Fifth Season-backed Nordic Drama Queens is venturing into feature-length territory with the drama “Will You Care if I Die,” based on Nicolas Lunabba’s bestselling nonfiction book of the same name.
TrustNordisk has boarded the project, which will be helmed by “Young Royals” director Rojda Sekersöz, from a script by Wictor Ericsson (“Strawberry Days,” “The Sarnos – A Life in Dirty Movies”).
Sekersöz, along with Nordic Drama Queens producers Sandra Harms and Helen Ahlsson, was on hand to launch the film at Film i Väst’s packed press conference in Cannes today.
An immediate sensation when published in Sweden in 2022, the literary debut of social worker and Swedish Martin Luther King Prize winner Lunabba was sold to multiple territories, including Germany and the U.K.
Based on the author’s own experience, the story is billed as a moving and hopeful drama, charting the unlikely friendship between youth worker Nic and 14-year-old Elijah, a gifted basketball player growing up in a world marked by instability and violence. At its core is “the transformative power of having someone who believes in you,” reads the logline.
Nordic Drama Queens co-founder Harms (“438 Days,” “Lust”) and Ahlsson (“Pure,” “The Wrestler From Solitude”) both underscored the story’s emotional and social resonance:
“From day one, Nic and Elijah’s story has filled us with hope. It shows there is a path to a better world if we’re willing to work for it, and it reminds us that a better world is possible if we choose to act with empathy. The film will tell this remarkable but true story in a heartfelt, entertaining, and inspiring way,” said the producers.
Sekersöz, who made her mark in 2017 with her acclaimed socially engaged coming-of-age film “Beyond Dreams,” added: “We are in a dangerous place as a society when we use immigrants and people in socio-economically vulnerable areas as scapegoats for political failures. The result is the dehumanization of these individuals, who are, in fact, the greatest victims of the failed policies. We are all part of the same universal body, and that body is only as strong as its weakest link. That’s why the theme of this film is relevant to all of us.
“Through this film, we show that there are ways to create hope and opportunities for young people, that problems do have solutions if we approach them the right way, and that the responsibility lies with all of us.”
Casting has yet to be announced, with principal photography scheduled for summer/fall 2025 and a premiere planned for fall 2026.
The film is co-produced by SVT, Film i Väst, Film i Skåne and Nordisk Film Distribution, in collaboration with DR, RÚV, and with support from the Swedish Film Institute.
TrustNordisk is kicking off sales at the Cannes market.
Set up in 2021 by Harms, Josefine Tengblad, and Line Winther Skyum Funch in partnership with U.S.-based Fifth Season, Nordic Drama Queens has produced the premium crime dramas “Cry Wolf” for TV4, “Blind Spot” for Prime Video, and the upcoming SVT family-oriented series “The Scarab Flies at Dusk.”
Going forward, Harms said her company’s output will be split 40/60 between features and TV drama. “We love film, and we’re thrilled to see the current climate in the Swedish film industry filled with energy and a renewed sense of optimism,” she said.