Buyers’ eyes are on Scandinavia 'and it doesn’t all have to be crime'

by Jorn Rossing Jensen

17/02/2012 - “To TrustNordisk, the European Film Market in Berlin has been second to none,” declared Managing Director Rikke Ennis, of Scandinavia’s leading international sales agency. “The buyers’ huge interest in Nordic crime has apparently spread to other genres, too.”

“Before the Berlinale selection, most major territories had been licensed for Danish director Nikolaj Arcel’s Golden Bear contender, A Royal Affair [trailer, film focus] (pictured) – here we added Japan (New Select), Russia (Volga Film), Taiwan, Columbia (Cineplex) and Latin America (LAP TV), to cover more than 30,” she explained. Mads Mikkelsen and Alicia Vikander star in the Zentropa production.

Also Danish Oscar and European Film Award winner Susanne Bier’s upcoming All You Need Is Love, with Pierce Brosnan and Trine Dyrholm in the leads, arrived with a crowded dance card – more than 35 countries have signed. Ennis still needs to sign the US and the UK – “the UK buyer is close, he just wants to see the finished film” – for the Zentropa production.

Also starring Mads Mikkelsen, The Hunt - Danish Dogma director Thomas Vinterberg’s return to Zentropa - was presented on a promo and closed deals for the UK (Arrow Films) and Benelux (Wild Bunch). Sisse Graum Jørgensen and Morten Kaufmann produced the film about a man falsely accused of child abuse who must fight to get his life back on track.

Norwegian director Magnus Marten’s action-comedy Jackpot, based on a story by Norwegian best-selling author Jo Nesbø (Headhunters [trailer]), had its market premiere at the market, which sparked off immediate sales for the UK (Metrodome) and Germany (NFP). The film was produced by Fantefilm Fiksjon, which also backed the Cold Prey [trailer]franchise.

Straight to the market from Rotterdam’s Tiger Award competition, Icelandic director Óskar Thór Axelsson’s thriller, Black’s Game – with Drive director Nicolas Winding Refn among its executive producers – was picked up for Germany (Koch Media), Benelux (Wild Bunch Production) and Estonia (Estin Film). It has previously sold the UK (Entertainment One) and Switzerland (Frenetic Films).