Record number of Nordic films at Rotterdam Int’l Film Festival

The portrait of Norwegian painter Edvard Munch, creator of the masterpiece The Scream is directed by Henrik M. Dahlsbakken for The Film Company and Viaplay. Scandinavian Film Distribution will release it in Norwegian cinemas January 24, ahead of the film’s streaming premiere on Viaplay March 24. Viaplay Content Distribution handles global sales.

"I’m honoured and excited that Munch has been selected to open the Rotterdam International Film Festival. Bringing to life the inner world of such a complex character has been a very rewarding experience and we are thrilled to show audiences what inspired Munch and what kept his inner flame alive,” said Dahlsbakken.

Rotterdam’s Big Screen Competition dedicated to arthouse cross over films, has been a successful home in the past for Sweden’s Transnistra by Anna Eborn which won the top prize in 2019 and for Denmark’s A Perfectly Normal Family by Malou Reymann, 2020 winner.

This year’s line-up includes two Nordic films backed by Nordisk Film & TV Fond, set to compete for the €30,000 Big Screen Competition Award.

• Copenhagen Doesn’t Exist (DK/SE/NO) is directed by Marten Skovbjerg (Stick and Stones) from a script by the multi-awarded Eskil Vogt (The Worst Person in the World, The Innocents).
  
  The psychological drama based on the novel ‘Sander’ by Terje Holtet Larsen, is the story of a young man, Sander, looking for his girlfriend Ida who suddenly disappeared without a trace. The two had been living an unconventional life, cut off from the world and isolated in the middle of the big city. Sander agrees with Ida’s father to be locked in an apartment for three months with him and be the subject of a thorough interrogation.
  
  In the title roles are newcomers Angela Bundalovic, Jonas Holst Schmidt and The Triangle of Sadness’ Zlatko Burić.
  
  The film produced by Denmark’s Snowglobe Film, in co-production with Norway’s Oslo Pictures, Don’t Look Now and Zentropa Sweden is set to open in Denmark February 9 via Scanbox. TrustNordisk handles sales.
  

• Four Little Adults (FI/SE/FR) is the latest feature by multi-awarded Selma Vilhunen (Stupid Young Heart, Little Wing), produced by Finland’s Tuffi Films, in co-production with Hobab Sweden and France’s Manny Films. Indie Sales handles global sales.
  
  The modern love story about a couple experimenting with polyamory stars Alma Pöysti, Eero Milonoff, Oona Airola, and Pietu Wikström. "At the heart of our story is human frailty and helplessness in the face of life, no matter how hard one tries to strive towards security and good or right decisions,” said Vilhunen. The domestic premiere via Aurora Studios is set for this year.
  

Two smaller auteur Nordic films are world premiering at IFFR’s trade mark Tiger competition for innovative works.

• 100 Seasons (100 Årstider) is the self-portrait of first-time filmmaker Giovanni Bucchieri, former dancer of the Royal Swedish Ballet and music composer. The film is produced by French Quarter Film (And Then We Danced, Reunion).
• Mannvirki (Iceland), the documentary by Gústav Geir Bollason is an abstract poetic tale and reflection on men’s good environmental intentions often not kept. Lamb’s Go to Sheep is producing.
  

The festival’s ‘Limelight’ will showcase the world premiere of the Danish psycho thriller Superposition directed by debut filmmaker Karoline Lyngbye for Beo Starling, and the multi-award-winning Danish/Icelandic period drama Godland by Hlynur Pálmason, while the feature-length Finnish documentary Monica in the South Seas by Sami van Ingen and Mika Taanila, will world premiere at the ‘Cinema Regained’.

Rotterdam’s parallel co-production market Cinemart (January 29-February 1) has also picked two Nordic titles for its 20-film line-up: Sweden’s Rebound by John Skoog (Ridge), produced by Plattform Produktion, and Finland’s 7 P.M. on a Sunday by Sevgi Eker, produced by Helsinki-filmi, while Finland’s Ancestors by Hanna Haaslahti is among five immersive projects.

The festival’s full programme will be unveiled January 18.​