Anti-War Film ‘The Eclipse’ Nabbed by Taskovski Ahead of CPH:DOX Premiere (EXCLUSIVE)

th anniversary is nothing to sneeze at, but learning that one of the groups to reach that milestone is the Norwegian trio a-ha might warrant not so much an achoo as a gasp, double take, or “Come again?”Since 1985, we’ve all lived with the sparkling earworm of syncopation, synth, and pop crooning that is the single “Take On Me,” the kind of breakout chart-topper (in 36 countries) that you just knew was going to define an era’s sugary, youthful romanticism. The dynamically conceptualized half-animated music video didn’t hurt its immortality campaign either, with lead singer Morten Harket’s chiseled, sensitive, pouty-rebel presence — someone, please, help him! — destined to adorn teenage walls everywhere.

Squid Game actress Jung Ho-yeon is set to star in the upcoming A24 film The Governesses alongside Lily-Rose Depp and others.Jung will appear in the forthcoming film alongside Lily-Rose Depp (2018’s A Faithful Man), who is the daughter of actors Vanessa Paradis and Johnny Depp, and award-winning Norwegian actress Renate Reinsve (2021’s The Worst Person In The World). The specifics of the trio’s roles have yet to be announced.The Governesses will be the second film Joe Talbot will direct for A24, having made his directorial debut with the studio in 2019 with the critically acclaimed The Last Black Man In San Francisco.The Governesses is based on the 1992 novel of the same name by French writer Anne Seree, which was translated into English for the first time in 2018.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentSF Studios is set to co-produce and distribute “The Riot,” a Norwegian historical action film chronicling a miners’ uprising at the start of the 20th century.Produced by Storyline NOR, the epic film is directed by Nils Gaup (“The Kautokeino Rebellion”), and stars Swedish actors Otto Fahlgren (“Beartown”) and Simon J. Berger (“Margrete – Queen of the North”).Inspired by a true story, “The Riot” follows workers in copper mines located in the Arctic mountains, in a place nicknamed Lapland’s Hell, who rebelled against the powerful industrial company and its ruthless leader.

Emiliano De Pablos Beta Film’s high-concept spy thriller cycle “Agent Hamilton – New Missions” has scored a series of territory deals, including the U.S. and Northern Europe.The stand-alone reboot of the “Agent Hamilton” series has been sold to MHz for the U.S., TV2 in Norway, DR for Denmark, NPO for Netherlands and Syn for Island.Based on the iconic novels and characters by best-selling author Jan Guillou, as was its predecessor “Agent Hamilton,” “New Missions” is produced by Dramacorp Pampas Studios in co-production with TV4/C-More, Beta Film and ZDF.In further deals on its 2022 MipTV slate, the Munich-based international distributor has sold to France Télévision and Israel’s Hot Network the Norwegian YA series “Rod Knock,” a Fenomen and Storyline Studios production for NRK, which is back for Season 3, and was honored with seven Gullruten awards in 2021.

Starzplay Acquires HBO’s Max’s Ken Watanabe Crime Thriller Series ‘Tokyo Vice’

Manori Ravindran International EditorA Vice Studios documentary series on the 2014 disappearance of Malaysian flight MH370 has been sold to History Channel in the U.S. and a raft of broadcasters in Europe.Vice Distribution, the global distribution and licensing arm of Vice Media Group, pre-sold the three-part series, entitled “MH370: The Lost Flight,” into A+E Networks’ History, TV2 in Denmark and Viaplay across its European territories (Sweden, Norway, Finland, Iceland, Poland and the pan-Baltics).

Lise Pedersen Jan Šimánek and Petr Záruba have dropped the trailer of their new film “Adam Ondra: Pushing the Limit,” which follows four years in the life of Adam Ondra, considered to be one of the best rock climbers in the world, as he prepares for and competes in the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. The film will have its world premiere at Swiss documentary festival Visions du Réel.A celebrity in his home country, Ondra is one of the rare climbers who excels both in outdoor and indoor competition climbing.“He has won pretty much won every championship there is,” says Šimánek.

Leo Barraclough International Features EditorFeature documentary “The Fire Within: A Requiem for Katia and Maurice Krafft,” directed by German filmmaker Werner Herzog and distributed by Abacus Media Rights, has been acquired by Arte for France and Germany.In addition, ahead of its official launch at MipTV in Cannes, AMR has pre-sold the feature, about French volcanologists Maurice and Katia Krafft, to BBC Storyville for the U.K., DR in Denmark, SVT in Sweden and NRK in Norway.Written, directed and narrated by Herzog, “The Fire Within” pays homage to the Kraffts, who left an archive of more than 200 hours of footage.Herzog has produced, written and directed more than 60 narrative and documentary feature films, including “Grizzly Man,” “Invincible,” “Encounters at the End of the World” and “Cave of Forgotten Dreams.” He was named one of the world’s 100 most influential people by Time magazine in 2009. The film is produced by Brian Leith Productions, Bonne Pioche and Titan Films.

Leo Barraclough International Features EditorAbacus Media Rights has closed a flurry of sales for the six-part documentary series “Evolve,” which looks at how scientists are learning from evolutionary adaptations found in the natural world. Patrick Aryee, the series’ presenter, will give the keynote address this week at MipDoc, part of the MipTV television market in Cannes.Deals for the show, produced by Beach House Pictures for Curiosity, in association with Blue Ant Media, have been secured with ABC in Australia, Viasat World for Nordic and Central and Eastern Europe, RAI in Italy, Studio Hamburg in Germany, UR in Sweden, NRK in Norway, and VRT in Belgium, with more deals in the pipeline at MipTV.Production took place last year, over the course of around 12 months.

