For the first time ever, the Nordic region will be ruling over the European competition of the Festival de la Fiction de la Rochelle (September 13-18), one of France’s leading TV drama festivals and industry events, which attracts more than 40,000 visitors and 3,000 professionals.

Five out of ten series vying for Best European TV show are from Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden, which will be showcasing two titles, including the world premiere of Limbo from Warner Bros ITVP Sweden (Partisan), already pre-sold to Canal+ in France for its station Polar+.

Carole Villevet, Head of the European selection committee said the number of submissions from the Nordics was particularly high this year, but beyond the quantity, her team was won over by “the quality and diversity of Scandinavian creative output”. “In fact, we have selected five totally different series”, she pointed out,“ from the Finnish thriller Enemy of the People to the dramas Limbo (Sweden) or Below (Norway) which follows a young girl forced to learn to live in a wheelchair after an accident, to the biting social comedy Suburbia (Sweden), or the crime drama series like Elvira (Denmark), which makes an exceptional portrait of a woman.”

Three of the selected series - Suburbia, Elvira and Enemy of the People - were backed by Nordisk Film & TV Fond.

The 6x30’ drama comedy Suburbia (Vi i villa) produced by Sweden’s FLX aired last April on Discovery+ to critical acclaim.

Head-writer Tove Eriksen Hillblom earned a nomination earlier this year for the Nordisk Film & TV Fond Prize- Best Screenplay of a Nordic drama series (see separate story CLICK HERE) and the show is running for Best Comedy and Best Actor. At the Swedish Kristallen TV awards. Mattias Nordkvist plays a man who suddenly goes off the rail and rebels against his suburban life and consumerism-driven neighbours.

Elvira (8x40’) produced by Denmark’s SAM Productions, is due to premiere later this year on Viaplay. Studiocanal handles sales.
The black comedy crime show starring newcomer Sara Klein and Peter Plauborg (Cry Wolf) is written by Lærke Sanderhoff (The Sunfish) and Heidi Maria Faisst (The Legacy) from a novel by Anne-Sophie Lunding-Sørensen.

We follow the overweight and unambitious 35-year-old Elvira Gregersen who works as a receptionist at a brothel. But when a prostitute vanishes, Elvira turns into an astute investigator, capable of achieving more than she ever imagined.

The Swedish drama series Limbo (6x45’) which is due to launch this fall on Viaplay, boasts a stellar female acting trio: Sofia Helin (The Bridge), Louise Peterhoff (Blue Eyes, The Truth Will Out) and Rakel Wärmländer (Alex, Border). The latter also serves as co-writer with Emma Broström (Knocking). Sofia Jupither (Helt Perfekt) is directing for producer Johanna Wennerberg at Warner Bros ITVP Sweden.
Viaplay Content Sales handles global distribution.

The show follows Ebba, Gloria and My, whose peaceful and privileged lives are suddenly shaken when their respective sons are involved in a serious car crash, putting their friendship and priorities to the test.

The 8x42’ Finnish crime drama Enemy of the People (Kansan vihollinen) premiered on MTV3-C More in May. Reinvent handles sales.

The show was created by Fire Monkey’s co-founder Roope Lehtinen (White Wall, Black Widows) alongside Timo Varpio (Downshifters), who serves as co-writer with Laura Suhonen (Hooked). Mikko Kuparinen (Man in Room 301) is directing.

Top-lining the series are Kreeta Salminen (All the Sins), Tobias Zilliacus (Beartown), and Mikko Nousiainen.

Enemy of the People explores investigative reporting in an era of trolls and fake news. After writing a critical article on the local town’s biggest celebrity, reporter Katja Salonen finds herself drawn into a whirlpool of lies, deceit and abuse of power, in the middle of which lies a deadly conspiracy and an unsolved murder.

The 6x25’ Norwegian comedy drama Below (Nede) produced by Monster Scripted, premiered August 21 on Viaplay to glowing reviews. Viaplay Content Sales handles sales.

Siri Seljeseth (Young and Promising) is directing from a screenplay by Tina Rygh (Basic Bitch). Fanny (played by Maria Austgulen of Made in Oslo) has become wheelchair-bound after being in an accident which killed the only person she really liked. She must move in with her sister and is now forced to spend every minute with people she has tried to avoid her whole life.

Commenting on Below’s selection at La Rochelle, Filippa Wallestam, Viaplay Group Chief Content Officer said: “We are happy to have created another prime example of unique Nordic drama with our latest Norwegian Original Below. This series is both funny and sad, character-driven and compelling, and surprisingly relatable. The nomination at the Festival de la Fiction fills us with pride, as it helps increase the pan-European visibility of the Nordic approach to storytelling.”

The jury of the 25th Festival de la Fiction de la Rochelle presided over by French actor/director Sandrine Bonnaire, will be handing out a total of 15 awards on September 17 across the French, Francophile (non-French) and European competition programmes.

For the first time Amazon Prime Video and Netflix have joined the list of partners at La Rochelle, such as Disney+, ITV Studios, Beta Film, ZDF, TF1, France Télévisions, Canal+, and Arte.