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Based on true events, Göteborg opening film “Safe House” – about a group of people trying to survive in a hospital in conflict-torn Bangui in 2013 – could be a harrowing watch. But lead actor Kristine Kujath Thorp found hope in the story.

“What really stuck with me was that even though the world is a very complicated place, most people want good, they want love and to live in peace. It’s just a few bloody bastards at the top. If only a few men can do such harm, think of what we could do if we weren’t so indifferent and stood together,” she told Variety.

Directed by Eirik Svensson, “Safe House” also features Alexander Karim, Bibi Tanga, Alma Pöysti, Tracy Gotoas and Mattis Herman Nyquist. Produced by Fantefilm, it’s sold by Trust Nordisk, which has shared the trailer in exclusivity with Variety.

Kristine Kujath Thorp’s headstrong character was inspired by Lindis Hurum,...

John C. Reilly and Johnny Flynn look contemplative in this first look image from “A Prayer for the Dying,” the survival thriller now in production outside Bratislava, Slovakia.

Anton and New Europe Films are co-repping worldwide rights on the film, and are continuing sales at the upcoming Toronto International Film Festival.

“A Prayer for the Dying” is written and directed by Dara Van Dusen and based on the novel by Stewart O’Nan. It takes place in 1870 in Friendship, Wisconsin, a small town of Scandinavian settlers still suffering the repercussion of the recent Civil War. When faced with a new and even deadlier threat, one man is forced to make a harrowing choice: save his young family or defend the community that gave him a second chance at life and meaning. Flynn will play Jacob Hansen, the sheriff responsible for the safety of the town, while Reilly will play the local doctor.

TrustNordisk has boarded international sales on Eirik Svensson’s Africa-set drama Safe House, starring Sick Of Myself and Ninjababy star Kristine Kujath Thorp.

Based on real events, the film depicts 15 hours at a Doctors Without Borders hospital in Bangui, Central African Republic on Christmas Eve 2013, when a Muslim man being persecuted by a mob entered the hospital.

Filming wrapped in South Africa in March, with dialogue on the film predominantly in English with elements of Norwegian, French and Sango, the national language of the Central African Republic. TrustNordisk will present the title and a promo to buyers at this month’s Cannes market.

Exclusive: Rising British actor Callum Turner is set to star alongside Norway’s Kristine Kujath Thorp and Sweden’s Gustav Lindh in Dara Van Dusen’s A Prayer For The Dying.

Anton and New Europe Films sales have co-acquired international rights for the upcoming English-language survival thriller.

Based on a novel by Stewart O’Nan, the film takes place in 1870 in Friendship, Wisconsin, a small town of Scandinavian settlers still suffering the repercussions of the recent Civil War.

When faced with a new and even deadlier threat, one man is forced to make a harrowing choice: save his young family or defend the community that gave him a second chance at life and meaning.

The film will shoot in early summer 2024.

New Europe CEO Jan Naszewski said of the feature: “Rarely can we...

“Power Play” – a scathing, scabrous chronicle of Gro Harlem Brundtland unlikely climb to power as Norway and Scandinavia’s first woman prime minister – won the 2024 Nordisk Film & TV Fond Prize for best drama series screenwriting at Sweden’s Göteborg Film Festival Tuesday night.

Awarded at the fest’s TV Drama Vision, the prize went to the satirical series’ main writers Johan Fasting, Silje Storstein and Kristin Grue. The Nordic drama series screenwriting award carries a cash prize of €20,000.

With the Nftfp win, “Power Play,” like “Blackport” before it, completes a double of winning a top TV fest in Europe – it walked off with best series at Canneseries last year – and then the Nordisk Film & TV Fond Prize.

While Nordic Noir exposed human evil festering below Scandinavia’s acclaimed social democracy, “Power Play” underscores a more recent TV phenomenon of exposing the myth to that model and its decline via comedy and farce.

Maria Ekerhovd of Mer Film and Andrea Berentsen Ottmar of Eye Eye Pictures will produce the as-yet-untitled family drama set in Oslo.

Joachim Trier’s next feature film will see him reunite with The Worst Person In The World’s co-writer Eskil Vogt, with Maria Ekerhovd of Mer Film and Andrea Berentsen Ottmar of Eye Eye Pictures set to produce.

The feature, as yet untitled, has received backing from the Norwegian Film Institute worth $1.9m (a record high for the public funder) as part of its total budget of $7.8m.

Trier’s sixth feature – all previous features have also been...

Norwegian comedy series Power Play has won Best Series in the Canneseries International Competition.

The series — originally called Makta and written by Silje Storstein, Kristin Grue and Johan Fasting — is for Norwegian pubcaster Nrk and Ndr and is from Motlys and Fremantle-owned Novemberfilm. REinvent International Sales has distribution rights.

