17/06/2013 - Besides a film club and a magazine, the UK distributor launches the first Nordic Noir expo with a programme of 12 films and discussions on Arne Dahl, The Killing and Borgen

While Danish pubcaster DR collected another two awards for its television programmes – Borgen III (photo) was named Best European Drama TV Series, Sofie Gråbøl Outstanding Actress for The Killing III, both to receive Golden Nymphs at the Monte Carlo Television Festival (on June 13), UK distributor Arrow Film celebrated Scandinavian crime, thriller fiction and film at the first Nordicana at the Farmiloe Building in Clerkenwell.

Besides instigating the Nordic Noir film club and magazine, Arrow has since acquired Scandinavian television fare for its Nordic Noir DVD label, including Denmark’s The Killing I, II soon III, Borgen I, II, III, Sweden’s Wallander films (x 30) from Henning Mankell’s books, Van Veeteren films from Håkon Nesser’s books, soon to include Sebastian Bergman, a new series starring Swedish actor Rolf Lassgård.

Organised last weekend (June 15-16) with Scandinavian food and drink, to Scandinavian music, with Nordic Noir merchandising – also Gråbøl’s Faroese jumper from The Killing – Nordicana screened the final episode of Arne Dahl, the latest installment in BBC4’s foreign crime series from Swedish writer Jan Arnald. Author and cast (Malin Arvidsson, Shanti Roney, Matias Varela, Magnus Samuelsson, Claes Ljungmark) joined the following on-stage Q&A.

Among the 12 films on show was an episode of Borgen, and Dramatising Politics was discussed by, ao, its creator and main writer Adam Price, director Jesper W Nielsen and former head of DR TV Drama Ingolf Gabold, while lead actress Sidse Babett Knudsen was  on her own for an on-stage interview. The Killing actress Marie Askehave and UK author David Hewson – who has written a book based on the first two seasons – analysed the series.