Icelandic film production company Sagafilm and Sweden’s LittleBig Productions are developing a historical series about 17th-century Icelanders abducted by Barbary corsairs and sold into slavery in North Africa.
Tentatively titled “Salé” — a city on the North African coast that was also a haven for pirates — the series is inspired by true events. It begins in the summer of 1627, when several hundred people in settlements along Iceland’s coast are captured by Barbary privateers under the command of the Dutch pirate Jan Janszoon, more commonly known as Admiral Murat Reis. Among his prisoners are Gunnur, the wife of a young fisherman, and her 12-year-old daughter Gríma. When they are brought to the North African slave markets, mother and daughter are separated, sold to different masters and forced to develop different strategies in order to survive.
Described as a thrilling tale of love, survival, revenge, and the power of hope, “Salé...
Tentatively titled “Salé” — a city on the North African coast that was also a haven for pirates — the series is inspired by true events. It begins in the summer of 1627, when several hundred people in settlements along Iceland’s coast are captured by Barbary privateers under the command of the Dutch pirate Jan Janszoon, more commonly known as Admiral Murat Reis. Among his prisoners are Gunnur, the wife of a young fisherman, and her 12-year-old daughter Gríma. When they are brought to the North African slave markets, mother and daughter are separated, sold to different masters and forced to develop different strategies in order to survive.
Described as a thrilling tale of love, survival, revenge, and the power of hope, “Salé...
- 9/17/2021
- by Ed Meza
- Variety Film + TV
Silja Hauksdóttir, the director and one of the writers of “Agnes Joy,” says she opened the film with a graphic vomiting scene to capture the “raw” relationship between its characters.
The film, Iceland’s entry into the Academy Awards International Film category, explores the explosive relationship of daughter Agnes (Donna Cruz) and her mother Rannveig (Katla Þorgeirsdóttir) as Agnes seeks independence from her frustrated, dissatisfied mother’s controlling ways. Their world is upended still more when a seductive new neighbor moves into town.
“Raw” was how TheWrap’s Joe McGovern described the movie’s first scene, in which hungover teenage daughter Agnes (Donna Cruz) is shown vomiting in a bathroom, only to be broken in on by her outraged mother. Rannveig is more concerned about whether Agnes will be still able to perform on the violin than her daughter’s plight. When McGovern asked Hauksdóttir about the creative choice, she agreed with his assessment.
The film, Iceland’s entry into the Academy Awards International Film category, explores the explosive relationship of daughter Agnes (Donna Cruz) and her mother Rannveig (Katla Þorgeirsdóttir) as Agnes seeks independence from her frustrated, dissatisfied mother’s controlling ways. Their world is upended still more when a seductive new neighbor moves into town.
“Raw” was how TheWrap’s Joe McGovern described the movie’s first scene, in which hungover teenage daughter Agnes (Donna Cruz) is shown vomiting in a bathroom, only to be broken in on by her outraged mother. Rannveig is more concerned about whether Agnes will be still able to perform on the violin than her daughter’s plight. When McGovern asked Hauksdóttir about the creative choice, she agreed with his assessment.
- 2/2/2021
- by Diane Haithman
- The Wrap
One issue links four of the five contenders for the Nordisk Film & TV Prize this year, including “Sisterhood.” Given ease of travel and cost, co-produced series are four times more likely to be crime, thriller or suspense titles than any other genre, according to Ampere Analysis. The challenge then, is to stand out in this highly competitive field.
Nordic Noir achieved that over a decade ago, bringing a chillingly darker edge to comfy European procedurals. Yet almost as soon as it was consecrated, its founding fathers attempted to broaden its reach, adding a marked social edge; setting it in London with an iconic British actor; or opening up to issues such as international terrorism.
In ”Sisterhood,” first fruit of development-distribution alliance between Sky Studios and Iceland’s Sagafilm (“The Minister”), now part owned by Beta Film, lead writer Jóhann Ævar Grímsson simply stands Nordic Noir on its head.
In the title credit sequence,...
Nordic Noir achieved that over a decade ago, bringing a chillingly darker edge to comfy European procedurals. Yet almost as soon as it was consecrated, its founding fathers attempted to broaden its reach, adding a marked social edge; setting it in London with an iconic British actor; or opening up to issues such as international terrorism.
In ”Sisterhood,” first fruit of development-distribution alliance between Sky Studios and Iceland’s Sagafilm (“The Minister”), now part owned by Beta Film, lead writer Jóhann Ævar Grímsson simply stands Nordic Noir on its head.
In the title credit sequence,...
