The Bridge co-writers on their next Swedish crime show Cry Wolf (Vargasommar)

Sweden’s celebrated writers Hans Rosenfeldt and Camilla Ahlgren gave the world the Scandi cult series The Bridge, head-writing the four seasons of the SVT/DR crime series until 2017-18.

Ahlgren went on writing a handful of premium Swedish shows, including Netflix’s Quicksand as head-writer, while Rosenfeldt brought his Nordic crime writing savoir-faire to the UK, serving as showrunner on Netflix/ITV’s Marcella (2016-2021). At the same time, he's been pursuing a literary career, as co-author with Michael Hjorth of the best-selling crime novels about psychological profiler Sebastian Bergman.

Now the two skilled storytellers are reunited as head-writers of Cry Wolf (Vargasommar), based on Rosenfeldt’s first solo novel of the same name, and the first book in the ‘Haparanda series’.

The six-part TV series in development is being produced by Nordic Drama Queens for C More/TV4, with co-financing from US group Endeavor Content.
Production is due to start in 2023.

Hans when you wrote the novel Cry Wolf, did you have in mind a possible screen adaptation? The book does have a very episodic writing style…
Hans Rosenfeldt: It’s true, there are quite short chapters, a lot of characters, and cuts between the different locations and sometimes different timelines. But when I start writing a book, it is only a book. If something else happens to it, it’s just a welcome addition. Here it was great news when C More/TV4 bought the rights.

Was it obvious for you Hans that you would team up with Camilla again on this new crime writing venture?
HR: Yes it was. When I realised I wouldn’t be able to write all six episodes myself due to time restraints I got in touch with her. We’ve worked on The Bridge, and also on my British show Marcella, so my first reaction is always to see if Camilla has the time to do it.

In what way do you complement each other? What are your individual strengths?
Camilla Ahlgren: It’s good to have someone with fresh eyes to evaluate the source material. I can be tough, and I think I’m quite good at fleshing out the structure, to see what makes sense for the TV version across six episodes. Hans and I know each other so well. It’s easy, and as importantly, it’s fun!

HR: I would say my strength is more in dialogue, whereas Camilla is definitely great with the structure, particularly with this project, where I had written the source material and was too close to it. It was much harder for me to cut things-the action, the characters. She would say - 'let’s gets rid of this, let’s move this forward' …I couldn’t have done it myself.

Hans, was the screen adaptation faster, as you have been immersed in the source and spent a lot of time with the characters?
HR: Yes and no. I knew so much about them, but at the same time, the problem is to transfer the characters into TV. With a book, there is so much inner monologue, description of their thoughts, the type of persons they are etc. With TV, you need to do that with action and scenes. This is quite tricky actually.

CA: And there is a lot of backstories here that needed to be transferred into a TV format. But I feel we have found a very good way to tell the story in different timelines.

What can you say about the characters and the setting without revealing too much?
HR: In The Bridge and Marcella, the main female characters are very special, quite easy to get a grip of in the first episode. But here, when I wrote the book, I wanted the main character to be a more ‘normal’ person. Hannah Wester is a 55-year police woman living in a small town. She and her husband are empty-nesters. Gradually, you get to know Hanne and come to realise that she has quite some baggage. She is also not in a good relationship at the moment, with few friends to share her issues, so you feel for her.

CA: We didn’t want to reveal too much too soon about Hannah. The book is also multi-character-driven.

HR: Yes it’s much more of an ensemble piece, with 6-7 main characters.

CH: As we are in a small town in northern Sweden, in a remote area, the police team is close-knit. They like their job but aren’t used to chasing murderers every day.

HR: Yes in this very small community, the police are not very busy. When I did research in Haparanda, I had a great contact with the local police. They said the usual weekend for them is to deal with two drunk drivers, one guy driving an unauthorised vehicle, someone else hitting a reindeer on the road, and one-two drunkards in public places - that’s it! The police station isn’t even open on the weekend and it only open 9.00 to 15.00 weekdays. So this makes this investigation team in the book and series very unique.