Fasting is the showrunner and Kathrine Thorborg Johansen, Jan Gunnar Røise star.

Power Play is billed as “the incredible story of Gro Harlem Brundtland, who in the late 70s works as a young doctor, fighting for self-determined abortion, when she almost by accident, stumbles into politics. As the government implodes around her, Gro learns to play her own games of power, climbing the ranks until she is the last woman standing in the ruins of Labour’s celebrated social democracy, ending up as Norway’s first female Prime Minister in 1981.”

The 12-part series also bagged Best Music with Kåre Christoffer Vestrheim,...

Gro Harlem Brundtland started out as a doctor. Climbing the ranks, she became Norway’s first female Prime Minister. Now, new show “Power Play” takes a closer look at her way to the top.

“She is aware that we made it,” says showrunner Johan Fasting, who co-wrote with Silje Storstein and Kristin Grue. Currently in her eighties, Brundtland wasn’t involved in developing the series, however.

“This story needed to be told, now. It wouldn’t make sense to wait just to be courteous.”

Playing in main competition at his year’s Canneseries, which runs April 14-19, “Power Play” is produced by Motlys and Novemberfilm, with REinvent International Sales handling international distribution.

Brundtland served three terms as Pm; she was also the director-general of the World Health Organization. Although she entered politics back in the 1970s, things are still rocky for high-profile female politicians. Recently, Jacinda Ardern resigned as Pm of New Zealand,...

Editors note: This review was originally published May 22 after its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival. The film opened in New York on Wednesday and today in Los Angeles.

Timing can be cruel. Norwegian director Kristoffer Borgli’s second feature, Sick of Myself, has the misfortune to arrive in the Cannes Film Festival’s Un Certain Regard section in the slipstream of Ruben Östlund’s divisive but funny competition title Triangle of Sadness; the latter being a broader, sillier but much more brutal dissection of class and culture. Sick of Myself also has to compete with the unexpected longevity of fellow countryman Joachim Trier’s hit The Worst Person In The World, which last year went from the Cannes competition all the way to the Oscars.

The net result is that despite another great, gutsy central performance from Ninjababy star Kristine Kujath Thorp, Sick of Myself won’t get...

Variety has been given exclusive access to the trailer (below) for “Power Play,” which world premieres in the main competition section at next month’s series festival Canneseries. The fiction series is a raucous satire inspired by the real-life goings on behind the scenes when politician Gro Harlem Brundtland came to power in Norway in 1981. The power struggles and backroom bickering in the show bring to mind “Veep” and “In the Loop.”

Brundtland was the first female prime minister of any Nordic country, not just Norway, and one of Scandinavia’s leading figures in the fight for women’s rights, gender equality and abortion rights, with a standing on a par with Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Gloria Steinem in the U.S., or Simone Veil in France.

REinvent International Sales is handling world rights. The company is also selling romantic dramedy “Out of Touch,” which has been selected for the Short Form Competition at Canneseries,...

Spanish production and distribution company Elamedia has acquired “Tengo sueños eléctricos” (I Have Electric Dreams), the Locarno prize-winning debut by director Valentina Maurel, which will screen in the Horizontes Latinos section of the San Sebastian Film Festival. Elamedia will be releasing the film in Spanish theaters later this year.

Set in Costa Rica, “Electric Dreams” follows Eva (Daniela Marin Navarro), a strong-willed 16-year-old girl who lives with her mother, her younger sister and their cat, but desperately wants to move in with her estranged father (Reinaldo Amien Guttierez). Clinging onto him as he goes through a second adolescence, she balances between the tenderness and sensitivity of teenage life and the ruthlessness of the adult world.

Produced by Wrong Men (Belgium) and Geko Films (France) and co-produced with Tres Tigres (Costa Rica), the film had its world premiere in the international competition at Locarno, where Maurel won the award for best...

Erik Poppe’s historical drama “The Emigrants” scored the top Andreas Award at the 50th Norwegian International Film Festival Haugesund. Produced by Fredrik Wikström Nicastro, it is distributed by Sf Studios. Poppe is also known for “Utøya: July 22” and “The King’s Choice.”

Based on Vilhelm Moberg’s series of novels about Swedes who decided to leave their country and search for a better future, it “tackles deep questions about cultural and religious identity,” argued the jurors.

“Even though the events in this story are long behind us, the film reminds us of our own present,” they added.

Interestingly enough, in 1971 Jan Troell also took on the story, ending up with four Academy Awards nominations – including one for Liv Ullmann.

“She was able to see our film and she is its biggest ambassador now. She just loves this take and noticed that it’s about the refugees today. It takes place 150 years ago,...

REinvent International Sales has clinched a banner sale to Gussi for Latin America on the Norwegian pic “Storm,” which is screening at Haugesund’s New Nordic Films market, running Aug. 23-26.

