News

Highly active Copenhagen-based sales outfit REinvent has acquired rights to the Danish pic “Rome,” officially selected as the Göteborg Film Festival’s closing movie.

The life-affirming romantic drama marks the sophomore feature from established Danish choreographer Niclas Bendixen, behind Mads Mikkelsen’s famous dance scene in the Oscar-winning “Another Round.” Toplining the cast are Rolf Lassgård (“A Man Called Ove”), Bodil Jørgensen (“The Kingdom”), and Kristian Halken (“A Perfectly Normal Family”), who shares the writing credits with Bendixen and Christian Torpe (“Silent Heart”).

“‘Rome’ stands out as a heart-warming film which makes you think about life, love and values. We are proud to represent and showcase ‘Rome’ to an international audience in Göteborg. I am confident that the film will find a home in the hearts of distributors in countries worldwide,” said Helene Aurø, REinvent’s sales and marketing director.

Based on Halken’s idea, the pic turns on Gerda...

Lise, 14, walks in a cornfield on a sunny day, her pañm brushing its spikes. Suddenly, the sky darkens and a sinister red cloud builds in the distance, moving ominously towards her, then raining blood on her face.

The next day, Lise, the eldest of eight siblings, will become the first in her family to go away to school. But then a dramatic turn of events puts her future in doubt.

Set on a farmstead in late nineteenth century West Jutland in Denmark, “As in Heaven” marks the feature debut of Tea Lindeburg. Sold by Denmark LevelK, it is based on a literary classic, “En Dødsnat” (“A Night of Death”), the 1912 novel by Marie Bregendahl. Its blood cloud opening sequence turns out to be a premonitory dream, as Lise awakes in her bed on the morning of a day that may change her life altogether.

Which in a way seems to...

The companies are already working together on two forthcoming films.

Danish production company Motor has signed an exclusive distribution deal with Scanbox Entertainment. The pact covers “several years”.

The companies are already working together on two forthcoming films, feminist historical drama As in Heaven by Tea Lindeburg and offbeat romance The Venus Effect by Anna Emma Haudal.

Scanbox will release The Venus Effect later in 2021 and As In Heaven in early 2022. The latter screens in Toronto Discovery and San Sebastian’s main Competition.

Also lined up as a collaboration is Stranger by Mads Hedegaard, a Stone-Age thriller that will shoot...

Title is Danish filmmaker Tea Lindeburg’s debut feature.

LevelK has boarded international sales rights to Danish filmmaker Tea Lindeburg’s debut feature, As in Heaven, which has been confirmed for Toronto’s Discovery section and will also screen in the main competition at San Sebastian.

Writer/director Lindeburg has previously worked in television and is the creator and writer of the Danish Netflix production Equinox.

As in Heaven follows 14-year-old Lise, the eldest of her siblings, who experiences the harsh reality of farm life in the 19th century. She is poised to become the first in her family to go away to school,...

Lars Mikkelsen (“House of Cards”) and Nikolaj Lie Kaas (“Riders of Justice”) have joined the cast of Lars von Trier’s cult classic hospital series “The Kingdom.”

The third and final season of the series, which began in the 1990s, will be shooting until the end of the summer.

Von Trier has already reunited several members of the series’ original cast, including Bodil Jørgensen, Ghita Nørby (“Silent Heart”), Nicolas Bro, Peter Mygind (“Last Christmas”) and Søren Pilmark (“Downsizing”).

Produced by Zentropa, Nent and Dr, the iconic series is about the good and the evil at Copenhagen’s leading hospital, also known as The Kingdom. Mikkelsen will play a chief physician who is extremely afraid of conflicts, while Lie Kaas will star as burnt out resident Filip Naver.

Besides Mikkelsen and Lie Kaas, other new cast members include Nicolas Bro (“Riders of Justice”) and Bodil Jørgensen (“In a Better World”) who...

Lars von Trier has reunited several members of the original cast in his 1990s cult classic hospital series “The Kingdom” for the third and final season which will be shooting until the end of the summer.

The cast of the anticipated return of “The Kingdom” includes Bodil Jørgensen, Ghita Nørby (“Silent Heart”), Nicolas Bro, Peter Mygind (“Last Christmas”) and Søren Pilmark (“Downsizing”). More well-known actors will be announced in the coming months.

The series, which is produced by Zentropa, Nent and Dr, is about the good and the evil at Copenhagen’s leading hospital, also known as The Kingdom.

