Swedish warrior Johan Hegg joins the rest of the Vikings – in South Africa
- Vikings used to be raiding and trading with Norsemen of early medieval Scandinavia – now Swiss-American director Claudio Fäh is shooting Northmen: A Viking Saga south of the Equator
It is hard to be a Viking. They used to raid and trade with Norsemen of early medieval Scandinavia – Viking is rooted in the old Norse word víkingr – still, the latest TV series premiered earlier this year, Vikings, was a Canadian-Irish historical drama created by UK writer Michael Hirst for US television channel History. And now Swiss-American director Claudio Fäh has started principal photography for Northmen: A Viking Saga in – South Africa.
Most recently Swedish rock singer Johan Hegg, lead singer of heavy metal group Amon Amarth, now Viking warrior Valli, has joined the international cast (Tom Hopper, Ryan Kwanten, Ken Duken, Ed Skrein, Anatole Taubman and James Norton), who after an eight-week shoot will continue filming in Germany.
Scripted by Matthias Bauer and Bastian Zach, Northmen: A Viking Saga follows a gang of Viking marauders on their way to pillage Lindisfarne for its gold. However, when their longboat is wrecked on the rocks off Scotland and trapped in enemy territory, their only chance of survival is reaching the Viking stronghold of Danelag.
Produced by Karin G Dietrich, Ralph S Dietrich and Daniel Hoeltschi for Germany’s Elite Filmproduktion, with Jumping Horse Film, South Africa’s Two Oceans and UK’s The Salt Company, which also handles international sales, the film has already been licensed to major territories including the UK, France, Scandinavia, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand.
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