12/09/2008

US distributor IFC has acquired a couple of high profile Nordic films prior and during the Toronto Film Festival, remaining truthful to its mature taste for Danish and Swedish offerings in particular.

Arianna Bocco, IFC’s VP of production and acquisitions, brokered the US deal on Jan Troell’s Everlasting Moments [+see also:
trailer
film profile] with TrustNordisk, and on Ole Christian Madsen’s Flame & Citron [+see also:
trailer
film profile] with The Match Factory.

Everlasting Moments, which has the unique particularity of being a full Swedish and Danish film, is based on the life of Troell’s wife’s grandmother. The costume drama set in the early 20th century stars Sweden’s Michael Persbrandt, Denmark’s Jesper Christensen and Finnish actor Maria Heiskanen. IFC will release it in cinemas next year and will use its video/DVD deal with Blockbuster. The drama was produced by Denmark’s Final Cut.

Denmark’s biggest local film of the year, Flame & Citron, will also make its way across the Atlantic in 2009. The WWII drama starring Mads Mikkelsen and Thure Lindhardt will have a day-and-date release in cinemas and on VOD in the US.

"This is truly dazzling filmmaking that delivers enough twists and turns to keep even the sharpest viewer on the edge of their seats", said IFC Entertainment president Jonathan Sehring. The drama produced by Lars Bredo Rahbek for Nimbus Film, in co-production with Germany’s Wueste Film, is one of Denmark’s biggest hit in years, with over 667,000 admissions.

Eighteen foreign territories have acquired it thus far, including France (Swift), Spain (Alta), and the UK (Metrodome).

Previous Nordic films acquired by IFC include Niels Arden Oplev’s Worlds Apart [+see also:
trailer
film profile] and Susanne Bier’s Oscar nominated After the Wedding [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Sisse Graum Jørgensen
interview: Susanne Bier
film profile].