This year’s Nordic representatives are Denmark’s Mikael Christian Rieks (Nordisk Film Production), Finland’s Jussi Rantamäki (Aamu Filmcompany), Iceland’s Thorkell Sigurdur Hardarson (Markell), Norway’s Hans-Jørgen Osnes (Motlys) and Sweden’s Erika Wasserman (Idyll).
Mikael Christian Rieks was a leading TV and documentary producer before joining Nordisk Film in 2003. He then set up his own company Koncern Film, worked for a while for Cosmo Film before returning to Nordisk Film in November 2012. Among the films he produced are Tómas Gislason’s Overcoming, Charlotte Sachs Bostrup’s Karla’s World, but his most fruitful relationship has been with the talented writer/director Martin Pieter Zandvliet. Rieks for whom he produced the critically-acclaimed and world successes Applause and A Funny Man. The partners have two new projects in development: A Place Under the Sun and The Great Americans. Rieks has other projects with Asger Leth, Paprika Steen and Charlotte Sieling.
Jussi Rantamäki joined Aamu Film in 2008. His two first productions for the company, the short Whispering in a Friend’s Mouth by Hannaleena Hauru and The Painting Sellers by Juho Kuosmanen were both selected for Berlin and Cannes 2010 respectively. The comedy Things We Do for Love by Matti Ijäs released domestically by Disney Nordic late 2012 also screened in Gothenburg. Rantamäki’s upcoming release is Handbag directed by Mikko Myllyhahti and he is developing Kuosmanen’s upcoming film The Boxer.
Thorkell Sigurdur Hardarson runs the documentary production company Markell with Örn Marinó Arnarson and share are writers/directors/producers. They started off making rockumentaries, such as Punk in Iceland, and turned to geopolitics and terrorism with Feathered Cocaine that travelled extensively to world festivals. They have wrapped The North Atlantic Miracle about the lifespan of the Atlantic salmon and have two new projects in production: Trend Beacons and New Hands.
Hans-Jørgen Osnes is working for Motlys since 2011. His first production was Joachim Trier’s Oslo, August 31st that premiered at Cannes’ Un Certain Regard in 2011 and was nominated for the Nordic Council Film Prize. His close collaboration with Trier and his co-writer Eskil Vogt has led him to produce Vogt’s directorial debut Blind (currently in post-production) and Trier’s anticipated family drama Louder than Bombs set to start shooting later this year. Osnes’ other productions in development for Motlys include Anders T. Andersen’s psychological drama Lex Rinnan.
Erika Wasserman’s first feature length production for her company Idyll was Burrowing by Fredrik Wenzel and Henrik Hellström that premiered in Berlin 2009. She produced with Jesper Kurlandsky, Axel Petersén’s Avalon that won a FIPRESCI Award in Toronto 2011 and two Guldbagge awards and is attached to the director’s new project Under the Pyramid. At the same time she is finishing up Hellström’s upcoming film The Quiet Room, about a woman who takes a hallucination drug and meets herself as a young woman. Wasserman also co-produced the US film Bluebird staring Adam Driver and John Slattery that opened Tribeca’s competition section.