The Creatives – the Fremantle-backed alliance of 10 leading production companies – have shared the results of the first edition of “The Creative Connection” at the Venice Film Festival.
The companies – which include Lemming Film (Locarno premiere “Sweet Dreams”), Versus Production (Venice’s “Through the Night”), Maipo Film (“Elling”), Razor Film, Komplizen Film (“Spencer”), Spiro (“Foxtrot”), Unité (“Salem”), Haut et Court (“Perfect Days”), Masha (“No Man’s Land”) and Good Chaos (“Triangle of Sadness”) – invited writers and producers to join forces over the course of three workshops.
“Some of [the writers] were surprised we are actually normal people,” joked Haut et Court’s Carole Scotta during a panel at the Venice Production Bridge on Sunday. “We want to create a safe space for the writers to be able to work freely.”
Called “Inspiration,” “Brainstorming” – a series of experimental exercises led by Le Groupe Ouest – and “Collaboration,” the workshops took place in France, Greece and Germany. They...
The companies – which include Lemming Film (Locarno premiere “Sweet Dreams”), Versus Production (Venice’s “Through the Night”), Maipo Film (“Elling”), Razor Film, Komplizen Film (“Spencer”), Spiro (“Foxtrot”), Unité (“Salem”), Haut et Court (“Perfect Days”), Masha (“No Man’s Land”) and Good Chaos (“Triangle of Sadness”) – invited writers and producers to join forces over the course of three workshops.
“Some of [the writers] were surprised we are actually normal people,” joked Haut et Court’s Carole Scotta during a panel at the Venice Production Bridge on Sunday. “We want to create a safe space for the writers to be able to work freely.”
Called “Inspiration,” “Brainstorming” – a series of experimental exercises led by Le Groupe Ouest – and “Collaboration,” the workshops took place in France, Greece and Germany. They...
- 9/3/2023
- by Marta Balaga
- Variety Film + TV
After 25 years, Toronto International Film Festival Senior Programmer Steve Gravestock has decided to retire at the end of 2022.
Gravestock has overseen the organization’s Canadian programming initiatives, including the Canada’s Top Ten film selection and the year-round See the North program, a free showcase of homegrown classics. As a programmer for the festival, he has selected Canadian feature films since 2004 and was responsible for selections from the Nordic Region.
Many of the films he has programmed have been nominated for Academy Awards, including Petter Næss’s Elling, Mikael Håfström’s Evil, Denis Villeneuve’s Incendies, Philippe Falardeau’s Monsieur Lazhar, Susanne Bier’s In a Better World — which won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film in 2011 — and Joachim Trier’s The Worst Person in the World.
Gravestock has also overseen TIFF’s series of monographs on Canadian films in partnership with the University of Toronto Press. In 2005 he...
Gravestock has overseen the organization’s Canadian programming initiatives, including the Canada’s Top Ten film selection and the year-round See the North program, a free showcase of homegrown classics. As a programmer for the festival, he has selected Canadian feature films since 2004 and was responsible for selections from the Nordic Region.
Many of the films he has programmed have been nominated for Academy Awards, including Petter Næss’s Elling, Mikael Håfström’s Evil, Denis Villeneuve’s Incendies, Philippe Falardeau’s Monsieur Lazhar, Susanne Bier’s In a Better World — which won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film in 2011 — and Joachim Trier’s The Worst Person in the World.
Gravestock has also overseen TIFF’s series of monographs on Canadian films in partnership with the University of Toronto Press. In 2005 he...
- 6/6/2022
- by Tom Tapp
- Deadline Film + TV
TrustNordisk has sold “Nothing to Laugh About,” Petter Næss’s Norwegian drama comedy which played at the Zürich Film Festival in 2020. Næss is best known for his Oscar-nominated film “Elling” and has been working in TV and theatre in recent years.
Set in Oslo, Norway’s capital, the heartfelt dramedy is about a 40-year-old stand-up comedian who has the worst day ever: he loses his job and his girlfriend, and is diagnosed with a cancer. He learns to cope with his illness and somehow finds laughter again. The cast is headlined by “Kon-Tiki star Odd Magnus Williamsom, who also wrote the script.
TrustNordisk has sold the film to Switzerland (Ascot Elite), Estonia (Estin Film) and Czech Republic and Slovakia (Pilot Film)
“Nothing to Laugh About” was produced by Gudny Hummelvoll and Eleonore Anselme at Hummelfilm alongside, Rikke Ennis for REInvent Studios, in co-production with Aihl Films, with support from the Norwegian Film Institute,...
Set in Oslo, Norway’s capital, the heartfelt dramedy is about a 40-year-old stand-up comedian who has the worst day ever: he loses his job and his girlfriend, and is diagnosed with a cancer. He learns to cope with his illness and somehow finds laughter again. The cast is headlined by “Kon-Tiki star Odd Magnus Williamsom, who also wrote the script.