How did you get the idea to set the story in Haparanda, Sweden’s easternmost point a city twined with the Finnish town of Tornio? Where does your fascination with borders come from?
HR: I don’t really have a fascination with borders. What happened is that I had written seven novels with Michael [Hjorth], with a male lead character [Sebastian Bergman] and the action was set all over Sweden. So with my first solo novel, I went for a female lead and one location, to break away from my collaboration with Michael.

Then about 10 years ago, I went to Haparanda to present The Bridge. I just remembered being there, in a small sleepy and cool town, with a glorious historical past. During WWI, it was an important metropole and a gate between east and west. So when I went back to see if I could use it as a backdrop I felt—yes! Absolutely. So again, it had nothing to do with the Finnish/Swedish border and neither in the book, nor in the script do we use the premise of the border the way we did in The Bridge.

CA: Yes Haparanda is up north, far far away from Malmö [where The Bridge was partly set] and you have the midnight sun, with a constant bright light during the summer.

HR: This is also a new twist to the crime genre. Usually you have exciting creepy things happening in the dark but here, it will be daylight for the entire series. We had to find new ways to create suspense in bright daylight.

What can you say about another key character Katja, described as a ‘lethal female assassin in the book’s tagline?
HR: She was a very fun character to write. What happens in the plot is that there is a lot of money and drugs disappearing in Haparanda. The police want to find it, while the people who lost it want it back, so they send this Russian assassin to get it back. I thought in this small sleepy town, where the crime rate is pretty low, and life is in slow motion, it would be fun to drop a terminator to stir things up! And Katja is just that. A very well-trained, extremely talented assassin. She is a kind of sidekick to the Bond-villain, or a Modesty Blaise gone rogue.

It will be exciting to hear who will play her…
HR: Oh yes! She’s gonna have some work cut out for her, including a very physical job to do.

Your signature Hans is to mix strong characters with plot, often rooted in real political and social issues. What will be the main themes in Cry Wolf?
HR: The thing is - I don’t really think in terms of theme and with Camilla, we hardly discuss themes. It kind of comes naturally when you’re writing.

So the Nordic Noir has bright days ahead, as you just go back to it again and again with the same passion?
HR: I do, but it will be very different from my biggest shows The Bridge and Marcella. Both were thematically and visually very dark, in particular Marcella. Here, I wouldn’t say it is ‘light’ in any way, as there is quite a lot of action, of violence, quite a lot of people to care for, with lots going wrong in their lives. But it will be a slow burner, with a Fargo feel. It will definitely be a fresh take on crime.

CA: And I don’t think we’ll call it a ‘Nordic Noir’. This was the past. We’re doing something different.

Is it reassuring and thrilling to have the major Nordic streamer C More plus the US group Endeavor Content on board?
HR: Yes it is, although we haven’t gone that far yet. We have written all six episodes in the first drafts and episodes 1-2 are even further along, but everything is still very open regarding the casting, director, production design etc.

CA: We have to shoot in June-to get the midsummer sun, so we have to wait a bit. We’ll see who the director is to discuss our script.

Hans how far are you with the writing of the second novel in the ‘Haparanda series’?
HR: I’ve actually postponed it. I usually work a lot but 2021 was just too much for me. So last month I came to the point where I said I can’t do it all. My second book was meant to come out this fall, but it will now come out at a later date.

You’ve been busy as well with the TV adaptation of Astrid Lindgren’s children’s books Ronja the Robber’s Daughter…

H.R,: Yes, parallel to Cry Wolf. Plus Camilla and I are working together on a British show called The Burning Girls [adapted from C.J. Tudor’s best-selling book, produced by Buccaneer Media]. It will start shooting in July - so that’s almost done. I also have another novel lined up with Michael, to be published next year.

What tips would you give emerging screenwriters?
CA: I’d say it’s very important to have a partner when you work on a TV series. It’s harder to be on your own, to take all the notes, have all the discussions with the producers. You can help each other. Also, it’s key to have enough time to develop your script.

HR: Some writers do want to work alone, but I’d say don’t always think you have the best ideas in the room. Listen to other people - your producers, your director etc. They all want the same: for the show to be outstanding. You can disagree on things, but at least listen, be open, take the good ideas and dismiss the bad ones.

What shows have you enjoyed recently?
CA: I’ve loved the French show Call My Agent and also enjoyed The White Lotus.

HR: James Gunn’s Peacemaker.