“A real heavy burden, this pitching can be – all the way up to five seconds before you go on stage. And then, suddenly, it becomes a wonderful reward, at least if you have a story that you believe in. After that, you just look forward to all of the questions that may be thrown at you by the decision makers. In my case, those questions have more often than not been very inspiring.”

Atchy Konesh is an alumnus of the script programme at the Norwegian Film School, having graduated in 2024. Right away, he made a mark at the Nordic Talents presentation at the Danish Film School last September, when he first pitched his story for Jordan and received the NOK 50,000 (roughly €4,300) Special Mention from the Nordisk Film & TV Fond. In January, he was in Gothenburg as part of the NORD pan-Nordic project, dedicated to the “storytellers of tomorrow” from the different Nordic film schools. Yesterday, he appeared at the m:brane co-financing forum for youth content in Malmö, where he intrigued the jury enough to convince them to grant him the “Noble Art of Pitching” Award for his inspired presentation, again of the Jordan project.

“Atchy Konesh gave an outstanding pitch of Jordan, starting with a black screen and only dialogue, before pulling us in and leaving us longing for more. With absolute confidence, he presented a story that was both personal and political, without lecturing us. Atchy personifies participation instead of just representation. He’s a worthy winner of the prize,” read the motivation of the jury, consisting of Swedish producer-director Håkan Bjerking, Danish writer-director and film commissioner Tone Mygind Rostbøll, and m:brane youth expert Filippa Krisby. The award, constituting a cherished m:brane tradition, comes with an intensive preparation course, courtesy of seasoned Danish producer and expert pitcher Thomas Borch Nielsen, and a cash prize of €2,500.

Jordan, envisioned as a series (“There's far too much nuance here for just a 100-minute feature”), tells the story of a young Norwegian football prodigy, just about to leave his home country with a grand contract for a Dutch major-league club in hand. Full of expectations but also wary, harbouring doubts about this entirely new and life-defining future, he also happens to fall in love with a Norwegian country girl just before leaving for the Netherlands, complicating things a little more. “He's a little like Elvis the week before he became Elvis,” is Konesh's own colourful description of the protagonist. It’s hoped that shooting will take place in “a not-too-distant summer”, and the direction will be handled by the writer himself.

Twenty-two projects encompassing a wide variety of genres and formats, and aimed at all sorts of children and youth age groups, were pitched at this very energetic and bustling 2025 m:brane forum, many of them well-received and resulting in over 300 one-on-one meetings between creators and decision makers.