- 1/29/2021
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Donna Cruz, Björn Hlynur Haraldsson, Þorsteinn Bachmann and Katla M Þorgeirsdóttir in Agnes Joy
It’s a small town story now elevated to a very big stage. Silja Hauksdóttir’s second film, Agnes Joy, follows a slowly disintegrating family in the town of Akranes, just across the bay from Reykjavik – a place from which the light of the big city can be seen by night but where nothing ever seems to happen. The titular Agnes (Donna Cruz) is a frustrated teenager waiting for life to begin. Her mother Rannveig (Katla M Þorgeirsdóttir) is bored with her marriage, unhappy at work and increasingly wondering where she went wrong. When handsome TV actor Hreinn ((Björn Hlynur Haraldsson) moves in next door, both women find themselves distracted by him, and it’s clear that trouble is on the way.
This family drama, which we caught earlier this year at the Glasgow Film Festival,...
It’s a small town story now elevated to a very big stage. Silja Hauksdóttir’s second film, Agnes Joy, follows a slowly disintegrating family in the town of Akranes, just across the bay from Reykjavik – a place from which the light of the big city can be seen by night but where nothing ever seems to happen. The titular Agnes (Donna Cruz) is a frustrated teenager waiting for life to begin. Her mother Rannveig (Katla M Þorgeirsdóttir) is bored with her marriage, unhappy at work and increasingly wondering where she went wrong. When handsome TV actor Hreinn ((Björn Hlynur Haraldsson) moves in next door, both women find themselves distracted by him, and it’s clear that trouble is on the way.
This family drama, which we caught earlier this year at the Glasgow Film Festival,...
- 12/20/2020
- by Jennie Kermode
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
"You must remember to nourish yourself." Vintage Pictures has released an official trailer for the Icelandic film Agnes Joy, which originally premiered last year and also opened in Iceland last year. After playing at a few other film festivals this year, Iceland has submitted Silja Hauksdóttir's Agnes Joy as their selection for the Best International Film category at the 2020 Academy Awards. The contemporary relationship drama focuses on an Icelandic family, and a disintegrating marriage, starring Katla M. Þorgeirsdóttir. She is worried her daughter, Agnes, will grow up and leave her behind, until a new man moves in next door. Also starring Donna Cruz as the titular Agnes, with Þorsteinn Bachmann, Björn Hlynur Haraldsson, Kristinn Óli Haraldsson, & Anna Kristín Arngrímsdóttir. It's always hard to get a sense of Icelandic films from their trailers, but I am certainly curious about this and the complex family dynamics it explores. Here's the official...
- 12/11/2020
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Bookmark this page for all the latest international feature submissions.
Submissions for the best international feature film award at the 2021 Academy Awards have started to come in, and Screen is keeping a running list of each film below.
Scroll down for the full list
The 93rd Academy Awards is set to take place on April 25, 2021. It was originally set to be held on February 28, before both the ceremony and eligibility period were postponed for two months due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Submitted films must have been released in their respective countries between the expanded dates of October 1, 2019, and December 31, 2020. (Last year it was October-September.
Submissions for the best international feature film award at the 2021 Academy Awards have started to come in, and Screen is keeping a running list of each film below.
Scroll down for the full list
The 93rd Academy Awards is set to take place on April 25, 2021. It was originally set to be held on February 28, before both the ceremony and eligibility period were postponed for two months due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Submitted films must have been released in their respective countries between the expanded dates of October 1, 2019, and December 31, 2020. (Last year it was October-September.
- 11/26/2020
- by Ben Dalton¬Michael Rosser
- ScreenDaily
This year’s postponed edition saw the triumph of Hlynur Pálmason’s A White, White Day and Silja Hauksdóttir’s Agnes Joy. This year’s Edda Awards recipients have been announced by the Icelandic Film and Television Academy. The Eddas, established in 1999, honour the biggest national film and TV successes of the season, and are the most prominent awards in the local audiovisual industry. The prize-giving ceremony was broadcast by RÚV yesterday evening. The event was set to happen in March, but had to be postponed owing to the health crisis caused by the Covid-19 outbreak. This edition’s two big victors were Silja Hauksdóttir’s Agnes Joy and Hlynur Pálmason’s A White, White Day. Hauksdóttir’s drama revolves around Rannveig, who is experiencing burnout in all aspects of her mundane, suburban life. She’s stuck with a job that she hates and a marriage that is slowly dying,...
Talent from “Trapped” and “Sense8” have joined the cast of the anticipated Icelandic crime series “Sisterhood,” the first project coming out of Sagafilm and Sky Studios’s development and distribution deal.
