Nordic mystery, crime and drama sell big at this year’s Mipcom

It’s a wrap for this year’s edition of Mipcom, which ran in Cannes from 21 to 24 October. The 2024 edition of the event trained a spotlight on Spain's recent growth as a major international production hub and provider of quality content.

Zooming in on the Nordic players who took part in the market, TrustNordisk whipped two aces. The first was Ole Christian Madsen’s Danish box office hit Boundless (Den grænseløse), starring Ulrich Thomsen and based on Jussi Adler-Olsen’s Department Q (Afdeling Q) crime series. The thriller pic was sold to 26 territories, including Germany and Austria (via Plaion), Italy (via Movies Inspired), former Yugoslavia and Albania (via Cinemania Group), Poland (via Media4Fun), Australia and New Zealand (via Palace Films), France (via Wild Bunch), Spain (via Vértigo Films), and Switzerland (via Frenetic Films).

The second was Sanna Lenken’s four-episode mystery drama My Brother (Jag for ner till bror), staged by Banijay Group’s Swedish banner Filmlance International and commissioned by SVT. TrustNordisk has boarded the show’s world rights based on bestselling author Karin Smirnoff’s debut novel. Production is set to commence in February in Norrbotten, with delivery slated for next winter.

Meanwhile, DR Sales boarded the latest DR Drama series, titled Generations and promising to “mix crime, mystery and family secrets”. Helmed by Anna Emma Haudal and toplined by Alice Bier, the plot begins with the discovery of a mummified infant during a renovation in an apartment in Frederiksberg. One of the building block’s residents, the 87-year-old Martha, quickly takes responsibility for the murder, much to the surprise of her family.

Furthermore, SAM Productions, a Danish firm co-founded by Adam Price, Søren Sveistrup and Føldager Sørensen, prepped a solid line-up of high-profile series. Key projects included By the Grace of God, Denmark's equivalent of The Crown, exploring the life of Queen Margrethe II and featuring political and royal intrigue, set to enter production in 2025. Another upcoming project is Britta, a true-crime series focused on one of Denmark’s largest financial frauds, led by Price. Additionally, SAM plans a true-spy series, Shadows on the Silk Road (Skygger på Silkevejen), based on a book by former spy chief Lars Findsen. SAM’s current projects also include a second season of The Chestnut Man (Kastanjemanden) for Netflix, with a 2026 release. Partnering with Studiocanal and Netflix, SAM aims to expand Nordic production despite industry challenges, positioning itself as a Scandi media powerhouse. At Mipcom, SAM’s series, such as The Orchestra(Orkestret), continued to gain international traction across Europe, Australia, and beyond.

The SAM Productions, DR Sales and TrustNordisk deals were first announced by Variety.

Next, Cineflix Rights has sold the first two seasons of Icelandic political drama The Minister (Ráðherrann), produced by Sagafilm, to HBO Nordics and SBS Australia. The show, featuring Fantastic Beasts actor Ólafur Darri Ólafsson as Icelandic Prime Minister Benedikt Ríkharðsson, centres on the PM’s struggle with a medical condition that threatens both his personal life and the stability of Iceland’s government. The series’ international appeal lies in its unique cultural setting and universal themes of political tension and personal struggle.

Ahead of the event, Audiovisual Producers Finland (APFI) also revealed its rich line-up. Some of the buzziest projects included Cold War-set Untold Arctic Wars (Vaietut arktiset sodat) (distributed by TVF International with the five Nordic pubcasters attached), Tiina Lymi’s Queen of Fucking Everything (charting a real estate agent’s gritty rise within the criminal elite, aired and sold internationally by Yle), the thriller The Reindeer Queen (produced by Safi and developed by Yle), the romantic comedy Back to Surriento (Torna a Surriento) (produced by Whatevergroup and Italy’s Viola Film), the animated series Belzebubs (produced by Pyjama Films with Moviment Production and Mago Production), and the high-tension thriller Transporter (Lähetti) **(led by Whatevergroup).

On 22 October, a lively crowd of industry professionals gathered in the Grand Auditorium for the 8th Mipcom Diversity TV Awards, hosted by Femi Oke and Adam Pearson. Introduced by Mipcom head Lucy Smith as “the industry’s only awards to champion and promote diversity and inclusion in all its forms in the international television industry”, the event highlighted various achievements across scripted and non-scripted programming.

Among the awards, Norway stood out with The Giants (Gigantene), produced by Teddy TV for NRK, snagging the Representation of Disability in Non-Scripted Award. Helmed by Anders Haavie, this six-part documentary series follows Norway’s first national football team for little people, following their year of training leading up to the World Dwarf Games. The series offers a sincere and uplifting portrayal of the players’ lives, capturing both their resilience and the unique challenges they face.

Other notable winners included the BBC queer drama Lost Boys & Fairies (which snagged the Representation of LGBTQIA+ – Scripted Award) and Canadian show Y’a une étoile (in receipt of the Representation of LGBTQIA+ – Non Scripted Award). Moreover, the Behind the Scenes Impact Award was handed out to Banijay Launch, an initiative billed as a “global accelerator programme that discovers and empowers emerging female creators”.