24/10/2006

In its latest round of production support, the Swedish Film Institute (SFI) has granted a total of SEK11.5m (€1.2m) to four feature films and three documentaries, including SEK1m to the Danish/Swedish film Erik Nietzsche: The Early Years and SEK500,000 to the French/Swedish Captain Achab.

Jacob Thuesen’s Erik Nietzsche is currently filming in Denmark and is based on scriptwriter Erik Nietzsche’s personal experience at the National Film School of Denmark in the 1970s. The €4.1m film is being produced by Zentropa Entertainments19 (Denmark), in co-production with Memfis Film (Sweden), Dor Film (Austria), SVT Sweden, Film i Väst, Lucky Red and Tju Bang Film, with support from the Danish Film Institute, Austrian Film Institute, SFI, DR Denmark, the Media Programme and Eurimages.

Captain Achab by French filmmaker Philippe Ramos is the first French/Swedish co-production in 20 years. The film, starring Denis Lavant and Mathieu Amalric, is based on the infamous character from Herman Melville’s classic novel Moby Dick. Shooting began on July 17 of this year and took place three weeks in Sweden and another four weeks in France. The film was co-produced by Florence Borelly (Sésame Films) in France and Olivier Guerpillon (DFM Fiktion) in Sweden, with Arte France Cinéma, Film I Väst and support from the CNC and the SFI.

Swedish title Mustafa/Massimo, directed by Mani Maserrat-Agah and written by acclaimed short filmmaker Jens Jonsson, was awarded the biggest grant (SEK5m). The film tells the story of a 16 year-old boy who pretends to be of Italian origin to seduce the local girls. GötaFilm is producing in co-production with Sandrew Metronome and Film I Väst. The delivery date is set for August 2007.

Pirret by Kjell-Åke Andersson (awarded SEK3.4m) is a children’s film produced by Speedfilm Rights 1 AB. The story of a six year-old girl who believes she can fly will start shooting on October 30. Triangle Film will handle domestic distribution.