Leading Icelandic production house Sagafilm enlisted Lilja Nótt Þórarinsdóttir, Jóhanna Friðrika Sæmundsdóttir (“Happily Never After”) and Ilmur Kristjánsdóttir (“Trapped”) to headline the cast of “Sisterhood.”
The crime series, which starts shooting this week, “Sisterhood” follows three women whose are forced to face the horrors of their past after the remains of a 13 year-old girl are discovered 25 years after her mysterious disappearance. “Sisterhood” also centers on Vera, a newly-promoted investigator who is assigned the case, and explores how the three women have gone through their lives carrying the heavy burden of guilt which has marked them all in different ways since their teenage years.
Created by by Sagafilm’s head of development Jóhann Ævar Grímsson (“Stella Blómkvist”), the six-part series...
Leading Icelandic production house Sagafilm enlisted Lilja Nótt Þórarinsdóttir, Jóhanna Friðrika Sæmundsdóttir (“Happily Never After”) and Ilmur Kristjánsdóttir (“Trapped”) to headline the cast of “Sisterhood.”
The crime series, which starts shooting this week, “Sisterhood” follows three women whose are forced to face the horrors of their past after the remains of a 13 year-old girl are discovered 25 years after her mysterious disappearance. “Sisterhood” also centers on Vera, a newly-promoted investigator who is assigned the case, and explores how the three women have gone through their lives carrying the heavy burden of guilt which has marked them all in different ways since their teenage years.
Created by by Sagafilm’s head of development Jóhann Ævar Grímsson (“Stella Blómkvist”), the six-part series...
- 6/10/2020
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
GÖTEBORG, Sweden — Established Nordic prodco Sagafilm is producing Icelandic crime series “Sisterhood,” in association with Sky Studios, for commissioners Nent Group’s Nordic streamer Viaplay and Iceland’s Ott service Síminn.
The six-part series will premiere simultaneously on Viaplay and Síminn in 2021, with the latter retaining domestic first window rights. NBCUniversal Global Distribution handles international sales.
“Sisterhood” is the first project to originate from a multi-year development and distribution deal inked by Sagafilm and U.K.-based Sky Studios last fall. Sagafilm’s head of development Jóhann Ævar Grímsson is its creator/writer, with Björg Magnúsdóttir (“The Minister”) as co-writer. Silja Hauksdóttir (“Agnes Joy”) will direct all episodes.
“Sisterhood” begins with the skeletal remains of a young girl, Hanna, who disappeared 20 years ago, being unearthed in a picturesque fjord town in Iceland. Vera, a newly-promoted investigator is assigned to the case and delves deeper into it than anyone expects. Her...
The six-part series will premiere simultaneously on Viaplay and Síminn in 2021, with the latter retaining domestic first window rights. NBCUniversal Global Distribution handles international sales.
“Sisterhood” is the first project to originate from a multi-year development and distribution deal inked by Sagafilm and U.K.-based Sky Studios last fall. Sagafilm’s head of development Jóhann Ævar Grímsson is its creator/writer, with Björg Magnúsdóttir (“The Minister”) as co-writer. Silja Hauksdóttir (“Agnes Joy”) will direct all episodes.
“Sisterhood” begins with the skeletal remains of a young girl, Hanna, who disappeared 20 years ago, being unearthed in a picturesque fjord town in Iceland. Vera, a newly-promoted investigator is assigned to the case and delves deeper into it than anyone expects. Her...
- 1/29/2020
- by Annika Pham
- Variety Film + TV
The 25th New Nordic Films, unspooling Aug. 20-23 parallel to the Norwegian International Film Festival in Haugesund, will kick off with the critically-lauded “A White, White Day” by Hlynur Pálmason. The Icelandic drama which world premiered at Cannes’ Critics’ Week, is among 19 films set to screen, of which 13 are world market premieres such as Jesper W. Nielsen’s thriller “The Exception,” Venice Critics Week’s pick “Psychosia,”, Venice Days’ entry “Beware of Children”, Jens Jonsson’s “The Spy” and Jesper Ganslandt’s “438 Days”.
The hot Works in Progress session has 20 titles to be pitched to more than 300 attendees. Gauging this year’s crop, New Nordic Films’ managing director Gyda Velvin Myklebust underlines the large number of local films, genre-driven and reality-based stories, as well as the healthy gender balance -half the films are female directed. “There are many new female talents to watch out for,” says Myklebust, citing the...
The hot Works in Progress session has 20 titles to be pitched to more than 300 attendees. Gauging this year’s crop, New Nordic Films’ managing director Gyda Velvin Myklebust underlines the large number of local films, genre-driven and reality-based stories, as well as the healthy gender balance -half the films are female directed. “There are many new female talents to watch out for,” says Myklebust, citing the...
