How Jonas Poher Rasmussen’s Animated Documentary ‘Flee’ May Be Poised For Historic Oscar Showing

Marta Balaga Danish helmer Lone Scherfig is already developing the second season of “The Shift”, she revealed on Monday during an online Berlinale Series Market talk “From Film to Series.”Set in a maternity ward and starring Sofie Gråbøl and Pål Sverre Hagen, it’s the first series as a showrunner for Scherfig, who in 2019 opened Berlinale with “The Kindness of Strangers” and won a Silver Bear for “Italian for Beginners.”“It’s a tribute to the people who work in the healthcare system under extreme pressure, to the care and the love they show, even despite tough working conditions,” she said. “The Shift” is produced by Creative Alliance, with Beta Film handling the sales.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentNordic production powerhouse Miso Film, which looks to make a splash at the Berlinale Series with its daring HBO Max show “Lust,” is developing high-end international dramas with Scandinavian creatives such as Pilou Asbæk, Ole Bornedal and Fenar Ahmad. The company is part of FremantleMedia.Ahead of the Berlinale, Miso founders Peter Allen and Jonas Bose discussed with Variety about their ambition to find new voices and original ways to tell stories. The banner, which just started shooting the third season of “Those Who Kill” and is about to begin filming season 3 of “Face to Face” with Lars Mikkelsen, recently shot “Blasted,” the first Norwegian sci-fi comedy, for Netflix.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentTrustNordisk has closed a flurry of sales on a pair of 3D-animated family features, “Little Allan — The Human Antenna” and “The Super,” underscoring the market appeal of independent youth-skewing movies.“Little Allan – The Human Antenna” marks Danish film Amalie Naesby Fick’s follow up to her commercially successful debut “The Incredible Story of The Giant Pear,” which premiered in the the Generation Kplus section at Berlin in 2018. This year, the helmer has her daring drama series “Sex” selected for the Berlinale Series.The film takes place during summer vacation, when introverted, 11-year old Allan starts acting as a human antenna for his old neighbor, who thinks a huge invasion fleet from the outer space is on its way.

Angelique Jackson Among this year’s class of Oscars first-timers is “West Side Story” star Ariana DeBose, whose show-stopping portrayal of Anita in the movie musical earned her a best supporting actress Oscar nod.“Well, a lot can happen before 9:30 a.m. on a Tuesday,” DeBose quipped, jumping on the phone with Variety just hours after learning the news.Despite all the excitement buzzing around her, DeBose feels unexpectedly calm.

CODA star Troy Kotsur this morning became the first deaf male actor ever to earn an Oscar nomination, speaking with Deadline about what the watershed moment centered on the Apple film means for the deaf community, as well as his upcoming film Flash Before the Bang and more.

A number of films have been nominated for International Film (previously known as Foreign Film) and Documentary Feature, but none have earned nods in those categories and Animated Feature. That is until today when Jonas Poher Rasmussen pulled off that remarkable feet with “Flee.” Denmark’s submission to the Academy Awards is also the first documentary to earn an Animated Feature nomination in the 20 year history of the award.

Jonas Poher Rasmussen’s Neon film Flee made history this morning, as it became the first ever to score a trifecta of Oscar nominations in the categories of Best Animated Feature, Best Documentary Feature and Best International Feature Film.

Leo Barraclough International Features EditorIn a new series, Variety catches up with the directors of the films shortlisted for the International Feature Film Oscar to discuss their road to the awards, what they’ve learned so far, and what’s taken them off guard.In Jonas Poher Rasmussen’s “Flee,” a former Afghan refugee grapples with his traumatic past in order to find his true self. The film won the Grand Jury Prize at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival in the World Cinema – Documentary section, among numerous other accolades.

EXCLUSIVE: Greenwich Entertainment has taken North American rights to A Taste of Whale, a documentary by Vincent Kelner on the annual slaughter of pilot whales in the Faroe Islands. The ancient practice, which has met with modern resistance from Sea Shepherd and other animal rights groups, involves herding hundreds of the large dolphins into coves, inlets or fjords where they can be easily killed and butchered.

Jamie Lang On-the-rise Spanish boutique sales company Feel Content has acquired a pair of features ahead of this month’s European Film Market: Finnish-Danish drama “Yellow Sulphur” – recently premiered at the Göteborg Film Festival – and French-Colombian co-production “The Rust,” a competition player at last year’s San Sebastian.From Finnish director-writer-producer Claes Olsson, “Yellow Sulphur Sky” is adapted from Kjell Westö’s eponymous novel and produced by Solar Films, Nordic Film Pool and Smile Entertainment. The book and now film tell the story of Frej, a writer who revisits his own youth as a source of inspiration, forcing the author to face long-forgotten memories.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentAnders Klarlund’s Nordic noir feature “The Last Client” with “Borgen” star Signe Egholm Olsen has been acquired by international sales and aggregation outfit LevelK. The thriller, produced by Morten Rasmussen (“Held for Ransom,” “White Sands”) at well-established Danish banner Deluca Film AS, revolves around the intense relationship between a psychotherapist and her dangerous new client. The strong cast is headlined by Egholm Olsen and Anton Hjejle (“Liberty”).“The Last Client” was written by Anders Klarlund and Jacob Weinreich, the creative duo known as A.

K.J. Yossman SkyShowtime, the joint streaming venture between Comcast and ViacomCBS, has received full regulatory approval.It will launch in Europe later this year.

Thousands of Brits are preparing to flee Ukraine amid fears Russia will invade within days.

Annika Pham Oscar and double Palme d’Or winning director Bille August (“The Best Intentions”, “Pelle the Conqueror”) is attending the Göteborg Film Festival for a Director’s Talk and the gala screening of his psycho-drama “The Pact”.He will also pitch at the adjoining Nordic Film Market (Feb. 3-6), the work in progress of his upcoming Danish pic “The Kiss”.August spoke exclusively to Variety about “The Kiss,” his enduring interest in the complexity of human beings, book-to-screen adaptations and his belief in the big screen experience.Loosely based on Stefan Zweig’s novel “Beware of Pity and transposed from an Austrian to a Danish setting, “The Kiss” is a romantic drama set in 1913.

Annika Pham Stockholm-based Momento Film, the company behind “Tiny King for a Day” and Göteborg’s Nordic Film Market-bound work in progress “Dogborn,” has confirmed start of production and E.U. partners on Daniel Espinosa’s “Madame Luna,” its biggest project ever.Principal photography in Sicily and Calabria is set to begin May 5 on the €5 million ($5.6 million) refugee drama, penned by Maurizio Braucci (“Gomorrah”) and Suha Arraf (“Lemon Tree”) from an idea by Binyam Berhane.David Herdies is producing for Momento Film, with co-production partners Marco Alessi and Massimiliano Navarra of Italy’s Dugong Films, Peter Nadermann of Germany’s Nadcon and Katja Adomeit and Pål Røed of Denmark’s Adomeit Film.

Michael Nordine authorWhat happens when a cutting-edge artist no longer considers himself cutting edge? That’s one question raised by “Bob Spit: We Do Not Like People,” but it’s far from the only one. In addition to being a stop-motion animated documentary about Brazilian cartoonist Angeli, it’s also a psychedelic road movie in which a roving pack of tiny, bloodthirsty Elton Johns set their sights on a punk-rock vigilante trying to reach his creator: Angeli himself.