Variety (EXCLUSIVE): TrustNordisk Sells Psychological Drama ‘Copenhagen Does Not Exist’ to Three European Territories

By VARIETY / Leo Barraclough, Elsa Keslassy

17-04-2023

 

TrustNordisk has sold Martin Skovbjerg’s psychological drama “Copenhagen Does Not Exist” to three European territories. The screenplay, based on the novel “Sander” by Terje Holtet Larsen, is written by Eskil Vogt, who was Oscar nominated with Joachim Trier for the original screenplay for “The Worst Person in the World.”

“Copenhagen Does Not Exist” had its world premiere in January at the International Film Festival Rotterdam in its Big Screen Competition section.

It has been sold to Cinemania Group for the former Yugoslavia, Filmin for Spain and September Film for Benelux.

The film stars Angela Bundalovic, whose credits include “Copenhagen Cowboy” and “The Rain,” Zlatko Burić, who won the European Film Award for best actor for playing Dimitry in “Triangle of Sadness,” and Vilmer Trier Brøgger (“Sticks and Stones”), alongside newcomer Jonas Holst Schmidt. The film is produced by Danish outfit Snowglobe.

“Copenhagen Does Not Exist” marks the second feature for Skovbjerg, whose debut “Sticks and Stones” premiered at the BFI London Film Festival in 2018.

Bundalovic stars as Ida, a young woman who has disappeared without a trace. Three months later her boyfriend Sander (Holst Schmidt) agrees to an unusual arrangement: to be locked in an apartment and interrogated by the woman’s father (Burić). It soon becomes obvious that long before her disappearance, the two lovers had chosen a strange and unconventional life: cut off from the world, isolated in the middle of the city.

Skovbjerg commented: “Producer Eva Jakobsen introduced me to Eskil and when I read the script, the story had such an impact on me. Eskil did what he does so well: he created these beautiful, but complex characters, whom you feel biased about at first and then start to fall in love with. Or the other way around. They aren’t that straightforward.

“‘Copenhagen Does Not Exist’ revolves around a radical and unconventional love story of two people breaking out of the norm. They decide to isolate themselves in the middle of the city, which might seem antagonistic to some, but it reflects on a longing for intimacy, which they need to define themselves. I hope that after seeing this film, audiences will reflect on their own lives and what it means to live in our fast-paced society.”

“Copenhagen Does Not Exist” is produced by Eva Jakobsen, Mikkel Jersin and Katrin Pors for Snowglobe. The film is co-produced by Oslo Pictures, Zentropa Sweden and Don’t Look Now, with support from the Danish Film Institute, the Norwegian Film Institute, the Swedish Film Institute, Nordisk Film & TVFond, Euromages, The Media Program of the European Union, in collaboration with Danish Broadcasting Corp., SVT, Scanbox and TrustNordisk. Distribution in Denmark is handled by Scanbox Entertainment.

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Film info

Film title

COPENHAGEN DOES NOT EXIST

Director

Martin Skovbjerg

Genre

Psychological Drama

Duration

100 min

Budget

2.1M EUR