Among the new additions to the cast are Nicolas Bro (“Riders of Justice”) and Bodil Jørgensen (“In a Better World”), who will take on one of the leading roles as the sleepwalker Karen.

The series will follow Karen as she seeks answers to the unresolved questions of the series in order...

Sf Studios and sales banner REinvent have unveiled the trailer for “The Pact,” Bille August’s psychological drama based on real events in the life of Karen Blixen, the Danish author best known for her autobiographical novel “Out of Africa.”

The film depicts Blixen’s tumultuous relationship with Thorkild Bjørnvig, a promising young poet, after she returned from Africa. Birthe Neumann headlines the film as Blixen in her first major dramatic film role since “The Celebration.”

“The Pact” is produced by Sf Studios and Motor with producers Jesper Morthorst and Karin Trolle. Nordic distribution is handled by Sf Studios while REinvent International Sales is selling worldwide rights. The film will be released in cinemas in Denmark on April 15.

Along with “Margrete-Queen of the North” and “The Emigrants,” “The Pact” is one of the thee projects from Sf Studios which will be presented in the Works in Progress section at this...

Poland’s Opus Film and Scandinavian distributor Scanbox are teaming with fast-rising Danish production house Motor on Mads Hedegaard’s directorial debut “Stranger,” co-penned with Jesper Fink. Tagged by Motor as “‘Apocalypto’ meets ‘The Revenant,’” “Stranger” will be pitched virtually on Feb. 5 by Hedegaard and producer Andreas Hjortdal, at the Discovery section of the Göteborg Film Festival’s Nordic Film Market industry showcase.

The film goes back to pre-historic times, 6,000 years ago, when migrant farmers virtually replaced the hunter-gatherer populations of northern Europe. When 16-year old Aathi and her family -the first farmers ever – arrive from the south in the country now known as Denmark, all except Aathi and her younger brother are killed by local hunters. To survive, the two youngsters are forced to live with the hunters’ tribe in the eerie forest and integrate. But when Aathi becomes pregnant and the child is forcefully adopted by the tribe,...

Sf Studios has boarded “Toscana,” Mehdi Avaz’s upcoming romantic drama starring Anders Matthesen that just started filming.

A tribute to love and food, “Toscana” also stars Christiana Dell’Anna (“Gomorra”) and Andrea Bosca (“Quantico”), as well as Ghita Nørby (“Silent Heart”), Lærke Winther (“Dicte”) and the singer Christopher. Matthesen, one of Denmark’s most popular actors, previously starred in the award-winning film “Out of Tune” and in the local hit movie “Ternet Ninja.”

Sf Studios is planning to release “Toscana” in theaters across the Nordics in December 2021. It marks the third feature film by Avaz, who made his feature debut with “While We Live” in 2017 and his sophomore outing with the 2019 drama “Collision.” The filmmaker also produced the critically acclaimed TV show “Alfa,” which recently bowed on TV2 Zulu.

“In a very short time I have become the father of two lovely boys, which has greatly changed my focus on life.

Cinemas are looking to bounce back from a week of bad news.

France, opening Wednesday September 23

UFO Distribution and Potemkine Films joined forces this week for a rare general release of a medium-length film to launch Gaspar Noé’s 51-minute work Lux Æterna on 47 prints. Co-starring Beatrice Dalle and Charlotte Gainsbourg as a director and actress locked in a hellish shoot, the work debuted Out of Competition in Cannes in 2019.

Noé’s cult status at home ensured plenty of press and according to France’s Cbo Box Office the picture came in fifth out of 15 new releases on its first day in cinemas,...

A great cast can paper over a lot of issues. Watching talented actors and actresses at work is part of the main charm of the gift that is cinema. However, even the best thespians can’t make up for a script that just doesn’t give them much to do. Likewise with bland direction. Despite an A-list cast, the remake Blackbird is thoroughly mediocre, wasting the performers at its center. Aside from occasional sparks of livelihood, credited to the ladies and gentlemen on the screen, there’s not a whole lot to grab on to. The film just sort of lays there, never coming to life in the way one would hope for. The movie is a family drama, remade from the 2014 Danish effort Silent Heart. Lily (Susan Sarandon) and Paul (Sam Neill) clearly have a loving relationship, though one taking on a new dimension due to Lily’s terminal illness.

As box offices start to test the waters, Roger Michell’s family drama Blackbird starring Susan Sarandon is set to open in theaters and on demand starting today.