TrustNordisk has sold the film to Switzerland (Ascot Elite), Estonia (Estin Film) and Czech Republic and Slovakia (Pilot Film)
“Nothing to Laugh About” was produced by Gudny Hummelvoll and Eleonore Anselme at Hummelfilm alongside, Rikke Ennis for REInvent Studios, in co-production with Aihl Films, with support from the Norwegian Film Institute,...
- 2/14/2022
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Oscars: Norway Submits Joachim Trier’s ‘The Worst Person In The World’ To International Feature Race
Norway has selected Joachim Trier’s Cannes hit The Worst Person In The World as its submission to the Oscars’ International Feature Film category. The choice was made by the Norwegian Oscar Committee which had earlier shortlisted three pictures, opting for Trier’s third installment of the Oslo Trilogy which the committee believes “has a unique opportunity to reach all the way to an Oscar for best international film.”
Committee chief, Kjersti Mo, who is also Director of the Norwegian Film Institute, called the movie a “tribute to film art in the form of a drama comedy that conveys deep seriousness with playful lightness and elegance.” This is Trier’s third time repping his home country.
The Worst Person In The World debuted at the Cannes Film Festival in July, winning the Best Actress prize for lead Renate Reinsve. It later went on to play myriad festivals including Karlovy Vary,...
Committee chief, Kjersti Mo, who is also Director of the Norwegian Film Institute, called the movie a “tribute to film art in the form of a drama comedy that conveys deep seriousness with playful lightness and elegance.” This is Trier’s third time repping his home country.
The Worst Person In The World debuted at the Cannes Film Festival in July, winning the Best Actress prize for lead Renate Reinsve. It later went on to play myriad festivals including Karlovy Vary,...
- 10/26/2021
- by Nancy Tartaglione
- Deadline Film + TV
As its title suggests, “Nothing to Laugh About” addresses a serious subject.
The Norwegian film, directed by Petter Næss, centers on a 40-year-old successful stand-up comedian whose entire life changes in one single day: not only is his show cancelled, but he splits up with his girlfriend and also has to deal with a devastating diagnosis from his doctor – bone cancer.
“Nothing to Laugh About” had its international premiere last week at the Zurich Film Festival, having earlier launched in cinemas in Norway in the number two spot behind “Dune.”
Rather than focus on the cancer aspect of the film, the festival’s program notes describe the film as a “charming, heart-warming and humorous story of a man who sets out to rediscover his laughter.”
And this is exactly the kind of film that Næss – best known for directing Norway’s 2002 Oscar entry “Elling” – set out to make.
“When we were about to release it,...
The Norwegian film, directed by Petter Næss, centers on a 40-year-old successful stand-up comedian whose entire life changes in one single day: not only is his show cancelled, but he splits up with his girlfriend and also has to deal with a devastating diagnosis from his doctor – bone cancer.
“Nothing to Laugh About” had its international premiere last week at the Zurich Film Festival, having earlier launched in cinemas in Norway in the number two spot behind “Dune.”
Rather than focus on the cancer aspect of the film, the festival’s program notes describe the film as a “charming, heart-warming and humorous story of a man who sets out to rediscover his laughter.”
And this is exactly the kind of film that Næss – best known for directing Norway’s 2002 Oscar entry “Elling” – set out to make.
“When we were about to release it,...
- 10/3/2021
- by Tim Dams
- Variety Film + TV
Munich-based sales agency Global Screen has picked up global distribution rights to Thale Persen’s “Clue — The Maltese Mystery,” a detective tale for children.
The film, which will be released in Norway by Nordisk on Aug. 27, will be the opening pic of the Cinemagi family program at the Norwegian Intl. Film Festival in Haugesund on Aug. 21.
“Clue — The Maltese Mystery” is based on the first four books of author Jørn Lier Horst’s bestselling youth book series, “Clue,” which has sold 500,000 books in Norway alone since its first publication and has also been published in the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Italy, Korea, Norway, Poland, Russia, Spain and Sweden. The Sunday Times in London described the author as “one of the most brilliantly understated crime novelists writing today.”
Persen is best-known for having directed the Yuletide series “The Christmas King” and vampire series “Heirs of the Night.”
Persen...
The film, which will be released in Norway by Nordisk on Aug. 27, will be the opening pic of the Cinemagi family program at the Norwegian Intl. Film Festival in Haugesund on Aug. 21.
“Clue — The Maltese Mystery” is based on the first four books of author Jørn Lier Horst’s bestselling youth book series, “Clue,” which has sold 500,000 books in Norway alone since its first publication and has also been published in the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Italy, Korea, Norway, Poland, Russia, Spain and Sweden. The Sunday Times in London described the author as “one of the most brilliantly understated crime novelists writing today.”
Persen is best-known for having directed the Yuletide series “The Christmas King” and vampire series “Heirs of the Night.”
