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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,...

One of the top drama decision-makers in the Nordics, Ivar Køhn has been heading Norwegian pubcaster Nrk’s drama department since 2013. Under his helm, some of Norway’s most international lauded TV shows have been produced or co-produced, from “Nobel”, “Mammon 2”, “Home Ground”, “State of Happiness”, to “22 July” (Nordisk Film & TV Fond Prize for Best Nordic Screenplay).

Nrk’s lavish historical drama “Atlantic Crossing,” starring Sofie Helin and Kyle MacLachlan, is currently running for Best TV Movie/Miniseries at New York’s upcoming International Emmy Awards, while “Countrymen,” co-created by Anne Bjørnstad (“Beforeigners”) is world premiering this week in competition at Canneseries.

Køhn tells Variety about his vision for public service broadcasting in the age of streaming.

“Countrymen” is competing at Canneseries and “Atlantic Crossing” for an International Emmy. What does it mean for you and in what way do these premium dramas stand for Nrk’s DNA?

It’s...

Two-time Academy-award nominated Norwegian actor Liv Ullmann, Ane Dahl Torp and model-turned actor Elsa Brisinger, have been cast in the forthcoming Swedish dark fable “The Nix.”

The eerie pic anchored in Scandinavian mythology was pitched on Wednesday at Haugesund’s Nordic Co-Production Market by rising Swedish talent Niclas Gillis, multi-awarded for his US-set short pics “The Cave” and “Hold Me Down,” the latter winning Best Short Film at Harlem Int’l Film Festival.

“The Nix” is being produced by Nordic Factory Film Sweden’s Helene Granqvist (“Granny’s Dancing on the Table”), president of Wift, and executive produced by Michael Huffington, former U.S. congressman, philanthropist and film producer, attached earlier to “Hold Me Down.” Non-Stop Entertainment serves as co-producer and distributor for the Nordics and Baltics.

Set in Dalecarlia, Sweden in 1868, a year of famine, the female-driven pic is an elevated horror about the Nordic ancient spirit of the woods,...

Powered by its famed partners, Oslo-based Motion Blur, one of Norway’s top producers of commercials, features and TV shows, has never been that busy with projects both on home turf and in the U.S.

That activity in part rolls off the pulling power of the company’s pedigreed partners: “Karate Kid” helmer Harald Zwart; “Kon-Tiki” and “Pirates of the Caribbean-Dead Men Tell No Tales” co-helmer Espen Sandberg: and producer Espen Horn.

Minority shareholder Sf Studios lends Motion Blur adds financial stability. The genre-bending outfit also boasts a unique bond with Netflix that has translated into three Norwegian-language orders over the past year-and-a -half from the U.S. giant.

Helmed by rising talent Jarand Herdal, chiller “Cadaver,” Netflix’s first Norwegian feature, premiered last October. Motion Blur’s vampire comedy show “Post Mortem: No One Dies in Skarnes” is launching on the giant streamer on Aug. 25. A third Netflix title,...

Zurich-based First Hand Films has snapped up the Norwegian documentary “Trust Me” – about a Justin Bieber concert fraudster. The film is directed by Emil Trier, co-director with his brother Joachim Trier of “The Other Munch,” showcased at New York’s Lincoln Center in 2018.

The pic produced by Thomas Robsahm and Nicolai Moland for Motlys, with co-production partner Zentropa Sweden, is world premiering at the Nordic:dox competition strand of Denmark’s leading documentary festival Cph:dox, running April 21-May 12.

“Trust Me” is a stranger than fiction true story echoing “Catch Me If You Can.” The documentary chronicles the startling rise and fall of young Norwegian entrepreneur of Pakistani descent Waleed Ahmed, currently serving an 11-year prison sentence in the U.S. for international fraud.

Once a media darling, hailed as “Norway’s Mark Zuckerberg” at the age of 20 for supposedly inventing a solar energy mobile, Ahmed fooled everyone in Norway before moving...

The ten-episode series is co-directed by Stian Kristiansen and Uri Barbash, and stars Andrea Berntzen, Anneke von der Lippe, Anders T Andersen and Shadi Mar’i. A new ten-part thriller series, entitled Abducted, is set to premiere on TV2 Norway and TV2 Sumo on 11 April. The project, co-directed by Stian Kristiansen (the TV series Witch Hunt and Home Ground) and Uri Barbash (Kapo in Jerusalem), is based on a script penned by Kyrre Holm Johannessen and Ronit Weiss-Berkowitz. Abducted’s lead actors are Andrea Berntzen (U – July 22), Anneke von der Lippe, Anders T Andersen and Shadi Mar’i. The story begins when a young Norwegian girl called Pia gets kidnapped in the Sinai desert with two Israelis. Her parents, Alex and Karl, are first deeply confused, and then shocked, as they...

