04/03/2011

Oslo-based Nordisk Film & TV Fond has teamed up with the US VoD service eurocinema and cross-platform supplier Diva AG to create the first annual Scandinavian On-Demand Film Festival in North America. The event will kick off on May 1 with the release of four Scandinavian titles.

Available in 36 million US and Canadian homes, eurocinema has been delivering selected titles from international and European cinema since 2005 on platforms such as Comcast, Time Warner, Charter, Cablevision, RCN, Verizon and DirecTV.

“We have been actively looking for a platform to showcase to North American audiences the award-winning but often overlooked film titles from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. Eurocinema proved to be the perfect fit,” said Hanne Palmquist, CEO of Nordisk Film & TV Fond.

The first four Nordic titles that will be available on eurocinema.com from May 1-November 1, 2011 for $4.99 -$6.99 per title per download are: Maria Sødahl’s directorial debut Limbo [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (Norway, 2010); Johan Brisinger’s drama Suddenly [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (Sweden, 2006), starring Michael Nyqvist; and Danish director Nikolaj Arcel’s King’s Game (2004) and Truth About Men [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] (2010).

Nordisk Film & TV Fond will provide marketing and PR support for the festival through the Nordic Council of Ministers’ Globalization Co-operation and under its label High Five VOD North America. Eurocinema will develop special online promotion where film fans can vote for their favourite titles and have the chance to win special prizes. Eight other Nordic titles will be added to the North American VoD Scandinavian film festival programme in June and July 2011.

The event coincides with the surge in popularity of Scandinavian films in North America, thanks to the Millennium trilogy and the recent Oscar win for In a Better World [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by star Danish director Susanne Bier.