Leo Barraclough International Features EditorLimonero Films, a boutique distributor of factual shows and documentaries, based in London, has announced a string of sales ahead of MipTV.Make Waves Media’s “Thirties in Color: Countdown to War” has been sold to Japan’s NHK, Italy’s RAI, Spain’s RTVE and Germany’s RTL, which also licensed “Victorian Britain on Film” and “Wild Relations.”The wildlife title “Wild Relations” was picked up by KBS in Korea and Radio Television Hong Kong.“Framed in Miami: The Versace Connection,” Limonero’s first true crime series, was picked up by Discovery in Italy, and their food and travel show “Hidden Flavors of India: North East” by Discovery Asia.Andy Cohen’s “Beijing Spring,” about the Chinese cultural revolution of 1979, was licensed to Sweden’s SVT and Switzerland’s RSI.

Lise Pedersen Norwegian filmmaker Benjamin Ree, whose previous film “The Painter and the Thief” picked up a host of awards including Best Storytelling at Sundance, has given Variety exclusive access to his new doc film project, “Ibelin,” at the Copenhagen Intl. Documentary Film Festival.The film is named after the “World of Warcraft” avatar of Mats Steen, a young Norwegian man who died at the age of 25 from DMD (Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy), a rare genetic disorder that causes muscle degeneration.After his death, Mats’ parents discovered that their disabled son, who for the last 10 years of his life had been wheelchair-bound and needed constant medical assistance, has led a rich and eventful life online and made friends around the world on the way.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentDubai-based cryptocurrency-based content platform MContent has partnered with  PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Middle East to launch its documentary “Ripple vs SEC Saga” in a virtual theater in the metaverse.Produced by MContent and Amsterdam-based Insight TV in tandem with Villain Studios, “Ripple vs SEC Saga” (first look image above) delves into the ongoing case being brought by the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) since 2020 against blockchain company Ripple Labs.In this landmark case the SEC has accused Ripple of raising $1.3 billion in unregistered digital asset securities by using its digital coin, called XRP. The SEC’s key claim, which is being refuted, is that XRP is not a currency, but a security and therefore subject to strict securities laws.

A feature documentary about Le Bal des Débutantes, a Paris-set fashion event, is set to be the first project as part of a new non-fiction slate from Boat Rocker.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentTobias Menzies, who won last year’s primetime Emmy Award for his turn as Prince Philip in ‘The Crown,’ has joined the cast of “Made in Oslo,” a character-driven thriller series set at a fertility clinic in Norway.Menzies stars in the cinematic show opposite Pia Tjelta, one of Norway’s most successful actors whose credits include successful shows such as “Norsemen” and “Lykkeland.”Created and penned by Kathrine Valen Zeiner (“Wisting,” “Valkyrien”), the eight-part show is a NENT/Viaplay Original and is produced by Tordenfilm. It will premiere on Viaplay on April 24.“Made in Oslo” is directed by Marit Moum Aune, whose credits includes “Angels in America – National Theatre” and “Oslo.” In “Made in Oslo,” Tjelta plays Elin, a passionate doctor who runs a fertility clinic and becomes obsessed with her mission to help couples have children, leading her to break rules, cross boundaries and put her relationship with loved ones in jeopardy.Menzies stars as a successful British businessman who runs the first fertility clinic in the U.S.

Japan has won the award, and the first time since 2008.It beat out Italy’s “The Hand of God,” Norway’s “The Worst Person in the World,” Denmark’s “Flee” and Bhutan’s “Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom.”———For more of AP’s Oscar coverage visit: https://apnews.com/hub/academy-awards

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentLess than two years after joining France Televisions, former Canal Plus executive Manuel Alduy has contributed to bolstering the French public broadcaster’s roster of international series with shows such as “Bardot,” a mini-series biopic of Brigitte Bardot, and “L’Insoumise” about Alice Guy, the first female filmmaker ever. Ahead of France Televisions’ press conference at Series Mania, Alduy said the broadcaster’s first-look initiative with the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) has yielded several prestige projects, including “Bardot.” The EBU represents 113 organizations across the 56 countries, including the BBC in the U.K., ARD in Germany, DR in Denmark, SVT in Sweden, Rai in Italy and the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation.

Robin van Persie has already outlined his expectations for the next permanent Manchester United manager after the Old Trafford giants held talks with Erik ten Hag. Further discussions are planned after United settled on the Ajax coach as their preferred candidate to replace Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

THE HAGUE, Netherlands -- A group of Dutch historians has published an in-depth criticism of the work and conclusion of a cold case team that said it had pieced together the “most likely scenario” of who betrayed Jewish teenage diarist Anne Frank and her family.The cold case team's research, which was published early this year in the book “The Betrayal of Anne Frank: A Cold Case Investigation,” by Canadian academic and author Rosemary Sullivan, immediately drew criticism in the Netherlands.Now, in a 69-page written “refutation,” six historians and academics describe the cold case team’s findings as “a shaky house of cards.” The book's Dutch publisher repeated an earlier apology and announced Tuesday night it was pulling the book from stores.The book said that the person who revealed the location of the Frank family's secret annex hiding place in an Amsterdam canal-side building was likely a prominent Jewish notary, Arnold van den Bergh, who disclosed the location to German occupiers of the Netherlands to save his own family from deportation and death in Nazi concentration camps.The Dutch historians reviewed the team's work and concluded that the “accusation does not hold water.”The historians said the book “displays a distinct pattern in which assumptions are made by the CCT (Cold Case Team), held to be true a moment later, and then used as a building block for the next step in the train of logic.