‘The Painter and the Thief’ Director Benjamin Ree Unveils New Film Project at CPH:DOX (EXCLUSIVE)

Röyksopp have announced that 10 new short films will accompany the forthcoming release of their new record ‘Profound Mysteries’.Previously described as a “prodigious conceptual project” – the Norwegian pair previously “said goodbye to the traditional album format” following the release of their fifth LP ‘The Inevitable End’ in 2014 – ‘Profound Mysteries’ is set for release on digital, CD and cassette formats on April 29 (a vinyl release is yet to be announced).Ahead of its full release, Röyksopp have now shared details of their creative partnership with the film production company Bacon, who have created a series of short films to accompany ‘Profound Mysteries’.Helmed by such directors as Andreas Nilsson, Martin de Thurah and Röyksopp themselves, the films have been described as “adding 10 original vignettes to the rich tapestry of the ‘Profound Mysteries’ world”.“We’re thrilled to be joined by the wonderful girls and boys of Bacon, in this ever-expanding universe of ‘Profound Mysteries’,” Röyksopp’s Svein Berge and Torbjørn Brundtland said in a statement.“It’s been an exhilarating and gratifying endeavour; we’ve reconvened with old fantastic friends, and we’ve been lucky enough to meet and work with some new, amazing talents.”Magne Lyngner, executive managing producer at Bacon, added: “The musical universe of Röyksopp is practically made for film and when the guys asked our directors to interpret the new music with total creative freedom, we couldn’t say no.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor“Images of a Nordic Drama,” the debut documentary by Oscar-nominated Norwegian director Nils Gaup, has debuted its teaser trailer, ahead of its international premiere at Hot Docs.The film follows art collector Haakon Mehren who faces unexpected resistance while championing the work of an unknown Norwegian artist after finding a cache of paintings in a barn.Despite success abroad, the undiscovered work of Aksel Waldemar Johannessen, a contemporary of Edvard Munch, takes nearly three decades to launch in Norway. The painter’s depictions of prostitutes and drunks living in miserable poverty offend the aesthetics of Norway’s art establishment and challenge the canon to the point of sabotaging his rediscovery.

2 min read Seven months before the opening of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, the president of the Norwegian football federation has raised her voice to denounce the lack of security guarantees for LGBTQI+ people.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentMemento International has acquired “Sick of Myself,” a movie by L.A.-based Norwegian filmmaker Kristoffer Borgli which will world premiere at Cannes in Un Certain Regard. Borgli previously directed the short films including “Former Cult Member Hears Music For The First Time” and “Eer” which played at Sundance.

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.

EXCLUSIVE: Leonard Cohen’s relationship with muse Marianne Ihlen is going under the microscope in a 1960s-set drama co-production for Norwegian broadcaster NRK.

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.

Manori Ravindran International EditorThe British remake of “Call My Agent!” is finally heading to Amazon’s Prime Video next month.Titled “Ten Percent,” the show hails from BAFTA-winning “W1A” and “Twenty Twelve” writer John Morton and, much like its French counterpart, follows a ragtag group of talent agents at a fictional British agency. And as evidenced in a new trailer for the show (watch below), creators have made good on early promises to depict the U.K.

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.

Film at Lincoln Center and The Museum of Modern Art has set Audrey Diwan’s Happening and The African Desperate by Martine Syms will bookend the 51st edition of their collaboration, New Directors/New Films running April 20–May 1 in NYC.

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