‘Clara Sola’ Tops Swedish “Guldbagge” Film Awards

European Film Market has felt lopsided.Sony’s $60 million deal for Tom Hanks’ “A Man Called Otto,” an adaptation of Fredrik Backman’s bestselling Swedish-language novel “A Man Called Ove” — which was made into an Oscar-nominated  Swedish feature — that grabbed headlines early on (Variety understands it boiled down to a bidding war between the studio and Apple), but hasn’t necessarily spawned the usual flurry of deals from Berlin halfway through the festival.One buyer from a major U.K. distributor says the EFM vibe has felt “muted” for a company of its size, with an absence of broad-appeal product available once “Otto” was snapped up by Sony.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentOne of Scandinavia’s leading film distributors, Scanbox Entertainment is changing ownership with a new board including CEO Thor Sigurjonsson. The company was bought back from Scanbox Chairman Joni Sighvatsson. New owners include COO Kim William Beich, commercial director Torben Thorup Jorgensen, and producer Chris Briggs.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentNordic streamer Viaplay is partnering with filmmaker Mikael Håfström to produce the ambitious period film “Stockholm Bloodbath.” The female-led epic adventure movie will mark the service’s second English-language film original, following Oscar-nominated helmer Lasse Hallström’s biopic “Hilma,” which will premiere later this year.Set in 1520, “Stockholm Bloodbath” explores a dark chapter in Sweden’s history, which saw the infamous massacre of nearly 100 nobles and civilians in the Swedish capital. The story is told through the eyes of Anne and her foster sister Freja as they seek revenge on the men who murdered their family at Anne’s wedding.

K.J. Yossman Iggy Pop and Paris-based contemporary music troupe Ensemble intercontemporain have been named the 2022 recipients of the Polar Music Prize.The Polar Music Prize, which was founded in 1989 by Swedish musician Stig ”Stikkan” Anderson, is one of the world’s most prestigious music awards.

Clark Olofsson is not a widely known figure in the States, but for three decades he was Sweden’s answer to John Dillinger. With his daring criminal lifestyle and charismatic personality, Olofsson captured the public’s imagination and eventually became the most infamous celebrity in the country.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent“The Wife” director Björn Runge was at Sweden’s Göteborg Film Festival over the weekend to tease his stars-packed passionate Swedish drama “Burn All My Letters” which SF Studios is producing.Runge was on the ground at the festival’s industry sidebar along with his producer Annika Sucksdorff, and lead actors Asta Kamma August (“The Pact”) and Gustav Lindh (“Queen of Hearts”). The movie is an adaptation of Alex Schulman’s bestselling novel by the same name.

John Hopewell Chief International CorrespondentIcelandic smash hit drama series “Blackport” won on Wednesday the 2022 Nordisk Film & TV Prize, Scandinavia’s top plaudit for drama series writing.The award was announced on site at the end of an intense first day of conference panels at the Göteborg Festival’s TV Drama Vision, with two of the series’ three writers, Gísli Örn Garðarsson and Mikael Torfason on stage to collect the Nordic TV Drama Screenplay Award, carrying a €20,000 ($22,600) cash prize. They were accompanied by producer Nina Dögg Filippusdóttir.

Annika Pham Stockholm-based production house Hobab whose buzzy Cannes Directors’ Fortnight “Clara Sola” was snapped by New-York-based Oscilloscope Laboratories, is ramping up its ambitions, with female-led projects.“Our vision is to combine arthouse sensitivity with mainstream appeal, and to help talents – both Nordic and international – grow with care,” said Nima Yousefi, producer and joint owner with Peter Krupenin.Pedigree European shingles Finland’s Tuffi Films, Denmark’s Toolbox and Italy’s Intramovies have boarded as co-producers Hobab’s next Swedish feature drama “Sisters,” from first-time fiction helmer Mika Gustafson.Ruben Öslund’s former alumna at Göteborg’s Valand Academy, Gustafson had her international break with the short film “Mephobia,” followed by the doc-biopic “Silvana,” about rapper and feminist icon Silvana Imam. Due to start lensing in June, “Sisters” is penned by Gustafson with actor-screenwriter Alexander Öhrstrand, seen in “The Bridge” and “The Hunt for a Killer.”The coming of age story follows siblings Laura (16), Mira (12) and Steffi (7), fending for themselves in a Swedish working-class suburban housing estate, as their mother vanishes for lengthy periods.