The Norwegian suspense drama, penned by Johan Fasting, is the feature debut of Erika Calmeyer, episodic director of Netflix’s hit teen show “Young Royals” and creator of Nrk’s anthology show “Nudes.”

Headlining the pic is Ane Dahl Torp, cast as single mum Elin, faced with a terrible dilemma, following the death of her son Ulrik (6). The boy was playing with his sister Storm (10) when he drowned, but classmates claim that Storm actually pushed her brother into the river. Elin’s unconditional love for her daughter is challenged, as she has to face the truth about what happened by the river.

“Elin is faced with an impossible dilemma where she both tries to defend her daughter against serious accusations,...

Ninjababy star Kristine Kujath Thorp’s career continues to be on the rise – and showing plenty of variation – as she has added to it in the past few months with Cannes black comedy satire Sick Of Myself and this Nordic action thriller, which sees director John Andreas Andersen return to disaster movie territory after The Quake.

This time around she Thorp plays Sofia, an operator of drone-like submarines that buzz about in the ocean beneath oil rigs looking for problems. In a spirit running at least as far back as Lieutenant Ellen Ripley, she is about to become the hero, even though she doesn’t know that as she jokes about with her colleague Arthur (Rolf Kristian Larsen) and debates whether it might finally be time to move in with her oil worker boyfriend Stian (Henrik Bjelland) and his young son Odin (Nils Elias Olsen).

A prologue, filmed...

Memento International is rolling off a banner Cannes, having widely sold Tarik Saleh’s “Boy From Heaven,” which competed and won best screenplay, and Kristoffer Borgli’s Un Certain Regard film “Sick of Myself.”

One of the most political films of this year’s Cannes Film Festival competition, “Boy From Heaven” sold to Latin America (Impacto), Germany and Austria (X Verleih), Switzerland (Filmcoopi), Poland (M2 Films), Israel (New Cinema), Ex-Yugoslavia (Blitz), Czech Republic, Slovakia (FilmEurope), Baltics (A-One), Romania (Bad Unicorn), Bulgaria (Beta), Portugal (Leopardo Filmes) and Turkey (Bir Films).

The movie was also acquired by U.K. distributor Picturehouse at Cannes and is being circled by several U.S. buyers.

Saleh’s follow-up to “The Nile Hilton Incident,” “Boy From Heaven” was produced by the Stockholm-based outfit Atmo and Production’s Alexandre Mallet-Guy.

A religious and political thriller, “Boy From Heaven” is set in Cairo at a Koranic school following...

The first film on her new slate is Armand, the debut feature of Halfdan Ullmann Tøndel.

Norway’s Andrea Berentsen Ottmar, one of the producers of Kristoffer Borgli’s Sick Of Myself in Un Certain Regard, is leaving Oslo Pictures to concentrate on her own independent productions.

Her new outfit doesn’t yet have a name but she says, “I know which talents I want to work with and the people I want to continue relationships with on the production side and also the talent side.” She will continue to collaborate with Dyveke Bjørkly Graver, who had also been at Oslo Pictures.

Norwegian disaster movies The Wave and The Quake marked out an interesting middle ground in the genre. They eschewed the tiny, insular, approach of something like Right At Your Door, but didn’t quite have the budget to compete with the vast scale of the likes of Roland Emmerich’s CGI choked productions, but they turned their limitations very much to their advantage. Where Emmerich and others in Hollywood tend to favour spectacle over emotion, these films leaned in to character, and deployed their limited but high quality effects to make us feel the peril and therefore identify with the well drawn characters.

The Burning Sea, to my slight disappointment, doesn’t follow Kristoffer Joner’s character into yet another disaster, as if he were John McClane but it was nature, rather than terrorists, repeatedly trying to kill him. Instead, the film focuses on Sofia (Kristine Kujath Thorp), a robot...

Norwegian filmmaker Kristoffer Borgli, based in Los Angeles, brings dark humor – and body horror – to Cannes’ Un Certain Regard with “Sick of Myself.” The film was acquired by Memento International.

Signe and Thomas (“Ninjababy” breakout Kristine Kujath Thorp and Eirik Sæther) are an attractive young couple in Oslo. They also happen to bring out the worst in each other. When his career starts to take off, Signe tries to get some attention as well – by making herself sick.

“I definitely recognize the pettiness, the competitiveness, all of these things. I have experienced mini-versions of these arguments and these feelings,” says Borgli, also behind 2017 curio “Drib” combining fact and fiction, and an energy drink campaign.

“I wanted them to be watchable, not likeable. Also, I find it much funnier when the characters in the movie are not in on the joke. When they are stuck inside all this drama the audience...