Young pregnancy drama marks the second feature of Norway’s Yngvild Sve Flikke.

TrustNordisk has closed a hat-trick of deals on Ninjababy, Yngvild Sve Flikke’s Norwegian drama that will screen in the Berlinale’s Generation strand this week.

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

The film was previously picked up for Norway (Arthaus), Sweden (TriArt) and Denmark (Øst for Paradis).

Ninjababy follows a young, single woman named Rakel, played by Kristine Thorp, who unexpectedly discovers she is pregnant. Far from excited by the prospect of motherhood,...

Now in production, the quirky comedy will mix live action and animation.

TrustNordisk has boarded international sales for quirky comedy drama Ninjababy, which will mix live action and animation.

Norway’s Yngvild Sve Flikke directs from a script by Johan Fasting based on Inga H Sætre’s graphic novel Fallteknik. The film is in production now for local release in autumn 2020. Screen can reveal the first image here.

The story is about 23-year-old Rakel, who finds out she is six months pregnant after a one-night stand. That’s when the animated Ninjababy climbs out of her notebook and begins to...

Haugesund, Norway — Pitched at Haugesund’s New Nordic Films confab, Thomas Robsahm and Aslaug Holm’s doc “a-ha -The Movie” won’t hit screens before November 2020, but an array of new production and distribution partners have already boarded the project.

Clementina Hegewisch of Neue Impuls and Matthias Greving of Kinescope Film in Germany are now co-producing with lead Norwegian producer Yngve Sæther of Motlys and Tore Bucarp of Fenris Film. Public funders are the Norwegian Film Institute, Fond for lyd og bilde, Nordisk Film & TV Fond and Nordmedia.

Broadcasters that have secured rights include TV2 Norway, Svt, Yle, Arte, Vrt Belgium, Srf Switzerland, while theatrical distributor Euphoria Film has nabbed domestic rights and Salzgeber & Co Medien German distribution rights. First Hand Films, who came on board two years ago, is sales rep. The release in Norway is set for November 2020.

The music doc tells the whole story, how three young boys from Oslo -Magne Furuholmen,...

Variety has been given exclusive access to the first trailer for Dag Johan Haugeruds’ politically and socially charged drama “Beware of Children,” which premieres as part of the Venice Film Festival’s Venice Days section.

The pic, which is being sold at Venice by Picture Tree Intl., features the dramatic aftermath of a tragic incident in a middle-class suburb in Oslo. During a school break, the 13-year-old daughter of a Socialist member of parliament accidentally causes the death of a classmate, the son of a high-profile right-wing politician.

The school’s staff and parents must navigate this traumatic situation, which is made more difficult by the web of relationships that link them, and their conflicted loyalties and secrets.

The film is Haugerud’s second feature after his debut, “I Belong,” which won the award for best picture at the Amandas, Norway’s national film awards, in 2012. It is produced by Motlys,...

Scandinavian and German drama series are putting in a strong showing at the market screenings in Berlin, along with high-profile series out of Israel, Spain and the U.K. The screenings are part of the growing Drama Series Days event in Berlin, which runs alongside the film festival.

A 24-strong roster features eight projects with a Nordic flavor, with Denmark accounting for three of those, including the third season of “Follow the Money.” Swedish shows include miniseries “A Wedding, Funeral and a Christening,” directed by Colin Nutley (“Heartbreak Hotel”).

Projects with a German influence on home turf include Zdfe-distributed German/Italian family drama “Bella Germania,” as well as “The Other Parents” from Turner, the pay-tv outfit that has been pushing into original programming.

Out of the U.K., All3Media and ITV Studios are handling sales for two projects apiece and Sky Vision another. All3Media has “Baptiste,” the BBC...

In today’s International Newswire, Variety asks if high-end drama is the new content king in Europe; Nordic Film & TV Fund announce new round of top-up financing; Turner/Warner Bros. FilmStruck launches in France and Spain; Natpe Budapest International announces a participation hike – a sign of vitality of some regional markets.

Is Drama the New Soccer of Europe?

Are drama series the new soccer? And, of all countries, in soccer loco Spain? On Thursday, via a tweeted video, a man in a “La Casa de Papel” garb – Dali mask, lush Bordeaux red overalls, who turned out, once he took off the mask, to be Netflix CEO Reed Hastings, announced with Telefonica’s executive CEO José María Alvarez Pallete that Netflix would be made available to Telefonica’s Movistar + pay TV subscribers in Spain and Latin America.

More than daylight robbery, however, that’s a win-win play for both companies. This is a union between Netflix,...