- 8/13/2019
- by Annika Pham
- Variety Film + TV
Works-in-progress section featured a slew of English-language films.
The first footage from the English-language drama End Of Sentence, starring John Hawkes was unveiled during the works- in- progress presentations at Iceland’s Stockfish film festival in Reykjavik last week.
Us actor Hawkes, who was nominated for a best supporting actor Oscar for Winter’s Bone in 2011, stars as a man trying to fulfill his late wife’s last wish, to go on a road trip with his son, played by Logan Lerman, to scatter her ashes in rural Ireland. The cast also includes Sarah Bolger, Andrea Irvine and Trapped’s Olafur Darri Olafsson.
The first footage from the English-language drama End Of Sentence, starring John Hawkes was unveiled during the works- in- progress presentations at Iceland’s Stockfish film festival in Reykjavik last week.
Us actor Hawkes, who was nominated for a best supporting actor Oscar for Winter’s Bone in 2011, stars as a man trying to fulfill his late wife’s last wish, to go on a road trip with his son, played by Logan Lerman, to scatter her ashes in rural Ireland. The cast also includes Sarah Bolger, Andrea Irvine and Trapped’s Olafur Darri Olafsson.
- 3/11/2019
- by Wendy Mitchell
- ScreenDaily
’Agnes Joy’ is Silja Hauksdóttir’s second film.
Silja Hauksdóttir’s mother-daughter drama Agnes Joy (working title), produced by Birgitta Björnsdóttir at Vintage Pictures, has started shooting in Iceland. Screen exclusively reveals the first photo here.
Hauksdóttir wrote the script with Rannveig Jónsdóttir, who also produces, and Jóhanna Friðrika Sæmundsdóttir.
The film is being co-produced by Mikael Torfason and Guðbjörg Sigurðardóttir and is backed byThe Icelandic Film Centre, distributor Sena, broadcaster Ruv and a private equity investor.
The cast features Katla Margrét Þorgeirsdottir, Þorsteinn Bachmann, Donna Cruz, Björn Hlynur Haraldsson and Kristinn Óli Haraldsson.
The comedy drama is about a...
Silja Hauksdóttir’s mother-daughter drama Agnes Joy (working title), produced by Birgitta Björnsdóttir at Vintage Pictures, has started shooting in Iceland. Screen exclusively reveals the first photo here.
Hauksdóttir wrote the script with Rannveig Jónsdóttir, who also produces, and Jóhanna Friðrika Sæmundsdóttir.
The film is being co-produced by Mikael Torfason and Guðbjörg Sigurðardóttir and is backed byThe Icelandic Film Centre, distributor Sena, broadcaster Ruv and a private equity investor.
The cast features Katla Margrét Þorgeirsdottir, Þorsteinn Bachmann, Donna Cruz, Björn Hlynur Haraldsson and Kristinn Óli Haraldsson.
The comedy drama is about a...
- 11/8/2018
- by Wendy Mitchell
- ScreenDaily
’Agnes Joy’ is Silja Hauksdóttir’s second film.
Silja Hauksdóttir’s mother-daughter drama Agnes Joy (working title), produced by Birgitta Björnsdóttir at Vintage Pictures, has started shooting in Iceland. Screen exclusively reveals the first photo here.
Hauksdóttir wrote the script with Rannveig Jónsdóttir, who also produces, and Jóhanna Friðrika Sæmundsdóttir.
The film is being co-produced by Mikael Torfason and Guðbjörg Sigurðardóttir and is backed byThe Icelandic Film Centre, distributor Sena, broadcaster Ruv and a private equity investor.
The cast features Katla Margrét Þorgeirsdottir, Þorsteinn Bachmann, Donna Cruz, Björn Hlynur Haraldsson and Kristinn Óli Haraldsson.
The comedy drama is about a...
Silja Hauksdóttir’s mother-daughter drama Agnes Joy (working title), produced by Birgitta Björnsdóttir at Vintage Pictures, has started shooting in Iceland. Screen exclusively reveals the first photo here.
Hauksdóttir wrote the script with Rannveig Jónsdóttir, who also produces, and Jóhanna Friðrika Sæmundsdóttir.
The film is being co-produced by Mikael Torfason and Guðbjörg Sigurðardóttir and is backed byThe Icelandic Film Centre, distributor Sena, broadcaster Ruv and a private equity investor.
The cast features Katla Margrét Þorgeirsdottir, Þorsteinn Bachmann, Donna Cruz, Björn Hlynur Haraldsson and Kristinn Óli Haraldsson.
The comedy drama is about a...
- 11/8/2018
- by Wendy Mitchell
- ScreenDaily
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