TrustNordisk has boarded international sales on Eirik Svensson’s Africa-set drama Safe House, starring Sick Of Myself and Ninjababy star Kristine Kujath Thorp.
Based on real events, the film depicts 15 hours at a Doctors Without Borders hospital in Bangui, Central African Republic in on Christmas Eve 2013, when a Muslim man being persecuted by a mob entered the hospital.
Filming wrapped in South Africa in March, with dialogue on the film predominantly in English with elements of Norwegian, French and Sango, the national language of the Central African Republic. TrustNordisk will present the title and a promo to buyers at this month’s Cannes market.
Written by Harald Rosenlow Eeg and Lars Gudmestad, the feature is produced by Catrin Gundersen and Hugo Hagermann Fosker for Norway’s Fantefilm, the company behind films including The Arctic Convoy, The North Sea and The Wave. Nordisk Film will handle domestic distribution, with a local release pencilled in for February 2025.
Cast alongside Thorp are Bibi Tanga, Alexander Karim, Tracy Gotoas, Alma Poysti and Mattis Herman Nyquist.
Backers on the film include the Norwegian Film Institute and Nordisk Film & TV Fond, in collaboration with Film I Vast, Cinenic Film, Nordisk Film and ReelMedia.
“It has been gratifying and inspiring to use our genre expertise to elevate a different and unique narrative onto the big screen,” said Gundersen. “It is particularly reassuring to have our trusted partner TrustNordisk steering our efforts in the international market.”
It is a sixth feature for Norwegian filmmaker Svensson, whose previous credits include Betrayed and One Night In Oslo, as well as TV series including Ammo.
Norwegian actress Thorp was named a 2023 EFP Shooting Star, and has credits including Nikolaj Arcel’s Venice 2023 title The Promised Land.