25/09/2024 - We take an in-depth look at eight of the non-fiction projects that were pitched recently at the Malmö-based gathering

One of the most prominent showcases for European projects in development and in production, this year’s Forum for the Co-financing of Documentaries at Nordisk Panorama unspooled from 22-24 September. Cineuropa takes a closer look at eight of the projects pitched at the gathering.

A Face to Be Loved – Angelica Ruffier (Sweden)
Morières les Avignon, France. While emptying her childhood home after her estranged father’s death, the director recalls a fierce and solitary love she had as a teenager for her history teacher, Miss S. And as her list of duties never seems to diminish, an intense desire grows in Angelica: to meet her again. This is the synopsis of the feature being produced by Marta Dauliūtė and Brynhildur Þórarinsdóttir for Stockholm-based MDEMC.

“We’re thrilled to share that the project has gained a letter of commitment for production support from the Swedish Film Institute. With over 50% of the budget now secured, we are heading into our final, extensive shooting period this autumn and are aiming for a rough cut at the beginning of 2025,” the team reveals.

But I’m No Influencer – Jussi Sandhu (Finland)
Mark, a businessman from the Philippines, travels to Finland and begins studying at the Influencer’s Academy, the world’s first-ever higher-education programme for social media. Through Mark’s story, the documentary feature explores the questions of education export and social media – a powerful force that reshapes not only personal lives, but also global dynamics.

Countries, like individuals, craft idealised images online, blurring the lines between truth and perception in a rapidly changing world. What should we all really learn about influencing? The feature, budgeted at €300,000, is being produced by Pasi Hakkio for Tampere-based Wacky Tie Films.

Letters to My Creator - Alex Shiriaieff (Sweden/Latvia)
Inna is a young woman living in late-1960s Soviet Russia. She can no longer repress her inner imperative to free herself from the alien body she has felt trapped in. She travels to Riga, where a famous surgeon decides to undertake an unprecedented series of operations to change her sex and help “correct nature’s mistake” by creating Inokenty in Inna’s place. The film zooms in on the main stages of Inna’s transformation: the journey to Riga, the surgeon’s doubts, the “femininity tests” and the surgery. The narrator of the feature is Inokenty himself, who has reached a respectable age and, sensing the approach of death, turns to his “creator” for support in the last of his life’s transformations.

The doc is budgeted at €308,000 and has received backing from the National Film Centre of Latvia. Shiriaieff co-wrote it with Rita Ruduša and co-directed it with Ivo Briedis. Key creatives include DoP Valdis Celmiņš and set designer Jurģis Krāsons. Shiriaieff is producing for Sweden’s Grumant Productions together with Uldis Cekulis, of Latvia’s VFS Films.

Fear Fokol - Tuva Björk (Sweden)
There are over 550,000 active private security guards in South Africa, much more than the number of police and soldiers combined. Fear Fokol takes a nightly ride into the fears and anxieties of Johannesburg’s prosperous inhabitants by following the work of the private security guards hired to protect them. The illusion of security slowly dissolves as we dig into a fragile climate of inequality, paranoia and masculinity in crisis.

The short, budgeted at €88,000, is being produced by Dennis Harvey, Melissa Lindgren and Tobias Janson for Story AB, and should be ready by the end of this year.

The Iran Deal – Karen Stokkendal Poulsens (Denmark)
This “political drama” documentary feature promises to be “a thrilling and mind-blowing look into the decade-long, complicated negotiation that culminated in a final marathon negotiation in Vienna, where its participants, including Iranian Foreign Affairs Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and US Foreign Affairs Minister John Kerry, spent a full 17 days under the leadership of Federica Mogherini.”

The film features “cinematically strong interviews, visual reconstructions and scenes reviving the moments through notebooks and on-site revisits from those hectic days”, reveals producer Vibeke Vogel, of Bullitt Films. “We’d like to co-produce it with a European – either French or German – and Nordic company. We hope to get solid interest from broadcasters and funds attending the Forum, and we’ve got a long list of meetings that we look forward to! We expect to release it in early 2026,” she adds.

Violence of the Lonely Heart - Terese Mörnvik, Caroline Troedsson (Sweden)
“Violence of the Lonely Heart is a journey down the rabbit hole of men who live as involuntary celibates, also known as incels. They are men who normally hide in the dark corners of the internet and only communicate in closed forums. But in our film, you get to meet them.” This is the intriguing premise of this new feature, produced by Ove Rishøj Jensen for Auto Images.

“We plan to shoot most of the project in early 2025, do the editing and post-production in the second half of 2025, and aim for a release in the first half of 2026,” the team says.

Lights – Gunnar Hall Jensen (Norway/Finland/Sweden)
In this feature, we meet an eclectic group of people in the remote Norwegian valley of Hessdalen. In their own, different ways, they are influenced, mesmerised and shaped by the mysterious light phenomena in the sky above them. Both belief and disbelief come together in a community bound by circumstance, encompassing those who are born and raised in the valley, and those who visit time and again, eager to witness the phenomena.

Syndicado is in charge of the world sales, whilst Tour de Force is handling the Norwegian distribution. The project is a co-production between UpNorth Film, Napafilms and Auto Images. Some of its backers include the Norwegian Film Institute, Fritt Ord, Filminvest and HBO.

Orsoq – Inuk Silis Høegh (Greenland)
In this feature, budgeted at €570,000 and now in late development, the acclaimed Greenlandic filmmaker and visual artist examines the modern human being’s – and his own – desire to escape the hectic life and find peace far away from the busy cities.

The project is being backed by the Danish Film Institute. Emmy Award winner Per K Kirkegaard is attached as the editor. In Malmö, the team is seeking sales agents, distributors, broadcasters, funds and investors. Emile Hertling Péronard is producing for Ánorâk Film.

The team aims to enter production in January 2025, with delivery in early 2027.