01/08/2025 - The crime drama centres on a competitive rider whose prized stallion is discovered dead under suspicious circumstances on the morning of the national championships’ final

Public broadcasters RÚV in Iceland and Germany’s ZDF have jointly commissioned Death of a Horse, a gripping, new crime drama series set against the unique backdrop of competitive Icelandic horse sport. The show will be distributed internationally by Wild Sheep Content, led by Erik Barmack.

Produced by Icelandic firm ACT4 alongside Windlight Pictures (the German production arm of ITV Studios) Death of a Horse marks RÚV’s inaugural contribution to the New8 initiative — a collaboration between RÚV, ZDF, and fellow public broadcasters DR, SVT, NRK, YLE, NPO and VRT.

The story of Death of a Horse centres around a competitive rider whose prized stallion is found to have died under suspicious circumstances on the morning of the national horse championship’s final. Frustrated by local authorities’ refusal to investigate, she embarks on a perilous quest that unveils the shadowy and powerful world of Iceland’s elite horse breeders.

The series was created by ACT4 CEO Jónas Margeir Ingólfsson (Thin Ice, Reykjavik Fusion) and head of development Birkir Blær Ingólfsson (Reykjavik Fusion, The Minister), who co-wrote the scripts with Judith Angerbauer (Das Boot, Bauhaus – a New Era).

Direction is entrusted to Óskar Þór Axelsson (Operation Napoleon, Trapped), Álfheiður Marta Kjartansdóttir (Black Sands, Vinátta) and Hafsteinn Gunnar Sigurðsson (best known for his Toronto-selected Either Way [+see also:
trailer
interview: Hafstein Gunnar Sigurdsson
interview: Hilmar Gudjônsson - Shootin…
film profile], his Karlovy Vary entry Paris of the North [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], his Venice Orizzonti selection Under the Tree [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Hafsteinn Gunnar Sigurðsson
film profile] and his recent starry comedy Northern Comfort [+see also:
trailer
film profile]).

The cast is led by Ásthildur Úa Sigurðardóttir, supported by Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson (Game of Thrones), Lára Jóhanna Jónsdóttir (Black Sands), Eysteinn Sigurðsson (The Last Kingdom), Marlina Mitterhofer (The Fox) and Gabrielle Scharnitzky (Those About to Die).

Death of a Horse is being produced by Jónas Margeir Ingólfsson, Birkir Blær Ingólfsson, ACT4’s Ólafur Darri Ólafsson, Hörður Rúnarsson, and Milla Ósk Magnúsdóttir, alongside Windlight Pictures’ Moritz Polter, Cosima Degler, Andreas Kohl, and Tanja Piller.

The release date for the series is yet to be confirmed.