Two major films focusing on distinct periods in European history have received backing from Nordisk Film & TV Fond in the Fund’s October round of production support. Mika Kaurismäki’s The Girl King about Queen Kristina of Sweden was granted NOK2.5 million and Anders Østergaard’s documentary 1989 about the collapse of the Berlin Wall was allocated NOK 850,000.
Finnish filmmaker Mika Kaurismäki will start shooting next month the historical biopic about the celebrated Queen Kristina who ruled in 17th century Sweden from the age of seven until her abdication at the age of 28. Malin Buska will play the historical figure famously embodied by Greta Garbo in the 1933 classic Queen Christina. The €6.5m English language The Girl King is produced by Kaurismäki’s Marianna Films in co-production with Germany’s Starhaus Filmproduktion, France’s Arsam International, Canada’s Triptych Media/Gala Film, and Sweden’s Anagram Film.
Danish acclaimed director Anders Østergaard (pictured, Burma VJ-Reporting from a Closed Country) is preparing the feature length documentary 1989 that will offer a new insight into the high-risk political game that led to the fall of the Berlin Wall. "The events of 1989 have fundamentally defined the world we are living in today and since my passion as a documentary filmmaker is to bring the past back to life, it feels inevitable that I would cross paths with this magic year sooner or later," said Østergaard.
The film produced by Lise Lense-Møller for Magic Hour Films will soon enter production and will be released in November 2014 for the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.
Front page - landscape - 1989
Story page - portrait - Anders Østergaard