Annika Pham: Last News

Annika Pham Norwegian director Gunnar Hall Jensen has made a trademark of his playful and quirky self-portraits in which his reflections on life often find a universal echo. His latest film, “Portrait of a Confused Father,” set out to explore his relationship with his son, drawing on footage filmed over 20 years. Three weeks before filming was to have wrapped, he heard that his son had been killed.

Annika Pham Danish filmmaker Janus Metz (“Borg vs McEnroe,” “Armadillo”), most recently attached to Season 2 of “Star Wars” series “Andor,” has his mind and heart fully-immersed these days not in a galaxy far, far away, but in real-life stories of human beings, risking their lives in the Mediterranean, in hope of a better life in Europe. With his observational doc “Rescue,” selected for CPH:DOX’s co-production and co-financing showcase CPH:Forum in Copenhagen, the director has teamed up with his life partner Sine Plambech, a renowned anthropologist, filmmaker and migrant researcher.

Annika Pham 10 years after taking the helm of Yle drama’s department and contributing significantly to Finnish drama’s hike in quality and international reach, Jarmo Lampela continues to broaden his network of international partners. Italy and Canada are the latest countries to be conquered by the visionary Finn who is attending Lille’s Series Mania confab with several projects. “Torna a Surriento” will be Yle’s first co-production with Italian pubcaster RAI.

Annika Pham “The X-Files” executive producer and writer Frank Spotnitz and his London-based Big Light Productions have boarded event Swedish sci-fi “We Come in Peace” as a co-producer, Variety has learned in exclusivity on the eve of London TV Screenings. Spotnitz serves as writing supervisor as well as executive producer, alongside Big Light’s Adrian Banyard. The six-part TV show which just wrapped production in Sweden is repped internationally by Newen Connect, which will unveil clips and creative materials to global buyers at a presentation in London Feb.

Annika Pham “Vigdís,” the four-part biopic about Iceland’s iconic former president Vigdís Finnbogadóttir, widely known as the world’s first democratically elected female head of state, will bow Feb. 17 at the Berlinale Series Market Selects, courtesy of REinvent International. The show – which chronicles Finnbogadóttir’s journey from 1948, when she finished secondary school, up until her presidential election in 1980 – lands in Berlin off the back of a strong national run on pubcaster RÚV, where it premiered on Jan.

Annika Pham Hollywood Icelandic mogul Joni Sighvatsson, producer of David Lynch’s Palme d’Or winner “Wild at Heart” and head of L.A.-based Palomar Entertainment, has partnered the Scandinavian powerhouse The Global Ensemble Drama and South Africa’s Diprente Media for the feature adaptation of Jonas Jonasson’s best-selling book “The Girl Who Saved the King of Sweden.” The majority English-language project in development will be directed by high profile South-African talent Kagiso Lediga from a script by Karabo Lediga, both credited for Netflix’s first African series “Queen Sono.” “The Girl Who Saved the King of Sweden” is the second Jonas Jonasson movie adaptation for Sighvatsson, after the executive produced “The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared” which grossed over $51 million worldwide. Published in 2013 and sold by Albatros Agency to around 30 territories including to Harper Collins for English language countries, “The Girl…” is the empowering story of Nombeko Mayeki, “a young woman from Soweto who finds herself caught in an international whirlwind from South Africa to Sweden,” per the official logline.” “A heroine born in the slums of South Africa, she rises from obscurity to become the key player in an international nuclear conspiracy, accidentally saving the Swedish monarchy and averting global catastrophe with her quick-witted resourcefulness.” Nombeko’s journey is described as “an absurd and heart-warming tale of how one underestimated person can inadvertently save the world from disaster.

Annika Pham ‘You know there’s got to be something better,” sang the iconic Marianne Faithful. Similarly Göteborg market’s co-heads Cia Edström and Josef Kullengård were determined to bring “good energy and hope” to their 2,000-plus guests – and not only as DJs of the closing Nordic Film Market gig.

Annika Pham “Honeytrap” will be like a skewed, tilted version of the more romantic films I’ve done before,” said the multi-awarded Danish writer-director Lone Scherfig to a packed audience of industry delegates Jan. 30, at the opening session of Göteborg’s Nordic Film Market Discovery program. In an express on-stage interview, the triple Oscar-nominated helmer of “An Education,” said “Honeytrap” will be her first ever Swedish project, based on a script by Pelle Rådström, credited for Netflix’s “Black Crab” and the Swedish show “Pressure Point” which just picked up the Nordic Series Script Award in Göteborg.

Annika Pham Norwegian actor turned TV writer-director Henriette Steenstrup says she “adooores” “Ted Lasso,” and it’s easy to see why. Her first gig as showrunner “Pørni,” the Viaplay comedy hit, recommissioned by Netflix for Seasons 4-5, displays similar qualities: a rare ability to mix comedy with heart-warming drama, without shying away from serious issues.

Annika Pham “Honour of Persia,” the directorial debut of Cannes best actress winner Zar Amir Ebrahimi (“Holy Spider”), is one of five features at financing stage to be pitched at the Göteborg Film Festival’s first-ever Nordic Gateway curated program. The five international titles – hailing from Germany, Macedonia, Canada and Kosovo – will vie for the Tint Post-Production Award worth SEK 400,000 ($36,500) to be handed out Jan. 30, 2025 during the Göteborg fest industry sidebar Nordic Film Market running Jan.

