20/01/2026 - In the Zentropa-produced feature being sold by TrustNordisk, the helmer turns to the conflicted life and ambitions of the Danish writer

TrustNordisk has boarded the world rights of My Fairytale Life (working title), the next feature by Danish director Nikolaj Arcel, with the project set to be introduced to international buyers ahead of Berlin’s European Film Market (12-18 February).

Staged by Zentropa, the film will offer an epic and revisionist portrait of world-famous author Hans Christian Andersen, exploring the tension between his global legacy as a fairy-tale writer and his deeply conflicted private life. Arcel reunites with long-time collaborator Anders Thomas Jensen (The Last Viking [+see also:
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interview: Anders Thomas Jensen
film profile], Riders of Justice [+see also:
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interview: Anders Thomas Jensen
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film profile].

The official synopsis reads as follows: “Hans Christian Andersen, a socially awkward nobody, moves to Copenhagen dreaming of conquering Denmark’s cultural elite and becoming a celebrated artist. Thrown into a colourful yet merciless world of actors, playwrights and snobbish benefactors, Christian fights fiercely for the recognition and love he so desperately craves. But his own delusions of grandeur may prove his greatest weakness – especially as the last thing he wants is to be known as a children’s fairy-tale writer.”

According to Arcel, the film will focus on Andersen as a “troubled genius”, driven by a desperate need for recognition and acceptance. “Through the magic of his fairy tales, Hans Christian Andersen inspired children all over the world, freeing their imaginations and teaching them to be themselves,” the director commented. “But, in yearning for recognition and wanting desperately to be seen as ‘normal’, he lived in constant fear of showing the world who he truly was.” Arcel added that the pursuit of both material and spiritual happiness — a recurring theme in his filmography — made Andersen’s life “a funny, poignant and deeply contemporary true story”.

Susan Wendt, managing director of TrustNordisk, said the company was “very much looking forward to working with Nikolaj again”, and to presenting “a unique and fresh take on the early years of our beloved writer Hans Christian Andersen”.

My Fairytale Life marks Arcel’s seventh feature as a director. Since his debut with King’s Game more than two decades ago, he has established himself as one of Denmark’s most internationally recognised filmmakers. A Royal Affair [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Mikkel Boe Følsgaard
interview: Nikolaj Arcel
film profile] premiered at Berlin in 2012, where it won the Silver Bears for Best Actor and Best Screenplay, before going on to receive an Academy Award nomination. His most recent film, The Promised Land (2023), starring Mads Mikkelsen in the leading role and premiered at Venice, collected three prizes at the European Film Awards and was shortlisted for the 96th Academy Awards.

The pic is currently in financing, with casting under way. Principal photography is expected to start in late 2026. Budgeted at €10.5 million, My Fairytale Life is being produced by Louise Vesth and Tine Mikkelsen for Zentropa in co-production with Zentropa Berlin, with support from the Danish Film Institute (Market Scheme) and FilmFyn, in co-operation with TV2, Nordisk Film Distribution and Plaion Pictures.

The project is co-funded by the European Union. Nordisk Film Distribution will handle its domestic distribution. It is slated for release in 2027.