As the prime New Nordic Films confab kicks off today in Haugesund, Norway, LevelK has unveiled exclusively to Variety a raft of prominent sales on the Swedish coming-of-age film “Live a Little,” showcased at the market screenings.
Besides indie distributor Breaking Glass Pictures which has secured U.S. rights, the Swedish feature, directed by rising talent Fanny Ovesen, has sold to Latin America (Encripta), Indonesia (PT. Falcon), Mexico (Bestiario Films), Slovakia (Film Europe S.R.O.) and Estonia (Estin Film). TriArt handled the release in Sweden in February, and newly created Stær Film Distribution in Norway will follow suit later this year.
Starring Embla Ingelman-Sundberg (Netflix’s “Carousel”) Aviva Wrede (“Hashtag”) and French rising star Oscar Lesage (“The Substance”), the pic turns on two best friends, Laura and Alex, who embark on an inter-railing trip through Europe.
After a drunken encounter with a stranger, Laura is left questioning what really happened. While challenging her own beliefs about herself, she gradually goes through a journey of guilt and self-discovery that eventually helps take back control of her own body.
The film world premiered in competition at the Göteborg Film Festival earlier this year where it scooped the Angelos Award. Most recently, it screened at the Biarritz Film Festival in France where it picked up an extra two accolades from a jury headed by Camera d’Or winner Halfdan Ullmann Tøndel (“Armand”).
“’Live a Little”’is a deeply personal story about finding your voice in the face of uncertainty. Seeing it resonate with audiences and distributors around the world is both humbling and energizing. We’re thrilled that Laura and Alex’s journey will connect with viewers in so many different cultures and languages,” said producer Marie Kjellson of Kjellson & Wik, formerly at Ruben Östlund’s Plattform Production where she produced the Swedish helmer’s 2014 Cannes Un Certain Regard winner “Force Majeure.”
Besides “Live a Little,” LevelK is screening at the market the Danish feelgood feature “The Food Club-Home Again,” directed by Charlotte Sachs Bostrup and a sequel to the 2020 hit which sold to multiple territories including a Samuel Goldwyn Films pickup for the U.S.
Kirsten Olesen (“The Bridge”), Stina Ekblad (“Wallander”) and Kirsten Lehfeldt (“Men & Chicken”) return to their roles as three long-time women friends, now relocated to the picturesque South Funen, Denmark, after their wonderful cooking class experience in Italy in the original film.
Another LevelK pickup, the Finnish drama comedy “Kidnapping of a President” directed by Samuli Valkama, will bow at New Nordic Films’ Works in Progress. Based on real events and set in 1930, the comedy drama turns on a group of Finnish far-right officers who during a drunken hunting trip, order the kidnapping of the former president of Finland, only to forget all about it by the morning.
Finland’s Tack Films is producing with Bionaut in the Czech Republic, Labyrint Film in the Netherlands and Münchhausen Films in Estonia.