Memento International has acquired “Sick of Myself,” a movie by L.A.-based Norwegian filmmaker Kristoffer Borgli which will world premiere at Cannes in Un Certain Regard.

Borgli previously directed the short films including “Former Cult Member Hears Music For The First Time” and “Eer” which played at Sundance.

“Sick of Myself” stars Kristine Kujath Thorp and Eirik Sæther, a contemporary artist who is making his acting debut. The film was lensed by Benjamin Loeb, the cinematographer of “Pieces of a Woman,” “Mandy” and “When You Finish Saving the World.”

The pic revolves around Signe and Thomas whose dysfunctional relationship takes a vicious turn when Thomas suddenly breaks through as a contemporary artist. Signe embarks on a desperate quest to regain her status and attract attention by creating a new persona at all costs.

Andrea Berentsen Ottmar and Dyveke Bjørkly Graver at Oslo Pictures, the banner behind Joachim Trier’s...

Cast includes Kristine Kujath Thorp (Ninjababy) and Elliott Crosset Hove (Winter Brothers)

TrustNordisk has boarded international sales on Danish writer/director Katrine Brocks’ debut feature The Great Silence, now in post.

Kristine Kujath Thorp (Ninjababy) and Elliott Crosset Hove (Winter Brothers) star in the story of a 29-year-old woman about to take her perpetual vows at a convent, whose alcoholic brother unexpectedly shows up, unearthing a secret family tragedy.

Pernille Tornøe of Copenhagen-based Monolit Film produces; the script is co-written with Marianne Lentz.

The Danish Film Institute’s New Danish Screen is backing the film, which Scanbox will release locally...

Experienced marketing and distribution veteran has been previously worked at Warner Bros, Gaumont and Pathé.

Damien Golla has been appointed head of French theatrical distribution at the Wild Bunch group.

He replaces Jérôme Rougier, who held the position from 2017.

Prior to joining Wild Bunch, Golla was vice president marketing new releases at Warner Bros Entertainment France from 2019, and before that, marketing director of the distribution division at Gaumont from 2016 to 2019.

He began his career in the film industry at Pathé Films as part of the marketing team from 2004 to 2010, and then at Twentieth Century Fox as senior marketing...

With a top prize of $44,000 it is one of the world’s most lucrative film awards.

Denmark won big with the two Dragon awards handed out in Goteborg on February 5, with Tea Lindeburg’s As In Heaven winning the prize for best Nordic film. With a prize of $44,000, it is one of the world’s most lucrative film awards.

The film, which previously won best director and best actress at San Sebastian, is about a girl in the 19thcentury who hopes to leave her family’s farm to be the first in her family to study. Her future prospects change...

18 works in progress by some of the Nordic region’s biggest names – Bille August, Björn Runge, the multi-prized Jp Valkeapää and Malou Reymann will be showcased at the hybrid Nordic Film Market (Feb. 3-6), along with some Sundance and Rotterdam competition entries.

The Nfm runs parallel to the final stretches of the Göteborg Film Festival (Jan.28-Feb.6).

So far, over 450 international delegates have signed up for the major Nordic film confab. Only 250 will be able to attend in-person, due to Covid restrictions in Sweden.

“We’ve received a huge interest from professionals to attend in-person, following the decision of Sundance, Rotterdam and Berlin’s European Film Market to go online. It’s been very difficult to say ‘no’ to people, but our priority is to guarantee a safe event,” said Göteborg head of industry Cia Edström who underlines the various safety measures to be implemented at the Nfm, from vaccination checks,...

TrustNordisk is unveiling the trailer for Christoffer Sandler’s feature directing debut “So Damn Easy Going,” a teenage romantic dramedy.

The film is headlined by a Swedish cast of newcomers Nikki Hanseblad and Melina Paukkonen and Shanti Roney (“Nymphomaniac: Vol. II). Sandler penned the script with Lina Åström, Jessika Jankert and Linda-Maria Birbeck.

The heartwarming coming-of-age love story revolves about Joanna, an 18-year-old girl whose mind is like a flashing amusement park at peak season. She is 18 years old and needs Adhd meds to keep her buzzy brain in order. With a depressed father whose sick pay is barely covering the rent, money runs out and Joanna sets off to hunt for money to pay for her medication. In the midst of the chaos, she falls in love with the charming and confident Audrey.

“So Damn Easy Going” is produced by Annika Hellström and Erika Malmgren, the banner behind the...

The European Film Awards, Europe’s biggest awards celebration, revealed its major winners during a mostly virtual ceremony on Saturday, December 11. The night was originally slated for an in-person event, but concerns about the Omicron variant moved festivities online. The powerful Bosnian wartime drama “Quo Vadis, Aida?” took home the top prize for Best Film, with its director Jasmila Žbanić and lead actress Jasna Đuričić also winning Best Director and Actress respectively. “Flee,” from Danish filmmaker Jonas Poher Rasmussen, also won in two categories — Documentary and Animated Feature.

