Two Little Nightmares, directed by Oscar-nominated Croatian director Nebojša Sljepčević (The Man Who Couldn’t Stay Silent), and Centian, by renowned Palestinian screenwriter Suha Araf (Villa Touma), are among the six films selected for the second competition of the Nordic Gateway program.
The initiative will take place within the Nordic Film Market at the Gothenburg Film Festival, Scandinavia’s largest film department store, which will be held from January 28th to 30th.
Launched last year, the program focuses on high-potential projects from well-known directors and production companies to foster co-production and financing possibilities. The competitive showcase, Nordic Gateway, will award the winner a €35,000 ($40,600) Tinto Postproduction Prize. This year’s projects come from Palestine, Germany, Croatia, Belgium and the UK.
Josef Klengaard, head of industry at the Gothenburg Film Festival, said in an interview with Variety that the Nordic Gateway initiative was designed as a way to preserve the original roots of the Nordic film market, which was born out of the need for “a platform that could bring Nordic films to the world.”
“Nordic Gateway aims to find projects that seem suitable for co-production with the Nordics, but we also tick other criteria,” he added. “The variety (this year) is also very interesting. I’m very happy with the breadth of projects.”
Projects selected for Gateway were hand-picked by an industry team, rather than selected through an open call. Some entries are also collaborations with key partners, such as this year’s German production “Element” selected in collaboration with the European Association of Audiovisual Entrepreneurs (EAVE), “Two Little Nightmares” in partnership with Cinelink, and “Euro Pop Bubble” with Midpoint.
“Chentian” (Courtesy of Gothenburg Film Festival)
AFP
Below you will find profiles of the six projects selected for this year’s Nordic Gateway.
Director of “Chentian”. Suha Araf (Palestine)
Araf is a screenwriter behind festival hits such as “The Syrian Bride” and “The Lemon Tree.” His 2014 directorial debut “Villa Touma” was staged in Venice. Produced by leading Palestinian producer May Odeh (Aisha Can’t Fly Away, Useful Ghosts), Chentian, fresh out of Marrakech’s prestigious Atlas Workshop, follows two sisters-in-law, Nabila and Sham, as they tell a story about women, marriage, and desire under occupation. As the men disappear, the women must confront betrayal, power, and survival. A co-production between Palestine’s Ode Films and Germany’s Mayana Films.
Director of “Europop Bubble”. Grant Gluczynski (UK)
Gurczynski’s films have been screened at major film festivals such as CPH:DOX and Sarajevo, and the filmmaker has previously been selected for the Berlin Talent Campus and the Midpoint Institute. In “Euro Pop Bubble”, British musician Fred spends a lonely Christmas following the death of his boyfriend. Fred’s grief is quickly complicated by jealousy and ambition when he decides to follow his late partner’s dreams from his lonely bedroom in Berlin to the grand stage of Stockholm, all the way to the finale of a Europop contest. Produced by Crystal Compass.
Director of “Arrows on Dance.” Peter Van His (Belgium)
Set in Brussels, the film follows Zoe and Ota, two young dancers from different worlds who are unexpectedly paired together during a casting call. What begins as a messy mess of clashing egos eventually blurs into love in what is described as an “energetic, youthful, romantic dance film.” Director and screenwriter Van His has previously directed provocative genre films such as “The Left Bank” and “Wasteland,” as well as working on television projects such as “Versailles” and “Undercover.” Producer Roxanne Sarkozy told Variety that “Arrows on Dance” “feels like a fresh echo of Peter Van His’s earlier work: the same keen eye for relationships, but with a younger, brighter glow.” Produced by De Vereldfrede.
Director of “Element.” Mariko Minoguchi (Germany)
This German science fiction work is set just after a sea earthquake begins to deplete the world’s water resources. In order to save humanity, a geophysicist suffering from early-onset Alzheimer’s disease is recruited to investigate a vast expanse swallowing up the ocean. Sent to a remote location, she must uncover the truth before it’s too late. Element is Minoguchi’s second directorial effort, following 2018’s Relativity, which won the German Film Critics Award for Best Debut Film and Best Original Screenplay. Minoguchi also co-wrote “The Colony,” which premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival and reached No. 1 on the U.S. Netflix charts. Producer Giorgo Narges describes Element as “ambitious, high-concept science fiction that speaks to a global audience.” Produced by X Filme Creative Pool (“White Ribbon”, “Berlin Babylon”).
Director of “Our Sister Angela”. Jascha Hannover and Katharina Warda (Germany)
Berlin-based author, speaker, and filmmaker Katharina Warda and The Book He Didn’t Burn director Jascha Hanover join forces to tell the story of East Germany, black American civil rights activist Angela Davis’s passionate solidarity movement in East Germany in the early 1970s. It was produced by Germany’s Florianfilm in collaboration with Britain’s Der Pictures and US-based La Rutta. Warda said in an interview with Variety that the film will be told “from the perspective of black East Germans, a community that is largely invisible both in Germany and internationally.”
Director of “Two Little Nightmares”. Nebojša Sljepcevic (Croatia)
Slijepcevic’s 2024 short film The Man Who Couldn’t Stay Silent won the Cannes Film Festival Palme d’Or and the European Film Award for Best Short Film, and was nominated for an Oscar in the same category. “Two Little Nightmares” is the story of seven-year-old Matija. Matija is inexplicably connected to a series of suicides in the small village where he grew up, including that of his father. Years later, the playwright uses his practice and long-buried memories to process his troubled past. Antitalent, a co-production of Contrast Films, Les Films Norfolk, Studio Virc and Sense Production.
Annika Pham contributed to this work.
