Hot titles include Ragnarok (pictured), Pioneer, Detective Downs and The Hidden Child.

TrustNordisk is kicking off pre-sales on a number of hot titles from Scandinavian production powerhouses.

Riike Ennis, TrustNordisk CEO, told Screen: ““Our line-up for presales this year presents the best coming out of Scandinavia right now. We have a good combination of high profile directors and excellent cast, adaptions of bestselling authors and strong genre titles. The level is extremely high this year.”

Norway’s Fantefilm, led by Martin Sundland and Are Heidenstrom, which previously worked on hot sellers Jackpot and Escape, is now producing Ragnarok. Pal Sverre Hagen of Kon-Tiki leads the cast as an archaeologist who is obsessed with finding Viking treasure that will solve the mystery of Ragnarok, the ‘end of days’ in Norse mythology. Mikkel Sandemose directs.

Norway’s Friland Film, best known for international hit Headhunters, is in post on Erik Skjoldbjærg’s Pioneer, a conspiracy thriller set against professional divers working with the oil rush in Norway in the 1980s. The cast features Askel Hennie (Headhunters) with Wes Bentley and Stephen Lang. The film will be delivered for May.

Also on deck for Friland producers Christian Fredrik Martin and Asle Vatn is Detective Downs, about a young man with Down Syndrome who wants to be a private detective, and uses his emotions to solve crimes. It’s described as a “dark and funny” film noir comedy. Director Bard Breien previously made the award-winning The Art of Negative Thinking.

Sweden’s Tre Vanner is in post on its anticipated adaptation of Camilla Lackberg’s The Hidden Child. The feature is a part of The Fjallbacka Murders project, which also contains five TV episodes.

The Hidden Child is directed by rising talent Per Hanefjord who was Oscar nominated for his student film Elkland. “We have really high hopes for him,” says producer Pontus Sjoman of Tre Vanner.

The company also produced Love and Lemons, a “feel-good” romantic comedy which opens locally this month.

Sjøman noted that the 20-person company was “expanding quickly, we’re in the process of becoming the biggest independent company producing in Scandinavia.” The success of the Easy Money (Snabba Cash) films has been one key building block and the outfit is now at work on the third Easy Money film, Life Deluxe.

Also here at the EFM, TrustNordisk is pre-selling Kristian Levring’s The Salvation, an English-language Western to star Mads Mikkelsen, and Lukas Moodysson’s Vi Ar Bast.

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