Known for My Cousin Rachel and Notting Hill, Michell directs a script by Christian Torpe, who wrote the 2014 Danish film, Silent Heart on which the family drama is based. In it, Sarandon plays Lily who, along with Paul (Sam Neil) invite their loved ones to their beach house for one final gathering after Lily decides to end her long battle with Als on her own terms. The weekend starts as a loving weekend with holiday tradition but as things unfold, unresolved issues between Lily and her daughters Jennifer (Kate Winslet) and Anna (Mia Wasikowska) come into the forefront. Rainn Wilson, Lindsay Duncan, Bex Taylor-Klaus and Anson Boon join the all-star roster in this ensemble drama.

The film made its world premiere last...

With a seemingly endless amount of streaming options—not only the titles at our disposal, but services themselves–each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit platforms. Check out this week’s selections below and past round-ups here.

58th New York Film Festival

An annual celebration in the finest cinematic offerings, the New York Film Festival has been a treasure trove of the latest work from seasoned auteurs along with new discoveries throughout its storied history. Now in its 58th year, the festival’s slate will be available to a wider audience than ever before. Due to the pandemic forcing theaters in New York to continue with their shutdown, Film at Lincoln Center has reimagined the event, offering nationwide virtual screenings with limited rentals as well as drive-in screenings in the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Queens. We’ve shared 20 films to watch and stay tuned for coverage here.

“When’s it happening?” asks Jonathan (Anson Boon), a teenager getting antsy at a family gathering. His parents, Jennifer (Kate Winslet) and Michael (Rainn Wilson), shoot him a Stfu glare. “Soon,” replies his grandmother Lily (Susan Sarandon), entering the living room and smiling at him. The group — along with Jennifer’s sister Anna (Mia Wasikowska) and Anna’s girlfriend, Chris (Bex Taylor-Klaus) — has ostensibly gathered to the posh beach house owned by the matriarch and her husband, Paul (Sam Neill), for Thanksgiving dinner. There is another agenda in the works,...

Blackbird — an upcoming family drama starring Susan Sarandon, Kate Winslet, Sam Neill and Mia Wasikowska — premiered its first trailer on Tuesday. The film is currently scheduled for a limited theatrical release on September 18th.

Sarandon stars as Lily, a woman who has decided to end her life after battling with Als for years. She and her husband Paul (Neill) summon the extended family to their home for one last goodbye, but unsurprisingly, tensions during the long weekend become strained, as unresolved issues between Lily and her daughters Jennifer (Winslet) and...

Boasting one of the more impressive ensembles at TIFF last year, Roger Michell’s latest drama Blackbird stars Susan Sarandon, Kate Winslet, Mia Wasikowska, Sam Neill, Rainn Wilson, Bex Taylor-Klaus, and Lindsay Duncan. A remake of the Danish film Silent Heart, the film follows Sarandon’s character, who desires to end her long battle with Als through assisted suicide, and so she invites her family over for the weekend for one final gathering. Ahead of a September release va Screen Media, the first trailer and poster have now arrived.

Jared Mobarak said in our TIFF review, “It’s not every day that an international remake retains the same screenwriter, but that’s the case with Christian Torpe and his script for the Danish film Silent Heart moving to director Roger Michell’s hands as Blackbird. I haven’t seen the original, but the subject’s universality has me thinking very...

"The trick is: you just show up and you give life your best shot." Screen Media Films has released an official US trailer for an indie drama titled Blackbird, the latest film by award-winning South African filmmaker Roger Michell. This premiered at the Toronto, London, and San Sebastián Film Festivals last fall, and is arriving on VOD next month. Blackbird is an English-language remake of the 2014 Danish film Silent Heart. A mother decides to end her long battle with Als on her own terms - taking her own life. She organizes one last get together at her home with her entire family, but of course everyone ends up fighting - not only with each other, but with her about her decision. Susan Sarandon stars as Lily, joined by Kate Winslet, Mia Wasikowska, Sam Neill, Rainn Wilson, Bex Taylor-Klaus, and Lindsay Duncan. It's an intelligent, witty familial ...

Screen Media has bought North American rights, as well as select international territories, to “Blackbird,” a family drama starring Susan Sarandon, Kate Winslet and Rainn Wilson.

Screen Media plans to release the film, which premiered at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival, in September. Screen Media acquired the film from Millennium Media.

The movie revolves around Sarandon’s family matriarch learning she has cancer, so she and her husband (portrayed by Sam Neill), gather the family and loved ones together to discuss her options. But opinions vary, especially those of her daughters, played by Winslet and Mia Wasikowska.

