The Danish director Per Fly is going to direct the Swedish/Icelandic rising star singer Edda Magnason (pictured here as Monica Zetterland) in the biopic Monica Z (working title) about the beloved Swedish jazz singer and actress Monica Zetterlund. The film is based on an original script by Peter Birro. Lena Rehnberg is producing for her Swedish production outfit Stella Nova.

The project will be Fly's first film outside of the Zentropa machinery for which he directed the acclaimed societal trilogy The Bench, Inheritance, and Manslaughter (winner of a Nordic Council Film Prize in 2005) and most recently The Woman Who Dreamed of a Man. Fly also made the highly acclaimed 6 part Forestillinger (Performance) in 2007.

The Swedish producer Rehnberg, former head of production at Sandrew Metronome whose credit under her own company Stella Nova includes the Swedish hit A Midsummer of Love, initiated the Zetterlund project and offered it to Fly. "Making a film about Monica Zetterlund is a dream come true for me," said the director in a statement. "As a singer, she reinvented modern Swedish jazz with great names such as Beppe Wolgers, Arne Domnérus and the legendary Bill Evans. Monica was also a celebrated actress and comedienne, collaborating with Hans Alfredson and Tage Danielsson in many of their unforgettable films and stage plays. The story of Monica is also about the modern dilemma of fame. A living legend deeply cherished and loved by the Swedish audience yet unable to find love herself."

Fly is currently finalizing the script with the versatile musician, poet and writer Birro, co-writer of the Prix Italia-winning TV series Hammarkullen, Knivet i hjärtat and Upp till kamp and of Simon Staho's upcoming Flowers of Desire.

Monica Z will focus on the iconic singer's rise to stardom in the 1960s, from small telephone operator to queen of jazz clubs in Stockholm and New York. Rehnberg is finalizing the financing package, but so far, the project is co-produced by Film i Väst, SVT, with support from the Swedish Film Institute. Nordisk Film is handling the distribution.