email print share on Facebook share on Twitter share on LinkedIn share on reddit pin on Pinterest

FUNDING Nordic countries

The Nordisk Film & TV Fond funds nine new audiovisual projects

by 

- The organisation has announced a new slate of productions and has provided additional financing aimed at supporting film distribution and other cultural initiatives

The Nordisk Film & TV Fond funds nine new audiovisual projects
Director Edward af Sillén, whose A Piece of My Heart has received backing (© Albin Olsson)

The Nordisk Film & TV Fond, one of the main funding bodies in the Nordic region, has recently granted financial support to nine new audiovisual productions set to be released between 2018 and 2019. In total, four new TV series, three feature films and two documentaries will receive funding from the organisation.

The four TV series selected are Summer of '68The ConductorTsunami and Home Ground 2. Produced by Anagram Sweden for SVT, the story of Summer of '68 revolves around three young women who manage to stir things up in a community where people are unaware of the 1968 protests. The series, directed by Kristina Humle (Real Humans, Love and Happiness), was granted 2.1 million Norwegian kroner (€221,000). The Conductor, a Swedish drama-thriller produced by Black Spark Film & TV and based on Camilla Grebe and Paul Leander Engström’s first book in the Moscow Noir trilogy, was granted 2.95 million Norwegian kroner (€311,000).

(The article continues below - Commercial information)

Henrik Georgsson's 3x60-minute series Tsunami, produced by Filmlance International for SVT, was granted 1.95 million Norwegian kroner (€205,000). The script, penned by Sara Kadefors, sees a group of people forced to make crucial decisions during the 2004 titular Southeast Asian catastrophe. Meanwhile, Yngvild Sve Flikke and Stian Kristiansen's Norwegian TV series Home Ground 2 was granted 2 million Norwegian kroner (€210,000). The story follows the struggles of Helena Mikkelsen (Ane Dahl Torp), Norway's first female coach of a male premier-league team, who finds it hard to succeed in a traditionally male-dominated sports environment.

As for feature-length films, three productions were granted financial support – namely, Edward af Sillén's Swedish musical A Piece of My Heart [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
, Mika Kaurismäki's upcoming Finnish feature Master Cheng and Fenar Ahmad's Danish fantasy film Valhalla [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
. The first of the three, a romantic comedy being produced by Unlimited Stories, was granted 2.35 million Norwegian kroner (€247,000). Master Cheng focuses on the titular character, a Chinese chef who travels halfway around the world with his son to a remote Finnish village; the organisation will contribute 1.8 million Norwegian kroner (€189,000). Valhalla, produced by Profile Pictures and based on Peter Madsen's comic books, was granted 2.7 million Norwegian kroner (€284,000). 

This new slate of productions also includes two Danish documentaries – namely, Eva Mulvad and Morten Ranmar's Family on the Run, and Karen Stokkendal Poulsen's Confessions from a Military Dictatorship. Family on the Run tells the six-year story of a family torn between countries and fighting to find a base. The second project explores the controversial dynamics behind the recent transition of power in Myanmar. Both documentaries were granted a lump sum of 600,000 Norwegian kroner (€63,000). 

Furthermore, the fund has earmarked financing to support the distribution of three Scandinavian productions – namely, the Danish animated film The Incredible Story of the Giant Pear [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
, the Norwegian drama U – July 22 [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Erik Poppe
film profile
]
 and the Norwegian-German-Swedish co-production What Will People Say [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Iram Haq
film profile
]
. The overall distribution endowment accounted for 690,000 Norwegian kroner (€73,000). 

Finally, support for film-related initiatives accounted for 395,000 Norwegian kroner (€42,000). Said funds were granted to Scandinavian Locations in order to attract foreign film investments, Mikrofilm Norway, in charge of branding Nordic animation at the Annecy Film Festival, and European Film Promotion for the Film Sales Support scheme.

(The article continues below - Commercial information)

Did you enjoy reading this article? Please subscribe to our newsletter to receive more stories like this directly in your inbox.

Privacy Policy