Persen...
- 7/9/2021
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
Rome-based international sales and production company Tvco has sold Dace Pūce’s debut feature “The Pit” to German independent distributor Arsenal Filmverleih.
The drama, staged by Latvia’s Marana Production and Finland’s Inland Film Company, is based on a series of true stories published by Jana Egle.
The plot follows a 10-year-old boy called Markuss (Damirs Onackis), who must adapt to starting a new life in the Latvian countryside with his strict grandmother (Dace Eversa). After Emīlija (Luize Birkenberga), a neighbor’s daughter, makes some contemptuous remarks about Markuss’s dead father, he decides to trick her and makes her fall into a pit. The cruel lesson has severe repercussions throughout the village and the only person who seems to understand the child and his fears is an old sailor who lives alone in a modest house.
Last year, the title won the Ndr film prize at the Nordic...
The drama, staged by Latvia’s Marana Production and Finland’s Inland Film Company, is based on a series of true stories published by Jana Egle.
The plot follows a 10-year-old boy called Markuss (Damirs Onackis), who must adapt to starting a new life in the Latvian countryside with his strict grandmother (Dace Eversa). After Emīlija (Luize Birkenberga), a neighbor’s daughter, makes some contemptuous remarks about Markuss’s dead father, he decides to trick her and makes her fall into a pit. The cruel lesson has severe repercussions throughout the village and the only person who seems to understand the child and his fears is an old sailor who lives alone in a modest house.
Last year, the title won the Ndr film prize at the Nordic...
- 3/4/2021
- by Davide Abbatescianni
- Variety Film + TV
The performances in Maria Sødahl’s stunning piece of auto-fiction are superb. Oscar-shortlisted Hope (Håp) hopes to become the sixth film from Norway (joining Arne Skouen’s Nine Lives; Nils Gaup’s Pathfinder; Berit Nesheim’s The Other Side of Sunday; Petter Næss’s Elling; Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg’s Kon-Tiki) to be nominated by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in what is now called Best International Feature Film. Nicole Kidman recently bought the rights for Hope to star in a series adaptation of the director’s story.
Anja (Andrea Bræin Hovig) returning home to Oslo from directing a successful stage production abroad, is greeted by her youngest child, 10-year-old Isak (Daniel Storm Forthun Sandbye), on the staircase of their building. He is wearing a pig...
Anja (Andrea Bræin Hovig) returning home to Oslo from directing a successful stage production abroad, is greeted by her youngest child, 10-year-old Isak (Daniel Storm Forthun Sandbye), on the staircase of their building. He is wearing a pig...
- 3/1/2021
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
’Elling’ director Petter Næss directs based on actor Odd Magnus Williamsom’s script.
TrustNordisk has boarded international sales for Petter Næss’ Nothing To Laugh About, now shooting in Oslo, Norway.
Norwegian director Næss is best known for directing Elling (2001); he has recently worked more in TV and theatre.
The new film is about a 40-year-old stand-up comedian who has the worst day ever: he loses his job and his girlfriend and gets a cancer diagnosis. He learns to cope with his illness and somehow finds laughter again. The cast is led by Odd Magnus Williamsom, who also wrote the script.
TrustNordisk has boarded international sales for Petter Næss’ Nothing To Laugh About, now shooting in Oslo, Norway.
Norwegian director Næss is best known for directing Elling (2001); he has recently worked more in TV and theatre.
The new film is about a 40-year-old stand-up comedian who has the worst day ever: he loses his job and his girlfriend and gets a cancer diagnosis. He learns to cope with his illness and somehow finds laughter again. The cast is led by Odd Magnus Williamsom, who also wrote the script.
- 9/11/2020
- by Wendy Mitchell
- ScreenDaily
Rosemary Blight.
Distributor All3Media International, New Zealand’s South Pacific Pictures and Norway’s Maipo Film have boarded Dark Victory, Goalpost Pictures’ political drama to be directed by Matthew Saville.
Goalpost Pictures’ Rosemary Blight and Saville pitched the project at Co-Pro Series 2020 at the Berlin International Film Festival.
Adapted by Saville from the book Dark Victory: How a Government Lied its Way to Political Triumph by David Marr and Marian Wilkinson, the five-hour drama will chronicle the story of the Howard government’s refusal in 2001 to allow Norwegian freighter Tampa to enter Christmas Island.
It will follow Captain Arne Rinnan, the master of the ship that rescued 438 Afghan refugees from their sinking boat in the middle of the Indian Ocean. The government’s refusal to give them safe passage sparked a political crisis.
All3Media International signed a first-look deal with Goalpost in 2018. The screen adaptation has been in development...
Distributor All3Media International, New Zealand’s South Pacific Pictures and Norway’s Maipo Film have boarded Dark Victory, Goalpost Pictures’ political drama to be directed by Matthew Saville.
