Record Nordic films and series at Berlinale sidebars, Series showcase and Market

The Berlinale 2023 should be one of the biggest showcases for Nordic content in years, as many quality films, documentaries and drama series disrupted by Covid are finally able to launch at the ideal prestige international platform.

Here is a rundown of the Berlinale Nordic selection so far.

Generation
Under its new head Sebastian Markt, the Generation programme for youth and kids has two Norwegian feature lengths in its Kplus competition section. On top of the already announced animation film Just Super (Helt super) by animation king Rasmus A. Sivertsen, the new addition is Dancing Queen by Aurora Gossé.

The feelgood dance movie starring the young newcomer Liv Elvira Kippersund, cast against seasoned actors Anders Baasmo, Anne Marit Jacobse, Andrea Bræn, is based on a script by Silje Holtet. The story focuses on Mina (12) who falls head over heels in love, when the famous dancer ED Win moves to her town and invites everyone to an audition. Mina signs up-although she can't dance! The feature will premiere in Norway March 10 via Scandinavian Film Distribution. LevelK handles sales.

The Generation 14plus competition has also added the Swedish documentary And the king said-what a Fantastic Machine by Axel Danielson and Maximilien Van Aertryck, world premiering first at Sundance’s World Cinema Documentary Competition (read the interview with the co-directors/producers: CLICK HERE).

Three short films also screening at Generation are Sweden’s animation doc Gösta Petter-Land by George-Peterland, Madden by Malin Ingrid Johansson, and The Shift (Sværddrage) by Denmark’s Amalie Maria Nielsen.

Panorama
The programme headed by Michael Stütz is described as “explicitly queer, feminist, explicitly political”, and seeking beyond these tropes, “what is new, daring, unconventional and wild in today’s cinema.

Besides The Quiet Migration (Stille Liv) by Malene Choi, announced earlier, the section will world premiere the highly anticipated drama Opponent (Motståndaren) by Milad Alami (The Charmer, When the Dust Settles), produced by Annika Rogell for Tangy.

The psychological drama based on Alami’s original script follows Iman, an Iranian who lives with his family in Sweden in an ever-changing succession of refugee hostels. To increase his chances of obtaining residence permits for them all, he resumes his career as a wrestler, and is confronted with why he had to flee.

In the title role as Iman is US/Iranian Payman Maadi, awarded a Silver Bear in Berlin 2011 for his performance in Asghar Farhadi’s A Separation.

The feature co-produced by Norway’s Ape & Björn, SVT, Filmpool Nord and Film i Väst, is slated for a March 31^st release in Sweden via TriArt. Indie Sales handles sales.

Also world premiering at Panorama is the Danish documentary Under the Sky of Damascus by Heba Khaled, Talal Derki, and Ali Wajeeh, produced by seasoned Sigrid Dyekjær for Real Lava (The Territory, The Cave, Innocence).

The film is part of Talal Derki’s Syrian war trilogy, after Return to Homs and Of Fathers and Sons which both collected a World Cinema Grand Jury Prize at Sundance 2014 and 2018 respectively.

Heba Khaled who was AD on Of Fathers and Sons worked closely with Wajeeh, writer Ali Wajeeh and their producer on the film, which focuses on a collective of young Syrian woman, denouncing violence against their peers in Syria. Determined to break the taboo topic, they put together a theatre project, collecting women’s own accounts of violence against them.

The Danish/German/US co-production will open in Denmark after its Berlinale launch February 20.

Berlinale Series
On the drama series side, the festival’s red-carpet Berlinale Series will be showcasing eight titles, seven of which will compete for the inaugural Berlinale Series Award.

Those include Denmark’s dramedy Agent produced by Zentropa for TV 2, and Norway’s The Architect (Arkitekten), produced by Nordisk Film Production Norway for Viaplay.

• Agent (8x45’) is star actor Nikolaj Lie Kaas’ own comedic take of the role of talent agents in the Danish entertainment industry, which he is bringing himself to the screens as writer/director. Among the numerous actors enrolled are Esben Smed, Sidse Babett Knudsen, Dar Salim and Elrich Thomsen. The premiere of the TV show produced by Louise Vesth is set for later this year on TV 2 Play and TV 2. TrustNordisk handles sales.
• The Architect (4x18’) is directed by Kerren Lumer-Klabbers, co-winner of the Nordic Talents Special Mention 2020 for Woman Walking, which we selected as our Nordic talent to watch (CLICK HERE) Co-writers are Nora Landsrød and Kristian Kilde who came up with the original idea.