The awards ceremony was hosted by German actor Annabelle Mandeng. The hybrid event saw nominees, presenters, and winners participating in a mixture of live, virtual, and pre-recorded formats.

“Quo Vadis, Aida” tells the story of the Srebrenica genocide, during which Serbian troops sent 8,372 Bosniak men and boys to their deaths in July 1995. The powerful story is told through the eyes of Aida,...

Bosnian war drama also wins best director and best actress.

Jasmila Žbanić’s Quo Vadis, Aida? won three prizes including best film at this year’s European Film Awards, which went ahead as a hybrid event in Berlin tonight (Dec 11).

Žbanić was also named best director by the European Film Academy’s (Efa) 4,200-strong membership, whilst the film’s star Jasna Đuričić won best actress.

In her acceptance speech, Žbanić dedicated her award to “the women of Srebrenica and mothers who taught us how to turn destruction into love. I hope it will encourage more female solidarity, female stories, female perspective in film,...

Quo Vadis, Aida Photo: Courtesy of Venice Film Festival

This year's European Film Awards were dominated by three titles: Jasmila Zbanic's powerful drama Quo Vadis, Aida?, which won Best Film, Best Director and Best Actress; Florian Zeller's intimate tragedy The Father, which saw Anthony Hopkins add to his collection of Best Actor gongs; and Jonas Poher Rasmussen's complex animation Flee. Among the first big awards of the season, these reflect back on some of 2020's hits but also set the pace for this year's race, with hopes particularly high for Flee, which is getting worldwide attention. This is widely considered to be a year when anything could happen.

Those award winners in full:-

Best European Film Jasmila Žbanić – Quo Vadis, Aida?

Best European Director Jasmila Žbanić – Quo Vadis, Aida?

Best European Comedy Ninjababy

Best European Documentary Flee

Best European Animated Feature Film Flee

Best European Short Film...

Update: Jasmila Žbanić’s Quo Vadis, Aida? was the big winner at the 34th European Film Awards tonight. The story of a woman’s fight to save her family during the true events of the 1995 Bosnian War genocide in Srebrenica scooped the top European Film prize as well as European Director for Žbanić and European Actress for Jasna Đuričić. (Scroll down for the full list of winners.)

Quo Vadis, Aida? was nominated for an Oscar at the 93rd Academy Awards and its triumph tonight was indicative of how the European Film Academy leaned this year. While the EFAs can be somewhat predictive of the Oscar for Best International Feature, this evening’s ceremony saw a fair bit of crossover from the 2021 Oscars.

Other winners that had already achieved Oscar recognition included Florian Zeller’s The Father which repeated with wins for Anthony Hopkins as European Actor and for Zeller and Christopher Hampton’s screenplay.

The European Film Academy has announced nominations for the 34th European Film Awards which will be handed out in Berlin on December 11. Julia Ducournau’s Cannes Palme d’Or winner, Titane; Florian Zeller’s 2020 drama and double Oscar winner The Father; and Jasmila Zbanic’s Quo Vadis Aida?, which was nominated for an Oscar at the 93rd edition, are tied with four mentions each.

Titane is the Oscar submission from France this year and, likewise, several other candidates for the International Feature Academy Award figure at the EFAs. They include Paolo Sorrentino’s The Hand Of God and Juho Kuosmanen’s Compartment No. 6, from Italy and Finland, respectively. Each of those films, alongside the titles above, is nominated in the European Film 2021 category, and both figure in three races.

Ducournau, Zeller, Zbanic and Sorrentino are all up for European Director 2021 while Radu Jude rounds out the field for his Bad...

Norway has selected Joachim Trier’s Cannes hit The Worst Person In The World as its submission to the Oscars’ International Feature Film category. The choice was made by the Norwegian Oscar Committee which had earlier shortlisted three pictures, opting for Trier’s third installment of the Oslo Trilogy which the committee believes “has a unique opportunity to reach all the way to an Oscar for best international film.”

Committee chief, Kjersti Mo, who is also Director of the Norwegian Film Institute, called the movie a “tribute to film art in the form of a drama comedy that conveys deep seriousness with playful lightness and elegance.” This is Trier’s third time repping his home country.

The Worst Person In The World debuted at the Cannes Film Festival in July, winning the Best Actress prize for lead Renate Reinsve. It later went on to play myriad festivals including Karlovy Vary,...

Joachim Trier’s film premiered in Competition at Cannes.

Norway has chosen Joachim Trier’s Cannes 2021 Competition title The Worst Person In The World as its entry for the best international feature award at the 2022 Oscars.