Roger Michell directed from a script by Christian Torpe as a remake of the 2014 Bille August-directed Danish film “Silent Heart.” “Blackbird” is produced by David Bernardi, Sherryl Clark and Robert Van Norden.

“I think all of us were surprised by how powerful this little film turned out,” Michell said. “It punches far...

Exclusive: MGM’s superhero thriller movie Samaritan has set its cast as production ramps up next week with Euphoria actor and Junior Olympic boxing prodigy Javon ‘Wanna’ Walton landing the lead role opposite Sylvester Stallone. Walton will play a young boy who is out to discover if a mythic superhero, who vanished 20 years earlier following a tragic event, is still alive.

Also set to star is Silicon Valley‘s Martin Starr, Game of Thrones’ Pilou Asbæk, Orange Is the New Black‘s Dascha Polanco, and Hannah Montana‘s Moises Arias.

Overlord helmer Julius Avery is directing from a screenplay by Bragi F. Schut (Escape Room), with additional writing by Mark L. Smith (The Revenant), Zak Penn (Ready Player One), and Chuck MacLean (City on a Hill). The story is based on Schut’s original idea. Pic is scheduled for release on Dec. 11 via United Artists Releasing with Universal handling foreign.

The new feature by the Danish filmmaker centres on the secret relationship between Karen Blixen and young poet Thorkild Bjønvig. Danish award-winning film and television director Bille August is now working on his new feature project, entitled The Pact. The Breed-born helmer is best known for his 1987 drama Pelle the Conqueror, screened at the 1988 Cannes Film Festival and recipient of the Palme d’Or, the BAFTA Award for Best Film Not in the English Language, and the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, among other honours. The Pact, penned in its entirety by Christian Torpe, is based on Thorkild Bjørnvig’s autobiography of the same name. The psychological drama tells the story of the intense relationship between Danish author Karen Blixen, best known for her autobiographical novel Out of Africa, and Bjønvig, a young and promising poet. Speaking about the film’s themes, August said: “The Pact...

Bille August (“Pelle the Conqueror”), one of Denmark’s best known filmmakers, is set to direct “The Pact,” a psychological drama about the intense friendship between Karen Blixen, the Danish author best known for her autobiographical novel “Out of Africa,” and Thorkild Bjønvig, a young and promising poet.

“The Pact” was written by Christian Torpe, based on Bjørnvig’s autobiography of the same name.

Torpe previously wrote August’s “Silent Heart,” which won the Silver Seashell at San Sebastian in 2014. “The Pact” is produced by Jesper Morthorst at Motor and Sf Studios, which will release the film theatrically in early 2021.

“‘The Pact’ is a relationship drama, the eternal story of seduction and wanting to be seduced, of the art of manipulation, of guilt and innocence, of a highly unusual friendship between two deeply talented people and a relationship that develops into a fateful bond,” said August, whose credits include the...

It’s not every day that an international remake retains the same screenwriter, but that’s the case with Christian Torpe and his script for the Danish film Silent Heart moving to director Roger Michell’s hands as Blackbird. I haven’t seen the original, but the subject’s universality has me thinking very little besides cultural changes were necessary for the translation. Assisted suicide is a hot-button issue in many countries and a family’s ability to get on-board a member’s decision to go through with one is tough no matter where they hail. It doesn’t matter if that acquiescence gets everyone together for a final weekend either because death’s finality is easier to handle in the abstract. Second thoughts, new revelations, and plain old fear will risk resolve as the time grows nearer.

These are the circumstances surrounding Lily (Susan Sarandon) and her small, loving,...

Although most so-called Oscar pundits are solely focused on the films that hit the Fall film festival circuit which are buzzed to be 2019 Oscar contenders, there is an alternate track at the Toronto International Film Festival where you can also fill up on potential 2020 hopefuls. It is never too early, right? Thus, since I have seen so many of this year’s crop either at Cannes, Telluride, or various early screenings in L.A., I can also get started on next year here at Tiff, one of my favorite things to do. There are numerous films on tap that premiered yesterday here, or will be coming up shortly, and in that crop, I am spotting an enormous amount of potential. Of course, some of them have to get distribution first, and then the right release date next year, to be primed for the ever-competitive Oscar race.

Thursday night’s group...