Goalpost Pictures’ Rosemary Blight and Saville pitched the project at Co-Pro Series 2020 at the Berlin International Film Festival.
Adapted by Saville from the book Dark Victory: How a Government Lied its Way to Political Triumph by David Marr and Marian Wilkinson, the five-hour drama will chronicle the story of the Howard government’s refusal in 2001 to allow Norwegian freighter Tampa to enter Christmas Island.
It will follow Captain Arne Rinnan, the master of the ship that rescued 438 Afghan refugees from their sinking boat in the middle of the Indian Ocean. The government’s refusal to give them safe passage sparked a political crisis.
All3Media International signed a first-look deal with Goalpost in 2018. The screen adaptation has been in development...
- 2/26/2020
- by The IF Team
- IF.com.au
A hit from the get-go, nabbing best script and best music at its premiere during last year’s Canneseries world premiere, Norway’s petrol-fueled drama “State of Happiness” launched on broadcaster Nrk in October to an impressive 629,000 linear viewers, equating to a 37.4% share, with another 70,000 watching it online.
“State of Happiness” is the story of a group of young Norwegians living in the small Norwegian fishing village of Stavanger, and how their lives change after oil was discovered just off the coast. The series’ eight episodes cover an eight year period from 1969 to 1972.
Season 2 is already well into development and will kick off in 1977 and covers the three years that follow. It proposes to examine the lengths people are willing to go to for wealth, and how that wealth can change them. It also promises a major off-shore accident.
This week the series was selected to participate in Göteborg’s Nordic Light: TV Drama section,...
“State of Happiness” is the story of a group of young Norwegians living in the small Norwegian fishing village of Stavanger, and how their lives change after oil was discovered just off the coast. The series’ eight episodes cover an eight year period from 1969 to 1972.
Season 2 is already well into development and will kick off in 1977 and covers the three years that follow. It proposes to examine the lengths people are willing to go to for wealth, and how that wealth can change them. It also promises a major off-shore accident.
This week the series was selected to participate in Göteborg’s Nordic Light: TV Drama section,...
- 1/31/2019
- by Jamie Lang
- Variety Film + TV
Memorial service set for June 30 in Beverly Hills.
Friends and family will convence on June 30 in Los Angeles to celebrate the life of indie film pioneer, producer and sales agent Robbie Little
The event follows a gathering that took place in Cannes last month following Little’s sudden death en route to the festival and market.
The invitation to the June 30 celebration bears the legend ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ – the famous anthem of Liverpool Football Club, whom the Liverpool-born independent film champion, Afm co-founder, and co-founder of The Little Film Company had supported his entire life.
The service will...
Friends and family will convence on June 30 in Los Angeles to celebrate the life of indie film pioneer, producer and sales agent Robbie Little
The event follows a gathering that took place in Cannes last month following Little’s sudden death en route to the festival and market.
The invitation to the June 30 celebration bears the legend ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ – the famous anthem of Liverpool Football Club, whom the Liverpool-born independent film champion, Afm co-founder, and co-founder of The Little Film Company had supported his entire life.
The service will...
- 6/18/2018
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Fixture of independent film world had been planning to attend Cannes with Mrs Lowry & Son.
Robbie Little, the British producer, co-president of The Little Film Company and stalwart of the independent world, has died unexpectedly in London en route to Cannes.
Little, who served alongside his wife Ellen, was a widely admired, deeply experienced and beloved figure in the film industry. At the time of his death he was working with producer Debbie Gray on the Timothy Spall and Vanessa Redgrave drama Mrs Lowry & Son and The More You Ignore Me, and was planning to continue talks with international buyers on the Croisette.
Robbie Little, the British producer, co-president of The Little Film Company and stalwart of the independent world, has died unexpectedly in London en route to Cannes.
Little, who served alongside his wife Ellen, was a widely admired, deeply experienced and beloved figure in the film industry. At the time of his death he was working with producer Debbie Gray on the Timothy Spall and Vanessa Redgrave drama Mrs Lowry & Son and The More You Ignore Me, and was planning to continue talks with international buyers on the Croisette.
- 5/5/2018
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Fixture of independent film world had been planning to attend Cannes.
Robbie Little, the British producer, co-president of The Little Film Company and stalwart of the independent world, has died unexpectedly in London en route to Cannes.
Little, who served alongside his wife Ellen, was a widely admired, deeply experienced and beloved figure in the film industry. At the time of his death he was working with producer Debbie Gray on the Timothy Spall and Vanessa Redgrave drama Mrs Lowry & Son and The More You Ignore Me, and was planning to continue talks with international buyers on the Croisette.
Little...
Robbie Little, the British producer, co-president of The Little Film Company and stalwart of the independent world, has died unexpectedly in London en route to Cannes.
