SF’s Upperdog goes to Poland

by Annika Pham

13/02/2010 - Svensk Filmindustri International (SF) has closed a deal at the European Film Market (EFM) on the Norwegian film Upperdog [trailer] by Sara Johnsen, with Polish distributor ITI Cinema.

"We are really happy to have in our line-up this wise and disarmingly funny film in which Sara Johnsen uses topical themes to describe complicated relations between characters. The entire cast is perfectly matched and especially young Shooting Star Agnieszka Grochowska gives a daring performance. This is just a kind of cinema that we always love to present to our audience." said ITI Cinema’s Dariusz Maczka.

The drama was a critical and audience success in Norway, selling over 115,000 admissions. It was produced by Friland Film, which previously collaborated with Johnsen on her award-winning debut feature Kissed by Winter [trailer]. For Ann-Kristin Westerberg, head of SF International, Upperdog has a great potential to travel abroad with its strong story and “European format”.

From the Scandinavian Film stand at the Martin Gropius Bau, Westerberg and her colleague Anita Simovic are representing the Norwegian children’s film Rafiki, selected in the Generation K+ sidebar. The directorial debut of Christian Lo tells of two nine-year-old girls who decide to help their school friend and her mother after their refugee applications are rejected. The film was produced by Lo’s company Filmbin, the only Norwegian production company dedicated entirely to children and youth films.

Other Norwegian titles on SF’s EFM slate include Matias Armand Jordal's drama Together [trailer], the thriller Detour, WWII drama Betrayal and the Swedish youth film Starring Maja [trailer].