The film was chosen by the eight-person Norwegian Oscar committee, ahead of Eirik Svensson’s Betrayed and Yngvild Sve Flikke’s Ninjababy.

Renate Reinsve won the best actress award in Cannes for her performance as a young woman navigating the troubled waters of her love life and her struggles to find a career path.

Reinsve has also been tipped for recognition in acting categories...

Recently spotlighted at the Finnish Film Affair, where it was given the Best Nordic Project Award, Danish production “The Great Silence” will head straight to the convent, where Sister Alma (played by “Ninjababy” lead Kristine Kujath Thorp) is preparing to take her perpetual vows. But once her recovering alcoholic brother shows up, stirring up memories of a family secret, Alma begins to question her choices.

The film, currently shooting in Copenhagen and produced by Pernille Tornøe of newly founded Monolit Film, will mark helmer Katrine Brocks’ feature debut, inspired by her religious upbringing in a Christian community and co-written with Marianne Lentz, also behind her Robert Award-winning short “In the Blink of an Eye.”

“My parents met at a Bible camp. Religion has always been the backdrop of my childhood, it was the foundation of everything” she says, admitting that her “very personal relationship with God” changed once she started her teens.

The 10th edition of the Finnish Film Affair took place as a hybrid event from Helsinki.

Denmark’s The Great Silence was inaugural winner of the best Nordic project award at the 10th edition of the Finnish FIlm Affair (Ffa) which took place as a hybrid event from Helsinki this week,

The Great Silence is the directorial debut of Katrine Brocks and is produced by Pernille Tornøe of Monolit Film. The pair pitched remotely because they are currently shooting the film The drama is about siblings , played by Ninjababy’s Kristine Kujath Thorp and Winter Brothers’ Elliott Crosset Hove, coming...

Kristine Kujath Thorp never expected “Ninjababy” – her first role in a feature film and the lead role to boot – would garner quite this kind of reaction.

A niche indie project about a young woman grappling with an unwanted pregnancy, it revolves around Rakel (played by Kujath Thorp) talking to and even arguing with her growing foetus, which is animated over the live-action footage, as she realizes that she is not ready for a baby.

Kujath Thorp admits that when she started shooting the film, which had its U.K. premiere at the Edinburgh International Film Festival on Friday, she suffered from “imposter syndrome” and was convinced she’d be replaced on the project within her first week.

Instead, she has garnered rave reviews and, on Saturday, even won Norway’s most prestigious acting award.

Variety caught up with the actor the morning after “Ninjababy” swept the board at the Norwegian International Film Festival,...

After a stellar year picking up awards at Berlin, South by Southwest, Edinburgh and Melbourne, “Ninjababy” continued its prize-winning streak at Norway’s top plaudits for national movies, the Amanda Awards. Their prize ceremony kicked off the Norwegian International Film Festival in Haugesund on Saturday night.

The second feature from TV-film director Yngvild Sve Flikke (“Women in Oversized Men’s Shirts”), the ebullient comedy-drama film won out in four major categories: director, actress (Kristine Kujath Thorp), supporting actor (Nader Khademi) and screenplay.

Flikke’s sophomore feature is based on the graphic novel by Sætre, The Art of Falling,” which itself won numerous youth literature awards in 2012 for the Norwegian illustrator. The film follows aspiring artist Rakel, 23, who unexpectedly discovers she is six months pregnant and that the father is not her boyfriend, The story then pursues a series of comedic, yet grounded, twists and turns.

“I’m a restless person,...

Features world premieres of Cindy Jansen’s documentary Prince Of Muck and Richie Adams’ The Road Dance.

The 74th Edinburgh International Film Festival (Eiff) has announced the full programme for its 2021 edition, which will run August 18-25 as a combination of in-person and online screenings.

It includes world premieres of Cindy Jansen’s documentary Prince Of Muck, about the retired patriarch of an Inner Hebridean island; and Richie Adams’ The Road Dance based on Stv News presenter John MacKay’s book. MacKay also stars in the film.

Further titles include the UK premieres of Leos Carax’s Cannes opening film...

The Norwegian comedy-drama premiered at Berlinale’s Generation 14plus.

TrustNordisk has closed a slew of new deals on Yngvild Sve Flikke’s Norwegian festival hit Ninjababy.

Deals have been done for the US (Soro Films), Canada (Mongrel Media), the UK and Ireland (Curzon Artificial Eye), France (Wild Bunch Distribution), Germany (Koch Films), Austria (Filmladen) and Switzerland (Xenix).

The film previously sold to Lithuania (Scanorama); Taiwan (CatchPlay); and Albania, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo and Macedonia (Cinemania Group).

The Norwegian comedy-drama premiered at Berlinale’s Generation 14plus and then won the audience award in SXSW’s Global section.