Little, who served alongside his wife Ellen, was a widely admired, deeply experienced and beloved figure in the film industry. At the time of his death he was working with producer Debbie Gray on the Timothy Spall and Vanessa Redgrave drama Mrs Lowry & Son and The More You Ignore Me, and was planning to continue talks with international buyers on the Croisette.
Little...
- 5/5/2018
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Cannes — Omri Givron, co-creator of famed Israeli series “Hostages,” proved the big winner at the first Canneseries festival taking Best Series for the fast paced Israel/Colombia-set drama-thriller “When Heroes Fly,” which he created, wrote and directed.
Produced by Eitan Mansuri’s Spiro Films (“Foxtrot” and “Lebanon”), “When Heroes Fly” is sold by Keshet Intl. It turns on a former 2006 Lebanon war combatant who reunites with his estranged commando unit comrades to rescue the love of his life, abducted by a cartel in Colombia, and who’s disappearance, exacerbating the impact gov his war experience, has reduced her to a guilt ridden psychiatric case, .
Kicking off with an impactful portrayal of an ambush in the Lebanon war in its first episode, seen at Cannes, “When Heroes Fly” looks set to develop into a series on the trauma and loss violence wreaks an a once close-knit group of friends.
Beyond “When...
Produced by Eitan Mansuri’s Spiro Films (“Foxtrot” and “Lebanon”), “When Heroes Fly” is sold by Keshet Intl. It turns on a former 2006 Lebanon war combatant who reunites with his estranged commando unit comrades to rescue the love of his life, abducted by a cartel in Colombia, and who’s disappearance, exacerbating the impact gov his war experience, has reduced her to a guilt ridden psychiatric case, .
Kicking off with an impactful portrayal of an ambush in the Lebanon war in its first episode, seen at Cannes, “When Heroes Fly” looks set to develop into a series on the trauma and loss violence wreaks an a once close-knit group of friends.
Beyond “When...
- 4/11/2018
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
German sales outfit Beta is reporting huge buyer interest in Look Who’s Back; also launching Hevn.
The brash and controversial Hitler comedy by David Wnendt is already proving a runaway box-office success in Germany.
Beta’s Thorsten Ritter has confirmed that the film is “being chased” by UK distributors and that several foreign buyers travelled to Germany in advance of the Afm to check out the film in cinemas and make offers before the market began.
The film’s premise sees Hitler (played by Oliver Masucci) waking up in modern-day Berlin and launching a television career after being universally mistaken for a brilliant comedian. It is based on Timur Vermes’ bestselling 2012 book of the same name, which sold millions of copies in Germany and was translated into twenty-eight languages
At Afm, Beta is also launching its new Nordic noir, Hevn (Revenge) from director Kjersti G. Steinsbø. Based on on the best-selling crime novel by Ingvar Ambjørnsen ([link...
The brash and controversial Hitler comedy by David Wnendt is already proving a runaway box-office success in Germany.
Beta’s Thorsten Ritter has confirmed that the film is “being chased” by UK distributors and that several foreign buyers travelled to Germany in advance of the Afm to check out the film in cinemas and make offers before the market began.
The film’s premise sees Hitler (played by Oliver Masucci) waking up in modern-day Berlin and launching a television career after being universally mistaken for a brilliant comedian. It is based on Timur Vermes’ bestselling 2012 book of the same name, which sold millions of copies in Germany and was translated into twenty-eight languages
At Afm, Beta is also launching its new Nordic noir, Hevn (Revenge) from director Kjersti G. Steinsbø. Based on on the best-selling crime novel by Ingvar Ambjørnsen ([link...
- 11/4/2015
- by geoffrey@macnab.demon.co.uk (Geoffrey Macnab)
- ScreenDaily
German sales outfit Beta is reporting huge buyer interest in Look Who’s Back; also launching Hevn.
The brash and controversial Hitler comedy by David Wnendt is already proving a runaway box-office success in Germany.
Beta’s Thorsten Ritter has confirmed that the film is “being chased” by UK distributors and that several foreign buyers travelled to Germany in advance of the Afm to check out the film in cinemas and make offers before the market began.
The film’s premise sees Hitler (played by Oliver Masucci) waking up in modern-day Berlin and launching a television career after being universally mistaken for a brilliant comedian. It is based on Timur Vermes’ bestselling 2012 book of the same name, which sold millions of copies in Germany and was translated into twenty-eight languages
At Afm, Beta is also launching its new Nordic noir, Hevn (Revenge) from director Kjersti G. Steinsbø. Based on on the best-selling crime novel by Ingvar Ambjørnsen ([link...
The brash and controversial Hitler comedy by David Wnendt is already proving a runaway box-office success in Germany.
Beta’s Thorsten Ritter has confirmed that the film is “being chased” by UK distributors and that several foreign buyers travelled to Germany in advance of the Afm to check out the film in cinemas and make offers before the market began.