We present the press conference highlights and premiere interviews from the Tiff showing of Blackbird, starring Bex Taylor-Klaus, Kate Winslet, Sam Neill, Rainn Wilson, Susan Sarandon, Mia Wasikowska, Anson Boon and Lindsay Duncan. The film is directed by Roger Michell from a script by Christian Torpe, who also wrote the original 2014 Danish film ‘Silent Heart’.

The film had its premiere at the 2019 Toronto Film Festival, and those attending were director Roger Michell, Susan Sarandon, Sam Neill, Rainn Wilson and producer Sherryl Clark.

Synopsis:

A terminally ill mother arranges to bring her family together one last time before she dies.

The post Blackbird: Susan Sarandon on Assisted Dying – Tiff Press Conference & Premiere: Sam Neill, Rainn Wilson & more appeared first on HeyUGuys.

Roger Michell is one of the most reliably graceful directors of English-language screen drama, rising to the occasion of fine but challenging scripts (notably those he’s shot by Hanif Kureishi), that deft touch elevating material that’s more conventional or less than inspired. His good taste certainly makes a class act of “Blackbird,” Christian Torpe’s Americanization of the screenplay Bille August made into 2014’s Danish “Silent Heart.”

But thanks to Michell and a fine cast, it works admirably well — at least to a point, at which some viewers may feel Torpe piles on one crisis too many. Nonetheless, this is a quality enterprise with numerous rewards for adult audiences, one whose Christmas angle might prompt a release timed for maximum awards-campaign-season exposure.

Susan Sarandon’s Lily has Als, which has already cost her the use of one hand and made walking a chore. Doctor husband Paul (Sam Neill...

The world premiere screening of the Susan Sarandon drama “Blackbird” was briefly halted just before the end of the film, after an audience member experienced what appeared to be a medical emergency.

The screening, held during the Toronto International Film festival at Roy Thomson Hall, stopped approximately 10 minutes before the film ended after a commotion erupted near the orchestra section and audience members began shouting for a doctor.

An elderly man appeared to be in some kind of distress, though it was not immediately clear what had occurred. Though no doctor was on site, Thomson Hall staff brought the man water and he after walked out of the theater with assistance.

Also Read: Every Stephen King Movie, Ranked Worst to Best (Photos)

The incident happened during a scene portraying assisted suicide. “Blackbird” stars Sarandon as a terminally ill woman who summons her family for one last weekend before taking her own life.

“Bad Education”

Perhaps one of the biggest titles for sale, “Bad Education” stars Hugh Jackman, Allison Janney, Ray Romano and Alex Wolff and is based on the real-life events that took place at writer Mike Makowsky’s high school.

“Citizen K”

Following his critically lauded “The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley,” Alex Gibney is back with “Citizen K,” a documentary about Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who went from communist to political prisoner in a 20-year battle with Putin.

“The Friend”

Based on the award-winning Esquire article of the same name, the film follows a man (Jason Segel) who puts his life on hold to help his friends though a terminal cancer diagnosis. Dakota Johnson and Casey Affleck also star in the Gabriela Cowperthwaite (“Blackfish”) film.

“How to Build a Girl”

Everyone is obsessed with Beanie Feldstein following her performance in “Booksmart,” so naturally, this film has become a buzzy title for Tiff buyers.

Starring Clive Owen and Tim Roth, Canadian François Girard’s historical drama “The Song of Names” will close the 67th San Sebastian Festival on Sept. 28.

World premiering at the Toronto Intl. Film Festival as a Gala Presentation, “The Song of Names” will play out of competition at what will be its international premiere.

Hanway Films is selling worldwide the film, which was acquired by Sony Pictures Classics for the U.S.. Elevation Pictures will distribute in Canada; Filmax in Spain.

“The Song of Names” is based on a novel by British award-winning novelist and cultural commentator Norman Lebrecht, which Jeffrey Caine (“The Constant Gardener”) adapted.

Described as an “emotional detective story,” the film unfolds at the start of World War II, focusing on Dovidl, a 9-year-old violin prodigy who is a Polish-Jewish refugee in London. His brother Martin, of the same age, is devoted to him.

Hours before Dovidl’s...

Blackbird will open San Sebastian Photo: Courtesy of San Sebastian Film Festival The European premiere of Roger Michell's Blackbird - starring Susan Sarandon, Kate Winslet, Mia Wasikowska and Sam Neill - will open this year's San Sebastian Film Festival on September 20.

