Nordics in Cannes: less people, but strong festival presence anticipated

Eleven days before the official announcement of the Cannes Film Festival’s 2021 programme, Nordic professionals were still debating whether to attend physically this year’s 74^th edition (July 6-17), as uncertainties remain, regarding travel restrictions and the introduction in France of a ‘health’ pass’ for events of more than 1,000 people.

Nevertheless, the festival is on track to unroll its red carpet at the Palais des Festivals, and the buzz among professionals is that Nordic films will have a strong presence this year across the main selection, the parallel Directors’ Fortnight and Critics Week.

Cannes Candidates
More than a dozen films are aiming at a Cannes slot.

From Sweden, the 2017 Palme d’or winner Ruben Öslund won’t be ready in time with his comedy drama Triangle of Sadness, according to producer Erik Hemmendorff of Plattform Produktion. “We are in the middle of editing and have no chance of completing a cut in time for Cannes. We are looking at a 2022 premiere instead,” he told nordicfilmandtvnews.com.

Other possible Swedish entries include the coming of age biopic I am Zlatan (B Reel Films) by Jens Sjögren about football star Zlatan Ibrahimovic's upbringing in a rough Swedish suburb, the Swedish/Costa-Rican Clara Sola (Hobab) by debut director Nathalie Álvarez Mesén, sold by Paris-based Luxbox, and the documentary Excess Will Save Us (Vilda Bomben Film) by newcomer Morgane Dziurla-Petit, set in a small village in northern France.

From Norway, the Cannes habitué Joachim Trier is a strong candidate with The Worst Person in the World (Oslo Pictures) starring Renate Reinsve, Anders Danielsen Lie and Herbert Nordrum. The third instalment in the director’s Oslo trilogy following Reprise and Oslo, August 31^st, has been pre-sold by France’s MK2 Films to several territories including France (Memento). Another potential candidate is Trier’s writing-partner Eskil Vogt, with his sophomore film, the dark thriller The Innocents (Mer Film).

From Finland, Juho Kuosmanen whose debut feature The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki made a splash at Cannes’s Un Certain Regard 2016, is hotly tipped to bring his sophomore movie Compartment No6 (Aamu Film Company) repped by Paris-based Totem Films.

Other strong contenders are the horror movie Hatching (Silva Mysterium) by debut director Hanna Bergholm sold by Wild Bunch, the drama The Gravedigger (Bufo) by newcomer Khadar Ahmed, co-produced by France’s Pyramide among others, and A Blind Man Who Did Not Want to See Titanic (It’s Alive Films) by Teemu Nikki. The latter was selected for the Palme d’or short film competition in 2019.

From Iceland, a strong front-runner is the supernatural film Lamb (Go to Sheep) starring Noomi Rapace and Hilmir Snaer Gudnason. Valdimar Jóhannsson’s feature debut has been pre-sold by New Europe Film Sales to several territories including France (The Jokers).

Also among the possible Cannes entries is the psychological drama Quake (Ursus Parvus) by first-time director Tinna Hrafnsdóttir, starring Aníta Briem (The Tudors).

From Denmark, among the possible entries is the period drama As it Is in Heaven (formerly Night of Dying) by debut director Tea Lindeburg (creator of Netflix’s Equinox), described by producer Jesper Morthorst (Motor) as a cross between Sofia Coppola and William Oldroyd’s Lady Macbeth.

Reduced industry presence
To support the Nordic films and industry people in Cannes, the Nordic film institutes’ umbrella Scandinavian Films will be based at its usual headquarters 55 La Croisette, although delegations will be cut down to 2-3 representatives each.

All institutes confirmed that few Nordic producers will travel, besides those directly connected to possible festival entries. “I did a survey and most of the Icelandic producers will skip Cannes this year,” said Christoff Wehmeier, Head of Festival Promotion at the Icelandic Film Centre.

“Very few Finnish production companies will attend, besides the ones with special projects selected such as Twin director Taneli Mustonen and producer Aleksi Hyvärinen, set to take part in the Frontières Platform in Cannes,” said Jaana Puskala, Head of the International Department at the Finnish Film Foundation, who is eagerly waiting for the Cannes official announcement.

Her counterpart Steffen Andersen-Møller from the Swedish Film Institute mentioned a similar position from Swedish producers, who also value their traditional summer break in July, he underlined.

Lizette Gram Mygind, Festival Consultant at the Danish Film Institute, said a survey conducted with Danish producers filled by half of them, has indicated that around 50% will attend the festival. “This represents around 25% of the Danish professionals who would attend during a normal Cannes year,” she noted. Mygind said the Nordic film institutes, plan a major social media push for Nordic films in Cannes, with details to be announced at a later date.

No parties...for now
Party animals in Cannes and cocktail reception crashers might be disappointed but at this date, no parties and no big receptions are planned, due to the pandemic. “Finland will not host the annual Grand Hotel terrace Sunday afternoon reception,” confirmed Puskala.

Meanwhile Film i Väst, which usually hosts a lavish press lunch at a private villa, to promote their Cannes slate and upcoming projects, plans to go ahead with a combined physical and virtual event. “We are planning to go to Cannes and do something, depending on what is possible. It will not be a regular press lunch as previous years, but something hybrid maybe,” said CEO Mikael Fellenius.

Among sales agents, New Europe Film Sales has confirmed its presence at 55 La Croisette in Cannes. “We will be at the Scandinavian Terrace in full squad!! said managing director Jan Naszewski, who announces a strong Polish line-up, on top of three Nordic titles: the anticipated Icelandic supernatural thriller Lamb, the Finnish film Any Day Now and Norwegian animation film Christmas at Cattle Hill.

Asked about buyers’ plans for Cannes, Naszewski said: “It seems that Asians won’t attend, but Europeans and maybe some Americans will be around. There is a lot of excitement for the physical festival right now,” he confirmed.

TrustNordisk’s CEO Susan Wendt said she will be in Cannes with a smaller team of 3-4 people, and will meet and greet buyers at her Cannes office, while complying with Covid-safety rules. “Personally, I don’t think there will be as many as 50% of the usual amount of people,” she said. “For the companies that will travel, they will most likely attend with less people and apart from that, many companies will probably decide not to attend at all, either due to general company policies or to territorial restrictions,” she reckoned.

For Wendt, most European territories will be represented, and some Americans will come, but attendance from Asia and Latin America “will be very limited”, she said. In terms of market premieres, the senior sales agent said she plans to launch a few new titles in Cannes (potentially in closed market screenings), as “they do deserve to be shown on the big screen”. “In terms of official selection, I guess we all have to be patient until June 3rd. Fingers crossed, but competition for the spots seem to be tougher than ever,” she pointed out.

On Wednesday, the Cannes Market sent out a promotional push via email, mentioning the reopening of French cinemas and latest governmental health protocols. “Better days are finally here,” said the Market in its statement.

Online pre-Market screenings are set to unfold June 21-25, exclusively for pre-registered buyers and sales agents.

Meanwhile the French health authorities stated that all epidemiological indicators continue to improve, but asked for citizens to be highly vigilant, as “the circulation of the virus still remains strong.”

An extra 19,050 new daily Covid cases and 141 extra deaths in 24h were registered on May 19, while vaccination is on the rise, with 14.7% of the French population fully vaccinated as of May 18 and 31.5% given a first dose.