Under the pact, Scandinavian distributor Scanbox will handle the fast-rising production house’s upcoming slate of six feature films.

The deal is an extension of the partners’ existing collaboration on Motor’s current two features by rising female directors: The Venus Effect by Anna Emma Haudal, behind DR’s hit youth series Doggystyle, and As in Heaven by Tea Lindeburg (Netflix’s Equinox), selected for Toronto’s Discovery section, and San Sebastian’s main competition.

The films are due to open in Danish cinemas respectively late 2021 and early 2022.

The three-year old Motor is run by pedigreed partners-writer Christian Torpe and producer Jesper Morthorst (see our article CLICK HERE) behind the hit TV shows Rita, Norskov, and Bille August’s award-winning film Silent Heart.

Their first production under the Motor banner - DR’s tense thriller Deliver Us was sold extensively by Dynamic Television and premiered across the Nordics via the Nordic 12 alliance. Their first Motor feature The Pact released by SF Studios is currently number 2 at the Danish B.O..

“We are very pleased to be part of an exclusive collaboration with Motor, which is run by talented people with extensive experience and an eye for quality films with an appeal to a wide audience,” said Scanbox’s CEO Thor Sigurjonsson. “Motor makes films with something on their minds, and that is precisely the essence of Scanbox’s DNA. We always focus on the good story that touches the audience”, he stressed.

Morthorst added: “At Motor, we follow our hearts when we make films, and therefore our slate is quite versatile and houses both arthouse and large commercial projects. A dynamic we love, but which few distributors can accommodate because they specialiSe in either one or the other.“

“In Scanbox, we have found a film partner who is independent like ourselves and they demonstrate both courage and confidence in their choice. They go for exactly the same movies that we do ourselves - and this is like the good old saying that ‘equal children play best’. We are very much looking forward to continuing and expanding our already very productive collaboration with Scanbox.”

Motor’s upcoming film part of the new distribution deal with Scanbox, is the buzzed about Stone Age thriller Stranger, pitched this week at Haugesund Nordic Co-production Market. The directorial debut by former Nordic Talents attendee Mads Hedegaard is co-penned by Jesper Fink (Margrete-Queen of the North).

Set 6,000 years ago, the main character Aathi (16) arrives with her family in what is now known as Denmark. Attacked by hunter-gathers, Aathi and her brother, the only survivors, are forced to join the hunters’ community. When Aathi becomes pregnant, no peaceful solution is foreseen.

The €2m project produced by Motor’s Andreas Hjortdal, is co-produced by Poland’s Opus Film (Cold War), with support so far from DR and the Danish film Institute. Filming is due to start in 2022.

One of Scandinavia’s longest-standing distribution outfits, Scanbox has an eclectic slate of commercial and arthouse films from around the world, including many award-winning titles such as the Oscar-winning Minari and Cannes 2021 ’ Grand Prix winner A Hero by Asghar Farhadi.

The company has no less than five films vying for a Golden Lion in Venice: Pedro Almodovar’s Parallel Mothers, Pablo Larraín’s Spencer, Mariano Cohn and Gastón Duprat’s Official Competition, Paul Schrader’s The Card Counter, and Ana Lily Amirpour’s Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon.