Highly visible during the Cannes Film Festival with three films in various festival sections and the presence of crime novelists Camilla Läckberg and Jo Nesbø for the promotion of THE FJÄLLBACKA MURDERS and HEADHUNTERS, the sales company TrustNordisk had an excellent Cannes market with deals signed across its line-up.
Ahead of MELANCHOLIA'S screening in official competition, Lars von Trier's disaster drama was snatched by Madman for Australia/New Zealand and Lev Cinemas in Israel, pushing the total number of territories sold to over 30. Madman also pre-bought The Five Obstructions: Scorsese vs Trier - a new collaboration between the charismatic US director and Lars von Trier - and Nikolaj Arcel's A Royal Affair, starring Mads Mikkelsen and Alicia Vikander. The 18th century historical drama supported by Nordisk Film & TV Fond was also pre-bought by Magnolia Pictures (US), Golem (Spain), Metrodome (UK), MFA (Germany), Ascot Elite (Switzerland), Aero Films (Czech Republic), and Best Film (Poland).
HEADHUNTERS directed by Norwegian director Morten Tyldum had a strong buzz in Cannes and was picked by seven distributors after its closed market premiere: Alta Films (Spain), Big Movies (Russia), Insomnia (Ex-Yugoslavia), Mares Filmes (Brazil), Estin Film (Estonia), Independenta Film (Romania), and Aero Films (Czech Republic). Those companies completed the list of distributors that had already pre-bought the film such as Magnolia in the US, NFP in Germany, Momentum in the UK, Lumiere in Benelux and Rialto Distribution in Switzerland. During a press conference in Cannes, Tom Quinn, acquisition executive for Magnolia Pictures who pre-bought the film in Berlin said the final film had "exceeded his expectations". The US distributor who also acquired the other recent Norwegian titles Trollhunter and Happy Happy, added "Scandinavian films are on the uptake for us. The Millennium trilogy proved that US audiences are willing to see subtitled films if the film is right". Produced by Norway's Friland Film in co-production with Sweden's Yellow Bird and support from Nordisk Film & TV Fond, Headhunters will first open in Norway on August 26 via Nordisk Film.
Another Norwegian film, Petter Næss's upcoming drama COMRADE starring Rupert Grint, was picked up by Metronome (UK), Kino Swiat (Poland), and Vendetta (Australia). TrustNordisk also announced in Cannes they would handle world sales on Black's Game, a thriller by Icelandic upcoming director Oskar Thor Axelsson, focusing on the criminal underworld in Reykjavik. The film produced by Zik Zak Filmworks, with Danish director Nicolas Winding Refn acting as executive producer is filming until the end of June.