The film’s premise sees Hitler (played by Oliver Masucci) waking up in modern-day Berlin and launching a television career after being universally mistaken for a brilliant comedian. It is based on Timur Vermes’ bestselling 2012 book of the same name, which sold millions of copies in Germany and was translated into twenty-eight languages
At Afm, Beta is also launching its new Nordic noir, Hevn (Revenge) from director Kjersti G. Steinsbø. Based on on the best-selling crime novel by Ingvar Ambjørnsen ([link...
- 11/4/2015
- by geoffrey@macnab.demon.co.uk (Geoffrey Macnab)
- ScreenDaily
“Let’s face it, we’re all going to die here.” Fresh from the Battle of Hogwarts, Daniel Radcliffe is battling The Woman in Black, while Rupert Grint soldiers on in the World War II drama, Into the White. Norwegian filmmaker Petter Næss, who helmed the phenomenal odd couple comedy Elling, directs this tense tale that is based on actual events. Rupert Grint, Florian Lukas, David Kross, Stig Henrik Hoff and Lachlan Nieboer stars as a group of pilots (some German some English), who — after being shot down — are forced to share an isolated shack to survive the frigid temperature of their Norwegian surroundings. It’s a premise that seems destined to end in much bloodshed. But according to its released synopsis, rather than turning on each others, these thrown together survivors begin to bond, forming a strong though unexpected brotherhood. While the trailer below seems a bit lackluster, I...
- 12/2/2011
- by jpraup@gmail.com (thefilmstage.com)
- The Film Stage
Palomar Pictures are developing remakes of last year's French heist movie "Joseph and the Girl" and the 2001 Norwegian film "Elling" reports Variety.
The original 'Joseph' follows an aging con artist who plots a casino heist with the daughter of his former cellmate.
"Killer Elite" director Gary McKendry is helming and co-writing 'Joseph' with Matt Sherring. Shooting will begin in March.
"Elliot", the remake of 'Elling', is based on Ingvar Ambjornsen‘s novel “Blood Brothers” which follows a man in his 40s and his struggle to function normally in society.
Jay Roach, Larry Stuckey and Tom McCarthy are all having a crack at the script.
The original 'Joseph' follows an aging con artist who plots a casino heist with the daughter of his former cellmate.
"Killer Elite" director Gary McKendry is helming and co-writing 'Joseph' with Matt Sherring. Shooting will begin in March.
"Elliot", the remake of 'Elling', is based on Ingvar Ambjornsen‘s novel “Blood Brothers” which follows a man in his 40s and his struggle to function normally in society.
Jay Roach, Larry Stuckey and Tom McCarthy are all having a crack at the script.
- 11/8/2011
- by Garth Franklin
- Dark Horizons
One of the Stephen King novels to elude the forces of film adaptation has been Rose Madder, which combines phantasmagoric fantasy and spousal abuse in a way that is very characteristically King, and seemingly rather difficult to put on the screen. That is changing now, as the 1995 novel is part of a trio of film projects announced at the American Film Market by Palomar Pictures (Brothers, Killer Elite) and Gosvenor Park. The companies will team to remake French heist movie Joseph and the Girl, Norwegian film Elling, and to bring Rose Madder to the screen. Variety [1] says that Naomi Sheridan (co-writer of In America and daughter of director Jim Sheridan) has scripted Rose Madder and that the film is targeted to shoot within the next year and half. Rose Madder follows a woman who leaves her evilly abusive husband after years of being beaten. She sets up a new life...
- 11/8/2011
- by Russ Fischer
- Slash Film
Today's pick for the Sydney Film Festival Trailer of the Day is the sexy, sexy Happy, Happy. Here's what the Sff Program says about the film: World Cinema Grand Jury Prize-winner at this year's Sundance Film Festival, Happy, Happy is a sexy comedy that takes delight in indiscretion and snowy romps. Kaja (Agnes Kittelsen) is endlessly chipper (think Poppy in Mike Leigh's Happy-Go-Lucky), although sex is in short supply. Her somewhat dour husband, Eirik (Joachim Rafaelsen, Elling) and young son fail to share her enthusiasm when a new couple and their adopted son move in next door. Elisabeth (Maibritt Saerens, Frederikke, Sff 2008) and Sigve (Henrik Rafaelsen) are sophisticated, beautiful and they can sing - in short, they're everything Kaja would like to be...
- 6/9/2011
- Screen Anarchy
As a child, or hell even as an adult, have you ever desperately wanted a certain videogame, let's call it Bonestorm? You've begged, pleaded, whined, maybe even shoplifted a copy and got caught. And finally, on Christmas Day, your mother hands you a video-game sized box, and you feverishly tear off the wrapping to discover Lee Carvallo's Putting Challenge. It's still a video game, but it's not the one you wanted.
