Sigrid Dyekjær on Real Lava and Newen Studios Partnership

With a career spanning more than 40 films in two decades - Sigrid Dyekjær is one of Denmark’s most high-profile producers of documentary films.

She has worked with internationally-acclaimed directors including Oscar-nominated Feras Fayyad (The Cave), Jorgen Leth (I Walk), Viktor Kossakovsky (Aquarela).

After more than a decade at the helm of Danish Documentary with award-winning directors Phie Ambo, Pernille Rose Grønkjær, Eva Mulvad and Mikala Krogh, Dyekjær is going solo - with the backing from the leading European production and distribution group Newen Studios, itself a subsidiary of French media group TF1.

Copenhagen-based Real Lava’s ambition is to produce premium high quality documentary films and series with cinematic appeal for a large international audience, such as The Territory by Alex Pritz, selected for competition at the upcoming Sundance Film Festival.

For Newen Studios which has scaled up internationally in recent years, with production brands in the UK, Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands and Canada, Real Lava is its second partnership in Denmark - and Scandinavia. In 2018, the group took a minority stake in the high-profile Nimbus Film. The partnership with Dyekjær also marks Newen’s first foray into pure premium doc film and TV series production from Scandinavia.

Philippe Levasseur, Newen Studios’ Head of International says Dyekjær’s expertise in gathering the best talents and assembling international co-productions is “a perfect match with Newen’s non-fiction producers’ commitment to document reality with strong viewpoints, fresh angles, and innovative execution,” he said. “The demand for documentaries has reached a historical high and Real Lava will help Newen Studios answer this opportunity without compromising on ambition,” he added.

Dyekjær spoke to us:

What triggered your decision to leave Danish Documentary and to set up Real Lava with Newen Studios?
Sigrid Dyekjaer: I left Danish documentary because I wanted to have more freedom in terms of who I want to work with, and also to act as a bridge between Denmark and the international documentary world. We have so much great talent/filmmakers, but also composers, editors, cinematographers, sound designers etc. I want to connect people from different continents.

Then Newen Studios contacted me. Their strategy is strong. They believe in talents, international ways of collaborating; they have financial muscle and want to build companies around great content. We started discussing a potential partnership and they agreed to open a company with me in Denmark - Real Lava.

Based in Copenhagen, the company will produce, co-produce and offer serious financial support to filmmakers with international ambitions. We will bring Nordic doc talents and offer our production savoir-faire to the world. I’m extremely excited about this ground-breaking collaboration with one of Europe’s biggest players.

This will be a new move for Newen in Scandi premium doc filmmaking. What is your vision for that collaboration?
SD: Through my expertise, Newen is keen to expand into the non-scripted space, and in particular into premium docs that are the next big thing, thanks to global streamers’ sustained interest. It will help them bridge walls between docs and fiction and hopefully also combine Danish top talent-notably from the animation sector, with Newen’s own expertise in production and distribution of scripted and animation works. We’ve seen the impact that an animated doc like Flee is having internationally. I’ve used animation sequences in many works, such as our doc series Scandinavian Star. The potential is huge.

Another idea is to turn a doc story and make it into fiction; This side of the market is getting bigger. The Cave could easily be done as a fiction film.

It seems like you have very strong US connections. Do you see yourself as a pioneer in exploring new international financing routes beyond the traditional Nordic and public service model?
SD: The Cave’s Oscar nomination and shared Primetime Emmy for the film did help to consolidate existing US relationships and create new ones. The US is more open to the financing of European projects, rooted in Europe. It’s good to explore how to finance films, outside the traditional model of film institutes and public broadcasters. We’re in a new dawn, and perhaps moving into the best period for docs, where US big producers/talents are looking at European docs. As an international producer, I will continue to go the Scandinavian route and reach out to the European continent and beyond.

In Denmark, Danish-produced international docs are being challenged. DR seems to think in an old-fashioned way of national TV for Danes, about the Danes. They don’t see that youngsters view themselves as part of many different worlds and tracks. They don’t have barriers. National broadcasters are losing out on a lot of opportunities, to enlighten the younger generation in what’s happening around the world.

That said, TV2 Denmark is doing well with docs - they’ve supported The Cave. But having a premium doc every week is not financially viable for them. The Swedes and Finns are perhaps more daring regarding international docs.

How did you get involved in The Territory selected for Sundance?
SD: Lizzie Gillett from Passion Pictures (with whom I'm producing another film) had met the director Alex Pritz at a pitching forum. They invited me to come on board and to bring more experienced producing forces to the film, since he is a first-time director. I saw the materials he had shot at that time and fell in love! It is an absolutely amazing film, and Alex is an incredible talented director. It has been an incredible journey with the film. It’s about land conflict in the Brazilian Amazon.

Will The Territory be handled by Newen Connect-Newen's international sales arm?
SD: We are in dialogue with different big digital players about The Territory at a very large scale, so I think we wouldn't be able to have Newen Connect on board this film. But all my films will be presented to Newen Connect, and hopefully very soon we will have a perfect match. I have a lot of trust in Newen Connect, so I am sure we will collaborate on a film in near future.

What else are you working on?
SD: Besides The Territory, I have a major international film project called Merkel, which is a portrait of former German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and about female leadership. We will lift her up and detail the DNA of her achievement. The film is being directed by London-based Eva Weber who contacted me. I'm producing with Eva, as well as Lizzie Gillett, and Sonja Henrici of Passion Pictures in the UK [Man on Wire, Searching for Sugarman, The Imposter]. Dawn Porter in the US is executive producer.

Passion Pictures hasn’t done that many co-productions so far. They feel we are kick ass! We also have money from the Curzon Development Fund and Artemis Rising Foundation Artemis among others.

I’m also finishing Innocence by Oscar nominated Director Guy Davidi [Five Broken Cameras]. It’s a co-production between Denmark [Danish Documentary], Iceland [Sagafilm], Finland [Making Movies] /IS/FI and Israel [Medalia Productions]. We have foley artist/sound designer from Finland Heikki Kossi [Sound of Metal] working on the sound grading. He’s done a few films for me (The Cave, Love Child). It’s a very sensitive subject about the compulsory military service in Israel and how it impacts young people.

I’m working as well on A Song for Summer and Winter by Talal Derky who did the Oscar-nominated film Of Fathers and Sons. We have financing from IMPACT Partners, equity financing from the US and support from Catapult in the US.​