Annika Pham TALLINN, Estonia — Industry @ Tallinn & Baltic Event, one of the leading industry events in Northern Europe, closed Nov. 22 with an awards ceremony where the focus country Germany dominated the list of 15 winning projects at various stages of development or post-production, on top of two accolades to promising producers.

Annika Pham “This film is important, but the most important [thing] for us right now is to bring the hostages back home and for the Israel-Middle East conflict to stop as fast as possible,” says Nir Bergman, one of Israel’s most esteemed filmmakers, in a conversation with Variety about his Tallinn competition entry “Pink Lady.” Bergman, whose credits include the multi-awarded pics “Broken Wings,” Cannes selected “Here We Are” as well as the original Israeli series “BeTipul,” later turned into HBO’s “In Treatment,” has peaceful messages of tolerance and acceptance in many of his works. His latest drama, “Pink Lady,” running in the official selection of Tallinn’s Black Nights Film Festival, tackles the topic of hidden sexual desires and homosexuality in an ultra-Orthodox community in Jerusalem.

Annika Pham Tiina Lokk, the founder and managing director of the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (known as PÖFF), one of the largest festivals in Northern Europe, has put together with her team of 15 programmers, another strong and varied harvest for the fest’s 28th edition unspooling Nov. 8-23 in the Estonian capital.

Annika Pham DR Sales, the international sales arm of Danish pubcaster DR, is launching at Mipcom in Cannes DR Drama’s latest event series “Generations,” mixing crime, mystery and family secrets. Making her debut in long-form serialised drama is Anna Emma Haudal, behind DR3’s hit youth series “Doggystyle” for which she won a national Robert Award for best short series in 2019.

Annika Pham “In 2007 I watched the “X Files” on YouTube. That changed my consumer experience!” said analyst firm Ampere Analysis’s Research Manager Olivia Deane, invited to discuss audience’s shift in the last 20 years, structural adaptations and new business models in kids’ content at MipJunior’s opening session Oct.

Annika Pham Norway’s heavyweight producer Thomas Robsahm, credited for more than 50 films, including Joachim Trier’s double Oscar-nominated “The Worst Person in the World,” is gearing up for his busiest film slate ever. After the delivery of Lilja Ingolfsdotttir’s Karlovy Vary’s multiple-winner “Loveable” and Yenni Lee’s “Explosions in My Heart,” which both screened at the New Nordic Films market in Haugesund, Robsahm is gearing up for four film shoots. First up is “Dancing Queen in Hollywood,” Aurora Gossé’s sequel to her 2023 family hit “Dancing Queen,” which snagged multiple awards in 2023, including best children’s film in Zurich, Seattle, and distribution deals in more than 30 territories.

Annika Pham “The Killing” series and “Margrete – Queen of the North” helmer Charlotte Sieling has shared exclusive access to the trailer of her fourth feature, “Way Home,” with Variety. The film will open Haugesund’s market, New Nordic Films, on Aug. 20.

Annika Pham Swedish writer-director Daniel Sawka, whose debut feature “Icebox” was produced by Hollywood’s legendary James L. Brooks, snatching more than 4 million unique views on HBO, will be pitching his sophomore pic “Two People Who Fall in Love” at the Nordic Co-Production showcase in Haugesund, Norway, Variety has learned in exclusivity.The upcoming romcom, made in Swedish, is being produced by the Newen Group’s banner and talents incubator Anagram Sweden, credited for Disney+’s first Nordic original “To Cook a Bear” and the Venice Critics Week winner “East, Sleep, Die.” Penned by Sawka, “Two People Who Fall in Love” is “a romantic dramedy about a young couple on the autism spectrum who try to answer life’s most difficult question: What the hell do you do when you fall in love,” states the logline.

Annika Pham Lois Patiño, one of the leading lights of the New Galician Cinema in Spain, is putting the final touches to “Ariel,” the highly anticipated follow up to his critically-acclaimed feature ”Samsara” which has secured distribution in more than a dozen territories and won a Special Jury Prize at the Berlinale Encounters 2023. A contemporary and playful reinterpretation of Shakespeare’s “The Tempest” from the perspective of the character Ariel, the feature, produced by Spain’s Filmika Galaika with Portugal’s Bando à Parte, will be sneak-peeked for the first time ever at the inaugural ECAM Forum co-production market, set to run June 10-14 in Madrid.

Annika Pham Back in Cannes a year after presiding over the main Cannes jury, the two-time Palme d’or winner Ruben Öslund unveiled more details about his next mega-project, English-language “The Entertainment is Down,” which he said should be ready for Cannes 2026. The press conference, attended by the hottest talent and producers from the Nordic region and beyond, was hosted by Film i Väst, one of Europe’s largest regional film funds.

Annika Pham Maverick Icelandic scribe Sjón, Oscar-nominated for the lyrics of Lars von Trier’s “Dancer in the Dark” and co-writer of the eerie Cannes Un Certain Regard title “Lamb,” has teamed up with multi-awarded Swedish-Costa-Rican Nathalie Álvarez-Mesén (“Clara Sola”) on her sophomore feature “The Wolf Will Tear Your Immaculate Hands,”, Variety has learned. The English-language gothic period drama is backed by Hobab’s Nima Yousefi, Swedish co-producer on this year’s Cannes competition entry “The Apprentice” and Critics’ Week’s “Julie Keeps Quiet”.