woman who starts fresh in life by launching a cooking class, after she finds out her husband of 40 years is cheating on her. The €3m project is co-financed by SF Studios. Filming is set to start in October 2020.