The UK/Us co-production is a remake of Bille August's Silent Heart (Stilled Hjerte), which saw Paprika Steen pick up the ,ahref="https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/news/2014-09-28-magical-girl-triumphs-in-san-sebastian-news-story-by-amber-wilkinson">Silver Shell for Best Actress at the festival in 2014. The film's original screenwriter Christian Torpe has also penned the English-language version of the film that tells the story of a family gathering to say their last farewells to a terminally ill woman (Sarandon). Winslet and Wasikowska play her daughters, who find family secrets make saying goodbye even more difficult.

Michell was last at the festival with Le Week-End, in 2013, which played in competition and earned Jim Broadbent...

Susan Sarandon, Kate Winslet and Mia Wasikowska star.

The European premiere of Roger Michell’s UK-us co-production Blackbird will open the 67th San Sebastian Film Festival on September 20, playing in the official competition.

As previously announced, the film will have its world premiere at Toronto.

It is a remake of Bille August’s 2014 Danish film Silent Heart, which also played at San Sebastian and won a best actress Silver Shell for Paprika Steen.

In Michell’s version, Susan Sarandon plays Lily, a terminally ill woman who brings her family to her to learn of her decision to die with dignity.

Madrid — Starring Kate Winslet, Susan Sarandon and Mia Wasikowska, “Blackbird,” an English-language remake of Bille August’s 2014 Danish-language movie “Silent Heart,” will open the 67th San Sebastian Film Festival on Sept. 20.

World premiering at the Toronto Intl. Film Festival as a Gala Presentation, “Blackbird” will play in competition at what will be its European premiere.

San Sebastian’s competition normally mixes larger world cinema auteurs with a few choice first features. “Silent Heart” brings it large star-laden independent which promising to be an audience-friendly tearjerker.

Directed by Roger Michell, “Blackbird” turns on terminally-ill matriarch, Lily (Sarandon). who reunites three generations of her family at their country house for one final time.

Lily informs them that she will soon put an end to her life via euthanasia, but her daughters (Winslet and Wasikowska), whose tensions already threaten a peaceful sending off, discover family secrets which make the situation even more complicated.

Roger Michell's Blackbird will get its European premiere as the opening film at this year's 67th edition of the San Sebastian International Film Festival, which runs Sept. 20-28.

The U.S.-U.K. co-production is a remake of the 2014 drama Silent Heart (Stille Hjerte) by Danish director Bille August, which competed in San Sebastian and won a Silver Shell Award for best actress for Paprika Steen.

San Sebastian's 1995 Donostia Prize recipient Susan Sarandon stars alongside Kate Winslet, Mia Wasikowska and Sam Neill in the drama scripted by Silent Heart writer Christian Torpe. Sarandon plays a terminally ill woman ...

Roger Michell's Blackbird will get its European premiere as the opening film at this year's 67th edition of the San Sebastian International Film Festival, which runs Sept. 20-28.

The U.S.-U.K. co-production is a remake of the 2014 drama Silent Heart (Stille Hjerte) by Danish director Bille August, which competed in San Sebastian and won a Silver Shell Award for best actress for Paprika Steen.

San Sebastian's 1995 Donostia Prize recipient Susan Sarandon stars alongside Kate Winslet, Mia Wasikowska and Sam Neill in the drama scripted by Silent Heart writer Christian Torpe. Sarandon plays a terminally ill woman ...

Showtime has given a pilot order to hour-long dramedy Rita, based on Christian Torpe’s award-winning Danish series, with Emmy nominee Lena Headey (Game of Thrones) set to star and executive produce. Torpe will pen the pilot and serve as showrunner. Rita is a co-production of Showtime and Platform One Media.

In Rita, Headey will play the title character, a headstrong, unconventional teacher and single mother who takes on every kind of authority – as well as her family – in a messy and unfiltered way. Mille Denesen plays Rita in the Danish series.

Rita premiered in February 2012 on TV2 and has run for four seasons in Denmark and internationally on Netflix which was also a co-producer on the third and fourth season.

The pilot is executive produced by Torpe and Headey and Elisa Ellis for Platform One Media, which is headed by Katie O’Connell Marsh.

“Rita is a deliciously subversive...

Christopher Abbott and Mia Wasikowska in ‘Piercing’

After playing repressed or relatively stable characters in period dramas such as Damsel and Madame Bovary, Mia Wasikowska jumped at the chance to go to the dark side in Piercing.

She plays a disturbed escort named Jackie in Us writer-director Nicolas Pesce’s gory S&M horror/thriller Piercing, which opened today in Australia after premiering at Sundance.