Alissa Simon Film CriticStockholm-based filmmaker Lovisa Sirén joins Goteborg’s Nordic competition with her feature debut, about semi-estranged sisters on a road-trip through Europe.What inspired thestory? And how do you work with your co-writer Peter Modestij?Sirén: I was curious to do a story about women and kids, in the absence of men. How women are with each other, how their behavior changes in that space. From my own experience, many times that space creates a certain vibe that I wanted to show to the world.

Tottenham Hotspur are in talks with Juventus to bring attacker Dejan Kulusevski on loan after their failed moves for Luis Diaz and Adama Traore.

Fans went into a frenzy following a report that Brad Pitt, 58, andLykke Li, 35, were “secretly dating,” according to The Sun on Wednesday January 26. Tons of sources close to the actor and Swedish singer shut down the rumors in reports to various outlets. People close to Brad and Lykke confirmed that the romantic rumors weren’t true, and they’re nothing more than just good friends.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent“Fitness advice, gig economy, binge watching Danish crime series, sustainability, sex when the kids watch cartoons, mobile bank ID, personal development 5:2 diet, anti-aging cream, Adobe updates, climate friendly travel, body activism,” Anders rants quietly to the camera, as he walks from his car to home in the equivalent of white picket fence Sweden at the beginning of Swedish Discovery Plus Original “Gotebia,” a half-hour dramedic psychological thriller.“Exterior renovations, Roblox, mini Rodini hats, dinners from Fedora. Shared family calendar.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentNaples-set young adult series “The Sea Beyond,” which depicts the world of a juvenile jail in the crime-ridden Italian city, is scoring a slew of international sales prompted by its phenomenal ratings on pubcaster RAI.Germany’s Beta Film, which is selling the show about kids behind bars produced by Rome-based Picomedia and RAI Fiction, has inked deals with WarnerMedia Latin America for HBO Max, Sweden’s free-to-air channel TV4, cabler HOT for Israel, and streamer Blu TV in Turkey.The deals mark a rare case of an Italian young adult series traveling abroad.Set in a youth detention center overlooking the bay of Naples, “The Sea Beyond” depicts a world populated by kids apparently without hope, “given that they mostly belong to [the Camorra] organized crime syndicate that Naples is known for,” said Picomedia chief Roberto Sessa, who added that the show also has “all the color and vitality of that city.” Instead, “It’s like the flip side of ‘Gomorrah’ in that it gives a sense of hope,” Sessa noted, because “there is light at the end of the tunnel for these kids.”Sessa also pointed out that they took some poetic license by making the youth penitentiary a place for both men and women who get to interact “with all the relationships and passions that stem from this.”The jail warden is a woman named Paola Vinci, played by Carolina Crescentini (“Bastards of Pizzofalcone”).Directed by Carmine Elia, Milena Cocozza, and Ivan Silvestrini, “The Sea Beyond” is now at its second season which debuted on RAI in mid-November 2021 both on the pubcaster’s linear RAI 2 channel and on its RAI Play streaming platform.It has become a minor phenomenon in Italy because it’s the first show that proved a

Are Brad Pitt and Lykke Li dating? That’s the rumor that began to swirl Wednesday evening as reports from The Sun shared that the A-list actor and Swedish singer’s close proximity in L.A. has helped their union stay under the radar. HollywoodLife has reached out to both Brad and Lykke’s reps for comment.