Östlund, Saleh, Hambäck and Thyberg at Film i Väst Cannes launch

At Saturday’s annual press gathering in Cannes, Film i Väst’s CEO Mikael Fellenius first stressed his company’s involvement as co-producer of three films selected in Cannes: Jarmusch’s The Dead Don’t Die and Corneliu Porumboiu’s The Whistlers, both competing for the Palme d’or, as well as the Critics’ Week’s entry A White, White Day by Iceland’s Hlynur Pálmason. Four new Swedish films co-produced by the film fund were also introduced:

• Triangle of Sadness by Ruben Östlund will be his first full English-language film. The surrealist comedy produced by Erik Hemmendorff of Plattform Production will look at what happens when hierarchies are turned down on a shipwrecked cruise. (see separate news) 

• Tarik Saleh’s untitled project starring Fares Fares from his previous film hit The Nile Hilton Incident, will be a thriller set in a religious university in Egypt, blurring the lines between fiction and non-fiction. “The film won’t be about religion but about authority and who is really in power,’ said the director. The project will be produced by ATMO’s Kristina Åberg, in co-production with Memento Films in France. 

• The animated film The Ape Star by Linda Hambäck will be adapted by screenwriter Janne Vierth (Gordon & Paddy) based on Frida Nilsson’s novel. Pernilla August, Stellan Skarsgård and Melinda Kinnaman will lend their voices to the characters. The film about outsiders and unconditional love features the orphan Jonna and her adoptive mother, the clumsy gorilla. It will be humorous and light’, said the director. “I’m adopted myself and don’t think it’s dark at al!  The film will ask questions about the true concept of family. At a time when refugees are being displaced around the world and people in Western world lead individualist lives, it’s important to remind us of family values,” said Hambäck. The film is produced by Hambäck’s Lee Film, in co-production with Norway’s Mikrofilm, Nørlum, SVT, support from the Swedish Film Institute, Nordisk Film & TV Fond and Creative Media. Attraction Distribution handles sales. 

• Jessica directed by promising newcomer Ninja Thyberg is produced by Plattform Production with support from Nordisk Film & TV Fond among others. Versatile handles world sales. The film tells the story of a Swedish woman who travels to L.A. in the hope of becoming a porn star. “It’s an extension of my short film [Pleasure, winner of the Critics Week’s Canal+ award in 2013]”, said the director.  “Since 2013 I’ve been interested in the subject and travelled to L.A.to research the topic and to see what it looks like from the other side. I want to show the female perspective,” said Thyberg who cast mostly people from the porn industry. “There is a lack of good stories about sex, which is a huge part of our lives, but since it’s taboo, people don’t talk about it, stressed the director. The film will premiere in 2020 via SF Studios. 

Seven upcoming international films were also co-produced by Film i Väst which has around €10m to invest in 10-12 films and 2-3 Swedish TV dramas a year. 

• David Sandberg’s Kung Fury, US version of the director’s original Swedish film developed by Moving Sweden. Co-stars include Michael Fassbender and Arnold Schwarzenegger. 
• Joachim Trier’s The Worst Person in the World, third instalment in the Norwegian director’s Oslo film trilogy. The film is produced by Oslo Pictures. 
• Eskil Vogt’s thriller The Innocents produced by Norway’s Mer Film. 
• Lamb by Valdimar Jóhannsson, starring Noomi Rapace. Produced by Iceland’s Go to Sheep. 
• Birds of a Feather by Finland's Hanna Bergholm prduced by Silva Mysterium. 
• Untitled Sally Potter film starring Javier Bardem, Elle Fanning, Salma Hayet and Chris Rock. Produced by Adventure Pictures. 
• The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard by Patrick Hughes produced by Millennium and Campbell Grobman Films.