Jackie turns the tables on Reed (Christopher Abbott), a married guy with a new baby who checks into a hotel and calls for an escort with murderous intent. A deadly game of cat-and-mouse ensues.

The Aussie actress initially was cast as Reed’s wife but was offered the co-lead a week and a half before shooting was due to start. “I had 24 hours to rethink the whole thing and decided to do it on a whim, before I had the chance to over-think it,” she tells If.

Out Stealing Horses

Norwegian director Hans Petter Moland reunites with Stellan Skarsgard for the fifth time in Out Stealing Horses, which also stars Man’s Bjorn Floburg. Produced by Turid Overseen and Hakon Overas of 4½ , it’s an adaptation of the 2003 international bestseller by Per Petterson, which was crowned “Norway’s biggest international literary success of all time.” Also among the cast are Danica Curcic and Anders Baasmo Christiansen. Moland’s sophomore film Zero Kelvin won a Special Mention at San Sebastian in 1995 and Aberdeen (2000) competed in Karlovy Vary.…...

Exclusive: Oscar winner Susan Sarandon has joined Kate Winslet and Mia Wasikowska in the Roger Michell-directed remake (formally titled Blackbird) of an English-language remake to the 2014 Danish film, Silent Heart, directed by Bille August. Sarandon will take over for Diane Keaton, who was previously attached to the project, which hails Millennium Films.

Sam Neill (Jurassic Park), Rainn Wilson (The Office), Bex Taylor-Klaus (Arrow), Lindsay Duncan (Birdman), newcomer Anson Boon have also joined the cast in supporting roles.

Christian Thorpe, who wrote the script for the original, wrote this latest adaptation. The plot is set over the course of one weekend and centers on Lily (Sarandon), a terminally ill mother who brings her daughters (Winslet and Wasikowska), and their families, together for one last family gathering before she commits suicide.

Filming is slated to begin next week in the United Kingdom. Sherryl Clark and Millennium’s David Bernardi are the producers,...

More cast lines up to join Knudsen and Danica Curcic.

Danish director Jesper W Nielsen started the shoot yesterday for thriller The Exception, with a cast featuring Sidse Babett Knudsen, Danica Curcic (Silent Heart), Amanda Collin (A Horrible Woman), and Lene Maria Christensen (Terribly Happy).

As the film starts production, Swedish actor Magnus Krepper (Becoming Astrid) and Danish actor Olaf Johannessen (The Killing) have joined the cast.

LevelK is handling international sales for the film and will be discussing with buyers at Toronto.

The Exception is adapted by Christian Torpe from the 2004 bestselling novel by Danish author Christian Jungersen.

The...

Family drama will start shooting this August in London.

Kate Winslet, Diane Keaton and Mia Wasikowska are set to star in a remake of the 2014 Danish film Silent Heart for Millennium Films.

The project, titled Blackbird, is directed by Roger Michell (Notting Hill) and written by the original film’s screenwriter Christian Torpe.

Producers are Sherryl Clark and Millennium’s David Bernardi. Exec producers are Avi Lerner, Trevor Short, Boaz Davidson, Jeffrey Greenstein and Jonathan Yunger for Millennium.

The film, which starts shooting this August in London, centres on three generations of a family who gather over a weekend. The...

Kate Winslet, Diane Keaton, and Mia Wasikowska have signed on to star in “Blackbird,” a remake of Bille August’s Danish-language “Silent Heart,” with Roger Mitchell directing.

Millennium Films is producing the movie. Producers are Sherryl Clark and Millennium’s David Bernardi. Millennium’s Avi Lerner, Trevor Short, Boaz Davidson, Jeffrey Greenstein, and Jonathan Yunger are executive producing.

Mitchell will direct from a script by “Silent Heart” screenwriter Christian Torpe. Shooting is planned for August in London.

Keaton will play a terminally ill mother who brings her family together for one last weekend before she commits suicide. Winslet and Wasikowsa will play her daughters.

In “Silent Heart,” released in 2014, the mother was suffering from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and was planning to pursue euthanasia with the help of her husband at the end of the weekend. But the decision became difficult to handle for the daughters and brought old conflicts to the surface.

Exclusive: Kate Winslet, Diane Keaton and Mia Wasikowska have been to set to star in Blackbird, an English-language remake of Bille August’s 2014 Danish-language pic Silent Heart. The Millennium Films pic will be directed by Notting Hill and My Cousin Rachel helmer Roger Michell and penned by the original movie’s screenwriter Christian Torpe. Shooting in set to start in August in London.

