France Hosts Inaugural ‘Vision Nordiques' Festival With a 17-Title Selection
Dag Johan Haugerud's 'Love' was one of the 17 films which had their French premiere at the inaugural edition of the festival Visions Nordiques – French Nordic Film Days.
The fest is taking place March 5-9 across several locations in Paris, including the Grand Action theater; as well as the industry programme and co-production workshop taking place at CNC and the Institut Suedois. Tributes were hosted for Lars von Trier and Aki Kaurismäki with the screenings of 'Breaking the Waves' and 'Le Havre.' The film lineup comprised 'Love,' which premiered at Venice (and was followed by the Berlinale Golden Bear winner 'Dreams (Sex Love)); Baltasar Kormákur's 'Touch,' Eirik Svensson's 'Safe House;' Lilja Ingolfsdottir's 'Loveable;' and Frida Kempff's 'The Swedish Topedo,' among others.
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The event is jointly organized by The Five Nordics, France's National Film Board, with the support of the Nordic Council of Ministers and the Embassies of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden in France. Swedish arthouse producer and distributor Mattias Nohrborg, TriArt Film, Baptiste Pépin, head of film, Institut suédois, and Amanda Nohrborg, post-production manager curated the selection.
Gaëtan Bruel, the former director of the French Cultural Services in the U.S., who was appointed president of France's CNC last month, said Visions Nordiques was an important event celebrating historic ties with France where Scandinavian movies have been supported through the Cinema du Monde subsidy fund, among other schemes, which have helped financed 17 Nordic movies over the last two years. Joachim Trier's 'Sentimental Value' and Tarik Saleh's 'Eagles Of The Republic' were also partly financed in France and are expected to world premiere in the festival circuit later this year.
'We believe that cinema shapes the imagination, because it brings together not only industries, but also countries, and that the model of financing films supports creativity across Europe,' said Bruel. 'Today, the international context challenges us all, forces us to strengthen Europe as a unified space, as a power in all domains, not only military but also in culture.'
Meanwhile, Gísli Snær Erlingsson, the head of the Icelandic Film Centre who represented The Five Nordics (the collaboration between the film institutes of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden) said the French Nordic Film Days represented a 'significant step in strengthening the historic bonds between our film industries.'
Erlingsson said the panels, case studies, and co-production workshops that are being organized as part of the event 'aim to forge new connections between Nordic and French filmmakers.' 'Together, we'll explore distribution systems, filmmaker support, and our shared commitment to environmental sustainability in film production.'
Panels on distribution and international sales brought together industry speakers such as Sarah Chazelle, co-founder of Jour2Fête; Kim Foss, executive director of Camera Film; Martin Jérôme, acquisition coordinator at Condor Distribution; and Mattias Nohrborg at TriArt Film. Another roundtable included Noémie Devide, head of production and acquisition at Goodfellas; Alexandre Moreau, head of international sales at Memento International; and Katrin Pors, producer at Snowglobe.
Over the years, many Nordic movies have been sold internationally by French sales agents. Trier's movies have been handled by MK2 Films, while Saleh's next pic is being sold by Playtime, and Memento International has been selling Emilie Blichfeldt's horror tale 'The Ugly Stepsister' which played at Sundance and has sold to most major territories.
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