The North Bend Film Festival is back this July with a hybrid edition that will have a mix of in-person programming, along with virtual screenings and special events. Here's a look at the festival's extensive offering, including a screening of The Blazing World, a conversation with Richard Kelly, and much, much more:

The North Bend Film Festival returns this summer with a hybrid festival taking place July 15-18, 2021. The in-person portion of the fest returns audience members to the historic art deco North Bend Theatre for a curated offering of feature film and short screenings, while both the virtual and physical programs will be complemented by special events, conversations with filmmakers, and immersive experiences. The majority of titles will be exclusive either to physical or virtual programs, with only a few overlaps making for a unique festival experience however you choose to attend.

This year's festival will open with the in-person screening of Swan Song,...

Filmmakers set to travel to Berlin for screenings of award-winning features.

Tracey Deer’s Canadian drama Beans and Kateryna Gornostai’s Ukrainian feature Stop-Zemlia are to receive Crystal Bear awards at the Berlin International Film Festival’s Summer Special event (June 9-20).

The winners were decided by two young juries who viewed films from the Berlinale’s two competition programmes in the Generation strand – Kplus and 14plus. These juries were inactive during the festival’s online, industry-only event in March due to the pandemic.

Beans was named best film by the Generation Kplus jury. Inspired by true events, the story...

“A-ha The Movie,” a documentary feature on the iconic Norwegian pop band, is set to have its world premiere at Tribeca on June 12.

The band’s hit “Take On Me,” accompanied by a pioneering sketch-animation video by Steve Barron, is still one of the most played songs of the last millennium. The documentary follows the band over a period of four years, sharing the full story of how three young men followed their impossible dream of making it big. When “Take On Me” reached number 1 on Billboard in the U.S. in 1985, that dream came true.

Almost 35 years after their breakthrough, A-ha still creates magic on stage with their music and tour the world together, but behind the scenes it’s a less united front: the group members drive in separate cars to their gigs and stay apart backstage. They only meet on stage, while doing the one thing they love.

The title of 2021 Berlinale and SXSW selection Ninjababy might conjure thoughts of wacky superhero adventures; “Ninjababy” could be Astro Boy or Turbo Kid’s infant cousin. Director Yngvild Sve Flikke’s film, based on Inga H Sætre’s graphic novel, is no superhero adventure, although it is a bit wacky. Rather, Ninjababy is a delightfully unruly, genuinely moving portrait of a young woman stuck in a situation with no easy way out. Smartly plotted and downright hilarious, it features a star-making performance from lead Kristine Kujath Thorp.

In other words, do not let the title hold you back from experiencing this wonderful film. Also, do not let the plot summary impede your interest. While the storyline may seem familiar, the characterizations and raucous humor are not. Thorp plays Rakel, an adrift 23-year-old unsure of what’s to come. She is a good-natured screw-up, a graphic design dropout and would-be comic...

The 28th SXSW Film Festival revealed the Audience Award winners Tuesday, with Tom Petty, Somewhere You Feel Free, The Fallout and Not Going Quietly among the list of honorees. The news comes after the online edition of the fest announced its jury awards.

The Mary Wharton-directed docu Tom Petty, Somewhere You Feel Free chronicles the iconic musician’s work on his lauded 1994 record Wildflowers via newly discovered archived footage. The film won the Audience Award in the Headliners category, while The Fallout, Megan Park’s reflection on teen grief and trauma after a mass shooting — something all too familiar right now — won under the narrative feature competition banner. On the documentary competition banner, Nicholas Bruckman’s moving feature docu Not Going Quietly took the Audience Award.

Over the course of five days of SXSW Online, the SXSW Film Festival screened 75 features including 57 world premieres, three international premieres, four North American Premieres,...

Winners include Language Lessons, Who We Are: A Chronicle Of Racism In America.

Documentary Tom Petty, Somewhere You Feel Free and The Fallout and are among SXSW audience award winners announced across multiple sections on Tuesday (March 23).

Narrative feature competition winner The Fallout fared well when the juried award winners were unveiled last week. Megan Park’s follows a high-school student as she navigates life in the wake of a school tragedy.

Mary Wharton directed Headliners winner Tom Petty, Somewhere You Feel Free, which follows the legendary late performer as he records his second solo album ’Wildflowers’.

Nicholas Bruckman’s...

Winners include Language Lessons, Who We Are: A Chronicle Of Racism In America.

Documentary Tom Petty, Somewhere You Feel Free and The Fallout and are among SXSW audience award winners announced across multiple sections on Tuesday (March 23).

Narrative feature competition winner The Fallout fared well when the juried award winners were unveiled last week. Megan Park’s follows a high-school student as she navigates life in the wake of a school tragedy.

Mary Wharton directed Headliners winner Tom Petty, Somewhere You Feel Free, which follows the legendary late performer as he records his second solo album ’Wildflowers’.

