Anne Bjørnstad: Last News

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.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Netflix has ordered a sequel to “Troll,” the Norwegian action-adventure film directed by Roar Uthaug, who helmed Norway’s first disaster movie, “The Wave.” “Troll 2” reteams Uthaug (“Tomb Raider”) with writer Espen Aukan andproducers Espen Horn and Kristian Strand Sinkerud at Motion Blur, the Oslo-based banner whose credits include “Cadaver,” “Amundsen” and “The 12th Man.” The first installment unfolds in the aftermath of an explosion in the Norwegian mountains, which awakens an ancient troll. The story revolves around a fearless paleontologist who embarks on a journey to stop the troll from wreaking deadly havoc.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Netflix is set to reteam with Anne Bjørnstad and Eilif Skodvin, the creators of the popular crime comedy series “Lilyhammer,” on a new Norwegian program, with the working title “Salmon Island.” The series is set up at leading Norwegian production banner Rubicon and will be helmed by Marit Moum Aune (“Made in Oslo”), who also serves as a conceptual director on the series. “Salmon Island” takes place in a small coastal community in Norway and revolves around two families who are sworn enemies in the global salmon industry. The contemporary series delivers a portrait of the fish farming business, weaving together comedy and drama.

NRK since 2013, will be joining Banijay Nordic’s scripted label Rubicon as its Chief Executive Officer.  Announced by Banijay Nordic on Monday, the appointment marks big news for Scandinavia’s TV sector as it prepares to gather tomorrow at Sweden’s Göteborg Festival for its annual TV Drama Vision confab.Under Kohn’s leadership, NRK emerged from the shadow of Denmarks’s DR (“The Killing,” “The Bridge,” “Borgen”) by producing a string of international hits such as, just recently, International Emmy winner “Atlantic Crossing,” Canneseries 2018 laureate “State of Happiness” and “22 July,” which won a Nordisk Film and TV Fond Prize in 2020.  Most recently for NRK, Izer Aliu’s “Countrymen,” a Rubicon production, picked up a Canneseries award last October for its ensemble cast, plus a nomination for this week’s Nordisk Film and TV Fond Prize. An institution in Norway, Køhn spent six years before joining NRK as the Norwegian Film Institute’s head of development and production.

EXCLUSIVE: Here’s a trailer for the second season of Beforeigners, HBO Max’s debut original from Norway.

Alexander Durie One of the top winners announced on Wednesday night at Canneseries was the Banijay-Rights-sold “Countrymen,” from Norwegian pubcaster NRK in co-production with Rubicon and Arte France.The show took home two awards, one for performance for its whole cast, and a High-School Best Series Prize, voted by students from local lycées.The long-format TV series was co-written by revered Norwegian screenwriter Anne Bjørnstad (“Lilyhammer,” “Beforeigners”) alongside newcomer writer-director Izer Aliu, whose debut film “Hunting Flies” won him an Amanda Award for best director at Haugesund’s Norwegian Intl. Film Festival.

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