That's kind of the experience with Jalmari Helander's Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale. It's a movie about a menacing Santa, but it's not the Santa you wanted. The trailer sells you a bag of treats -- what looks like some kind of Predator Santa stalking the naughty reindeer trappers of Finland. Instead, it's simply a dark fairy tale, with most of the major violence happening off screen. Like a father assembling his daughter's pink bicycle in the wee hours of the night,...
That's kind of the experience with Jalmari Helander's Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale. It's a movie about a menacing Santa, but it's not the Santa you wanted. The trailer sells you a bag of treats -- what looks like some kind of Predator Santa stalking the naughty reindeer trappers of Finland. Instead, it's simply a dark fairy tale, with most of the major violence happening off screen. Like a father assembling his daughter's pink bicycle in the wee hours of the night,...
- 12/1/2010
- by Brian Prisco
The upcoming prequel to John Carpenter's The Thing is scuttling towards its production start date like an upside-down head with spider legs. We already knew that Mary Elizabeth Winstead (Death Proof) was heading to Antarctica along with Joel Edgerton ("Uncle" Owen Lars in the Star Wars prequels), but now Shock Til You Drop has the skinny on practically everyone else. The impressively Norse call sheet now includes Dennis Storhøi, who was the "joyous" Herger in The Thirteenth Warrior; Fallen Angels star Trond Espen Seim; Jørgen Langhelle from Elling; Manhunt's Kristofer Hivju; Stig Henrik Hoff; Jan Gunnar Røise; and Jo Adrian Haavind. And according to Bloody Disgusting, Eric Christian Olsen, who turned up in Eagle Eye, Beerfest and Cellular, has also been cast. The director is Matthijs Van Heijningen, the script has been through the hands of Battlestar Galactica's Ronald D Moore and Eric Heisserer, and there's shamefully very...
- 3/18/2010
- EmpireOnline
Jessica Alba looks set to join the cast of Little Fockers; the third instalment in the Ben Stiller / Robert De Niro-starring comedy saga that began with Meet the Parents and Meet the Fockers.According to The Hollywood Reporter she'll play an "attractive pharmaceutical rep" (maybe she strayed in from Love and Other Drugs) who casts some kind of siren spell over Ben, Robert and third series regular Owen Wilson.Also confirmed to reappear are Teri Polo as Stiller's spouse Pamela, and Blythe Danner as Dina, De Niro's other half. The original script was by Larry Stuckey, who was a producer on Meet the Fockers and co-wrote the pure comedy gold that is Elling, but has since been given a pass by Stiller regular John Hamburg. Jay Roach is taking a back seat this time as producer, with Paul Weitz directing.There's still no official word as to whether Dustin Hoffman...
- 9/30/2009
- EmpireOnline
Hollywood Film Festival
Scandinavian filmmakers are known for making somber, heavy opuses drenched in angst and metaphysical meditations, like the great Swedish director Ingmar Bergman. But the truth is there has always been another strain of Scandinavian films, whimsical comedies like Kitchen Stories and the Oscar-nominated Elling, directed by Norwegian filmmaker Petter Naess.
Naess' new film Gone With the Woman is in much the same sly comic mode. It has enough appealing touches to score on the festival circuit, though it's a little too mild and precious to capture any significant audience in American theaters. The film is Norway's official submission for this year's foreign-language Oscar.
Woman begins with a gob of narration by the sad-sack hero (Trond Fausa Aurvag) describing the strange onset of his romance with Marianne Marian Saastad Ottesen), who moves in with him despite his indifference. After a series of misadventures, the hero (who is never named) announces, "I decided to fall head over heels in love with her. I would start in the morning."
The course of true love never did run smooth, and after the hero meets an enticing new flame during a whirlwind trip to Paris, and after Marianne takes up with a lover of her own, matters finally wind their tortuous way to the right romantic conclusion.
The story progresses in fits and starts, too often propelled by verbose narration. But Woman benefits from an appealing cast. Aurvag has an off-center charm; he makes us feel for the character's befuddlement. Ottesen is alternately endearing and maddening, and Louise Monot is lovely as the hero's Parisian amour. Peter Stormare provides some of the best moments as the hero's no-nonsense swimming buddy and confidant; the swimming pool and sauna scenes are among the movie's brightest comic interludes.
Naess has unmistakable visual talent, and there are striking images, alternately ironic and idyllic, throughout the movie. There's even a deft bit of animation marking one of the key transitional sequences. Technical credits are strong, and the use of music is inventive. But the whimsy, which might appeal to lovers of films like the cloying Amelie, does get a bit thick. Despite its likable cast and inventive visuals, the film desperately needs a few bold laughs in addition to its mild chuckles.