Nicholas Bruckman’s...

I'm just going to say this right up front: Ninjababy is one of the most creative, innovative films I've seen this year. This film rocks! For whatever foolish reasons, I was resistant to watching this one when it first premiered at the 2021 Berlin Film Festival. Then I finally caught up with it at the 2021 SXSW Film Festival, after many of my colleagues had been raving about it. I wasn't ready to be this blown away by how brilliant and innovative and progressive and hilarious it is. This is the kind of fresh, insightful filmmaking that the world needs more of. This is the kind of empathetic, thoughtful, and delightfully witty storytelling that will shape the next era of cinema. It's not what you're expecting, and yet it's so much fun, and so smart in every way as it goes on and confronts real issues of what it's like to be a woman.

Some films provide such obvious American remake fodder that you just want to draw a protective circle around them to ensure that people experience the unassuming charms of the original. Norwegian director Yngvild Sve Flikke’s raucous, rude and ultimately poignant pregnancy comedy is an excellent example. Propelled by the internal quarrel of a 23-year-old cartoonist who discovers she’s expecting too late to do anything about it, Ninjababy is funny and insightful, imaginative and unsentimental. The movie offers a fresh take on a familiar situation through its unhesitant embrace of a protagonist who makes no apologies for her chaotic approach ...

As she developed her sophomore feature, director Yngvild Sve Flikke sought to evoke the messiness of life. “I’m a restless person,” the Scandinavian filmmaker tells Variety. “If I’m working on something knowing exactly where it’s going, I’ll get an itch in my back, telling me to change it up. I wanted to make [a film] that was as crazy as life can be.”

A veteran of Norwegian public broadcasting, Flikke set her sights on illustrator Inga Sætre’s acclaimed graphic novel “The Art of Falling,” about a hard-partying young adult faced with an unanticipated pregnancy. Working alongside Sætre and longtime collaborator Johan Fasting, Flikke adapted the comic into the crowd-pleasing “Ninjababy,” which premieres on Tuesday at SXSW following a Berlin berth earlier this month.

Winner of the audience award at this past January’s Tromsø Film Festival, the irreverent comedy follows 23-year-old Rakel (Kristine Thorp), an aspiring artist...

With a two-part structure featuring an online press and industry component that’s just concluded, followed by physical screenings this summer, the Berlin International Film Festival is unveiling a selection of the year’s finest films. Along with our extensive coverage of the festival (with a few reviews still to come), we’ve asked our Berlinale contributors to share their personal favorites. Check out their lists below, with links to coverage where available.

Ed Frankl

Memory Box

1. Petite Maman (Céline Sciamma)

2. Memory Box (Joana Hadjithomas & Khalil Joreige)

3. Brother’s Keeper (Ferit Karahan)

4. Ballad of a White Cow (Behtash Sanaeeha & Maryam Moghaddam)

5. Ninjababy (Yngvild Sve Flikke)

Honorable Mentions: The Fam, Language Lessons, Natural Light, Taste, and Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy.

Leonardo Goi

Taste

1. Taste (Lê Bảo)

2. Petite Maman (Céline Sciamma)

3. The Scary of Sixty-First (Dasha Nekrasova)

4. Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy (Ryûsuke Hamaguchi)

5. Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn (Radu Jude...

A year after its in-person 2020 edition was canceled due to the pandemic, the SXSW Film Festival is bellying up for yet another virtual edition. But with a year of learning and innovating behind them — not to mention the lessons of a variety of other festivals that have gone the virtual route over the past 365 days — the SXSW team is preparing to offer up a multi-faceted event with ease. One major change: a single-serving pass that will get you into everything. (Learn more about that process right here.)

With reservations for film and episodics screenings open this afternoon, allow us to guide you toward a dozen of our most-anticipated picks for this year’s festival. Some of these titles have appeared at other events, but are just landing on U.S. shores (and screens now), while at least one is a holdover from last year’s truncated SXSW festival. All of...

Could this be Norway’s year at the Oscars? An unprecedented number of Norwegian productions and co-productions are on this year’s shortlists, exciting the domestic media, industry and audiences.

“Recognition from the Oscars is a great inspiration for all of us who have an ambition to reach outside our own borders,” says Yngve Saether of Motlys, who served as executive producer of Norway’s shortlisted international feature submission “Hope.” “And it builds confidence. Even though it’s a long way to four nominations, the shortlistings are welcome reminders that our films have something to do out there.”

Likewise, Anita Larsen, producer of the documentary “Gunda,” about the life cycle of a majestic Norwegian sow, through her company Sant og Usant, says: “I believe this will create a broader interest both for Norwegian stories, filmmakers and new co-productions opportunities.”

“Hope,” an intense and well-liked personal drama from helmer Maria Sødahl,...