Nikolaj Arcel's feature debut Kings' Game (Kongekabale) has begun shooting this week.

The script by Arcel and Rasmus Heisterberg (Midsummer) is inspired by a controversial fact-based novel by Niels Krause Kjaer, which deals with a power-struggle in recent Danish politics.

The cast is led by Anders W. Berthelsen (Mifune, Italian For Beginners), Soeren Pilmark (Flickering Lights) and Nastja Arcel (Catch That Girl).

Major Nordisk Film will release Kings' Game in fall 2004. Nikolaj Arcel has been a popular script doctor, consultant and writer for years, even though he only graduated from the national film school as director in 2001.

He won a Grand Prix at Clermont Ferrand for his graduation film, and made his feature debut as a scriptwriter of the hit children's action film Catch That Girl, which is being remade in the US as Mission Without Permission (2003).

The $2.5m (DKK16.8m) Nimbus Film production also marks the feature debut for producer Meta Louise Foldager, and it has Bo Ehrhardt is executive producer.

The thriller is co-produced by Zentropa Productions with backing from the Danish Film Institute, Nordic Film & TV Fund, FilmGEAR and broadcaster TV2/Denmark, with Trust Film Sales handling international sales.