The drama centers on a a terminally ill mother who brings her family together for one last weekend before she commits suicide. Keaton will play the mother, Lily, while Winslet and Wasikowsa will play her daughters.

Sherryl Clark is producing with Millennium’s David Bernardi. Millennium’s Avi Lerner, Trevor Short, Boaz Davidson, Jeffrey Greenstein and Jonathan Yunger are executive producing.

Keaton is currently shooting Sierra/Affinity’s comedy Poms, about a group of women who form a cheerleading squad at their retirement community. Jackie Weaver, Rhea Perlman...

One hundred Danish actors have contributed to a Danish project presenting everyday people’s #MeToo stories.

One hundred Danish actors including Claes Bang (The Square), Danica Curcic (Silent Heart), Jesper Christensen (Casino Royale), Ghita Nørby (Babette’s Feast), Victoria Carmen Sonne (Holiday), and Mikkel Boe Følsgaard (A Royal Affair) have contributed to a Danish project presenting everyday people’s #MeToo stories.

Copenhagen-based production company Meta Film has launched the website dkmetoo.dk, where its ‘mosaic’ of 100 videos related to #MeToo can be streamed.

The videos – nearly all under 2 minutes each – will also be screened tonight (Friday) at the Scandinavian Terrace...

Jesper W Nielsen directs a strong female cast that also includes Danica Curcic, Amanda Collin and Lene Maria Christensen.

LevelK has taken on world sales for The Exception, a new Danish thriller starring Borgen’s Sidse Babett Knudsen.

Jesper W. Nielsen directs from a script by Christian Torpe, an adaptation of the hit 2004 novel by Danish author Christian Jungersen, which sold more than 200,000 copies in Denmark and has been published in 20 countries worldwide.

Knudsen, whose credits also include Westworld and The Duke of Burgundy, is joined by a strong female cast that also includes Danica Curcic (Silent Heart), Amanda Collin...

The festival also handed awards to Danish director Bille August and actress Ghita Nørby for Silent Heart.

Belgian director Jaco Van Dormael’s The Brand New Testament won two prizes at the Norwegian International Film Festival (August 15-21) closing ceremony, which took place yesterday (August 20) at Haugesund’s City Hall.

Belgian director Jaco Van Dormael’s The Brand New Testament, which will be released in Norway by Another World Entertainment, left the ceremony with two awards, including the Sower of Joy prize and the Audience award.

The jury described the film as “an absurd, smart and extremely original film, which deserves to reach a large audience.”

The Audience jury added a special mention to Norwegian director Kari Anne Moe’s documentary Rebels (Pøbler), which had its world premiere at the festival.

Norwegian film critics voted German director Sebastian Schipper’s Victoria Best Film, and the ecumenical prize went to French director David Oelhoffen’s Far from Men...

World premiere of Nordic disaster movie The Wave to open festival in Haugesund.

Joachim Trier’s Louder Than Bombs, starring Jesse Eisenberg, has been named as the closing film of the 43rd Norwegian International Film Festival (Aug 16-21) in Haugesund.

The drama, about how a father and his two sons confront their feelings of their deceased wife and mother, was Norway’s first Palme d’Or contender at Cannes in 36 years and is set to play at Toronto next month.

As previously announced, Niff will open with the world premiere of Roar Uthaug’s disaster movie, The Wave (Bølgen), when the festival is launched by Norway’s Crown Prince Haakon on Aug 16.

It means Norwegian films will both open and close the festival.

Tonje Hardersen, who was named the new Niff festival director in March, said: “I am very happy to see that local cinema is so well represented, and in so many genres.”

Considering the wider...

Controversial director makes rare appearance and speeches at Danish film awards.

Lars von Trier has once more broken his “vow of silence” to accept an armful of prizes at Denmark’s Robert awards.

The controversial Danish filmmaker’s Nymphomaniac: Director’s Cut scooped eight trophies including best feature and best director at the Danish Film Academy’s awards last night (Feb 1) – and von Trier was in attendance at the ceremony for the first time.

Accepting the Robert for best feature, von Trier said: “From Peter Aalbæk Jensen (his producing partner at Zentropa Entertainments), I know that some of the Robert awards are won by five votes, so I would like to thank those five persons in the auditorium. Thank you very much.”

The director of Antichrist and Dancer in the Dark has rarely spoken in public after being expelled from the Cannes Film Festival in 2011, where he brought Melancholia, after publicly joking that he was a Nazi...