GONE WITH THE WOMAN
Monster Film
SF Norge, Guttorm Pettersom and Norsk Filmstudio
Credits:
Director: Petter Naess
Screenwriters: Johan Bogaeus, Petter Naess
Based on the novel by: Erlend Lee
Producer: Olav Oen
Director of photography: Marius Johansen Hansen
Art director: Bettina Schroeteler
Music: Aslak Hartberg
Costume designer: Karen Fabritius Gram
Editor: Inge-Lise Langfeldt
Cast:
Hero: Trond Fausa Aurvag
Marianne: Marian Saastad Ottesen
Glenn: Peter Stormare
Mirlinda: Louise Monot
Lollik: Trude Bjercke Strom
Tor: Henrik Mestad
Nidar-Bergene: Anna Gutto
Oberst: Sten Ljunggren
Running time -- 92 minutes
No MPAA rating...
Scandinavian filmmakers are known for making somber, heavy opuses drenched in angst and metaphysical meditations, like the great Swedish director Ingmar Bergman. But the truth is there has always been another strain of Scandinavian films, whimsical comedies like Kitchen Stories and the Oscar-nominated Elling, directed by Norwegian filmmaker Petter Naess.
Naess' new film Gone With the Woman is in much the same sly comic mode. It has enough appealing touches to score on the festival circuit, though it's a little too mild and precious to capture any significant audience in American theaters. The film is Norway's official submission for this year's foreign-language Oscar.
Woman begins with a gob of narration by the sad-sack hero (Trond Fausa Aurvag) describing the strange onset of his romance with Marianne Marian Saastad Ottesen), who moves in with him despite his indifference. After a series of misadventures, the hero (who is never named) announces, "I decided to fall head over heels in love with her. I would start in the morning."
The course of true love never did run smooth, and after the hero meets an enticing new flame during a whirlwind trip to Paris, and after Marianne takes up with a lover of her own, matters finally wind their tortuous way to the right romantic conclusion.
The story progresses in fits and starts, too often propelled by verbose narration. But Woman benefits from an appealing cast. Aurvag has an off-center charm; he makes us feel for the character's befuddlement. Ottesen is alternately endearing and maddening, and Louise Monot is lovely as the hero's Parisian amour. Peter Stormare provides some of the best moments as the hero's no-nonsense swimming buddy and confidant; the swimming pool and sauna scenes are among the movie's brightest comic interludes.
Naess has unmistakable visual talent, and there are striking images, alternately ironic and idyllic, throughout the movie. There's even a deft bit of animation marking one of the key transitional sequences. Technical credits are strong, and the use of music is inventive. But the whimsy, which might appeal to lovers of films like the cloying Amelie, does get a bit thick. Despite its likable cast and inventive visuals, the film desperately needs a few bold laughs in addition to its mild chuckles.
GONE WITH THE WOMAN
Monster Film
SF Norge, Guttorm Pettersom and Norsk Filmstudio
Credits:
Director: Petter Naess
Screenwriters: Johan Bogaeus, Petter Naess
Based on the novel by: Erlend Lee
Producer: Olav Oen
Director of photography: Marius Johansen Hansen
Art director: Bettina Schroeteler
Music: Aslak Hartberg
Costume designer: Karen Fabritius Gram
Editor: Inge-Lise Langfeldt
Cast:
Hero: Trond Fausa Aurvag
Marianne: Marian Saastad Ottesen
Glenn: Peter Stormare
Mirlinda: Louise Monot
Lollik: Trude Bjercke Strom
Tor: Henrik Mestad
Nidar-Bergene: Anna Gutto
Oberst: Sten Ljunggren
Running time -- 92 minutes
No MPAA rating...
- 12/12/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
NEW YORK -- Producers Frank DeMartini and James Acheson have signed a nonexclusive, first-look, five-picture deal with Avi Lerner's Millennium Films. The pact provides Acheson and DeMartini with full financing, with distribution handled by Millennium. The duo recently wrapped Mozart and the Whale for Millennium, which was penned by Ron Bass and stars Josh Hartnett, Radha Mitchell and Erica Leerhsen. Whale was helmed by Petter Naess (Elling) and centers on a young couple (Hartnett, Mitchell) who have Asperger's syndrome, a type of autism. Additional films in development under the deal include The Pirates of Palawan, a modern-day pirate tale that takes place in the Philippines during the fall of the Marcos regime, and Michael Strogoff, a sweeping epic based on the Jules Verne novel of the same name.
Variety reports that Josh Hartnett has signed on to star in Mozart and the Whale, with Rachel Weisz currently negotiating for the female lead. Based on a 1995 LA Times article and scripted by Ron Bass, the love story will be directed by Elling's Petter Naess for Millennium Films. The central couple are two savants with Asperger's syndrome, a kind of autism, whose disabilites sabotage their budding relationship. Robert Lawrence, Frank DeMartini and James Acheson are set to produce; interestingly it's Hartnett who's been driving the project, which he'll do before moving on to Brian De Palma's The Black Dahlia opposite Mark Wahlberg.
- 1/13/2004
- IMDbPro News
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.