The Viaplay series stars Thelma’s Eili Harboe as Julie (30) who lives in a car-free Oslo in the near future. The housing market has gone completely off the rails and Julie can't get a mortgage. When her rent is increased, she has to find a new place to live. The solution will be a housing association in a parking garage. Julie dreams of an architectural career so she can buy a flat. One day an opportunity for success presents itself at work. At the same time, an unexpected friendship blossoms between Julie and the new neighbour, Kaja. A friendship that threatens both her career and Julie's conviction that close relationships count less than materialistic goods.

Co-stars include Fredrik Stenberg Ditlev-Simonsen (22 July), Ingrid Giæver (Thelma, Headhunters), Alexandra Gjerpen (Young & Promising, 22 July) and Petronella Barker (Pørni, The Bothersome Man). Øyvind Lierhagen Eriksen and Caroline Hitland are producing for Nordisk Film Production. Viaplay will launch it later this year.

Berlinale Series Market Selects
Three completed Nordic series - Sweden’s Out of Touch, Norway’s Dome 16 and Denmark’s Nordland 99 are lined up for the third Berlinale Series Market Selects profiling international TV shows with high market potential.

• Out of Touch (Handen på Hjärtat) is created by Mikael Ljung, co-founder of fast-expanding Breakable Films (CLICK HERE) for C More.
  
  The 6x22’ romcom toplining Sara Shirpey and Hannes Fohlin, is directed and co-written by Lina Åström and Marja Nyberg. The series which premiered last November on C More is sold by REinvent.
• Dome 16 (Kuppel 16) is created by Thomas Seeberg Torjussen, who serves as director with Daniel Voldheim. Tordenfilm is producing, with backing from Nordisk Film & TV Fond. The 10x20’ sci-fi series for youth starring Johannes Blumenthal and Edith Haagenrud-Sande, premiered on NRK1 November 3, 2022. Global Screen handles sales.

• Nordland 99 written/directed by Kasper Møller Rask is produced by Nevis Production for DR. The crime drama set in a small Danish provincial town stars Elias Budde Christensen, Emilie Kroyer Koppel and Troels Lyby. DR Sales handles sales. The series premiered on DR in October 2022.

Nordic Projects to be pitched at the Berlinale Co-Production Market
Three premium Nordic series looking for co-financiers will be introduced at the Co-Production Market.

• The Acid Clinic (Denmark) is co-written by a stellar writing team consisting of creator Jens Dahl (Pusher, Norskov), Dorte Warnøe Høgh (The Chestnut Man, When the Dust Settles) and Adam August (Cry Wolf, Valhalla-The Legend of Thor). Asta Film and SAM Productions are producing.
  
  The series based on a true case, turns on a young doctor who tries to stop LSD experiments on patients during the Cold War of the 60s, only to be targeted by international secret services.
• Tipping Point (Finland) is created by Brendan Foley (Cold Courage) for producers Markku Flink and Marko Röhr of Finland’s ReelMedia. Norway’s Maipo Film is co-producing.
  
  In the thriller, a rogue energy mogul and his activist daughter battle a conspiracy in the far north, where Cold War and climate change collide.
• Family Stories: A Boy Disappears (Denmark) is created by Julie Budtz Sørensen (The Rain) for Nimbus Film. Further details will be announced on the series presented in cooperation with Series Mania, where it was first pitched last year.

Finally, four feature projects will be pitched at the Berlinale Co-Production Market.

• Butterfly (Norway) directed by Itonje Søimer Guttormsen for Mer Film.
• Buran (Sweden) directed by Iranian-born Maryam Moghaddam and Behtash Sanaeeha for HOBAB.
• Our Love (Sweden) by Lia Hietala and Hannah Reinikainen, produced by STORY AB.
• The Love Pill (Sweden) by Naures Sager produced by The Uneven.