Nordic Film Talks

Danish writer/director May el-Toukhy discusses Woman Unknown, her Venice Competition drama about a young woman in post-WWII Copenhagen hiding a dangerous secret.

She talks about women’s stories erased from history, the female body as a battlefield, and why she wanted to tell this complex story without judgment.

Host: Wendy Mitchell, filmwendy.com
Presenting partner: Nordisk Film & TV Fond, https://nordiskfilmogtvfond.com/
Audio producer: Karoline Balstrøm
Logo designed by: Tine Seerup
Music artist: Bail Bonds 
Title: Swimming Lessons

Veteran Norwegian filmmaker Erik Poppe explains why he had to wait 25 years to make Beloved, based on Nobel Prize-winning author Jon Fosse’s only original screenplay.

The film follows a young couple, Asle and Gerd, as they build a life together in coastal Western Norway. Rather than focusing on dramatic confrontations, Poppe explores what happens between the words — in the silences, glances and unspoken emotions.In the latest episode of Nordic Film Talks, Poppe talks about finally bringing Fosse’s long-awaited story to the screen, working with rising theatre talents Leo Magnus de la Nuez and Kristi-Helene Giæver Engeberg, and his desire to tell a simple story about love and everyday life in a complicated world.

He also discusses Norwegian film financing, the scenic landscapes of Western Norway, and why the Haugesund Film Festival feels like a homecoming.

Host: Wendy Mitchell, filmwendy.com
Presenting partner: Nordisk Film & TV Fond, https://nordiskfilmogtvfond.com/
Audio producer: Karoline Balstrøm
Logo designed by: Tine Seerup
Music artist: Bail Bonds 
Title: Swimming Lessons

As the Annecy International Animation Film Festival kicks off, Nordic Film Talks sits down with internationally acclaimed filmmaker Linda Hambäck and producer Tonje Skar Reiersen to discuss the future of animation in the age of AI.

Will artificial intelligence reshape the industry? Hambäck and Reiersen explore the opportunities and ethical challenges of new technology, while arguing that human creativity, handcrafted filmmaking, and bold, playful storytelling will remain animation's greatest strengths.

The pair also discuss Hambäck's new feature Dante, trends in Nordic animation, Annecy's importance to the industry, and why Nordic stories continue to resonate with audiences around the world.

Host: Wendy Mitchell, filmwendy.com
Presenting partner: Nordisk Film & TV Fond, https://nordiskfilmogtvfond.com/
Audio producer: Karoline Balstrøm
Logo designed by: Tine Seerup
Music artist: Bail Bonds 
Title: Swimming Lessons

From neon-lit dystopias to quiet emotional realism, this Cannes special explores reinvention, vulnerability and the thrill of creative risk.

Danish auteur Nicolas Winding Refn returns with his first feature film in a decade, 'Her Private Hell' a mysterious Copenhagen-shot sci-fi horror melodrama inspired by everything from opera to fairytales.

Refn reflects on building an entire futuristic world from scratch in Denmark, his fascination with father-daughter stories, and why he relates to Hans Christian Andersen’s idea that “to travel is to live.” 

We also meet Norwegian musician-turned-actor Girl in Red, aka Marie Ulven, who makes her acting debut in 'Low Expectations'. She talks candidly about stepping into acting for the first time, playing a struggling musician uncomfortably close to her own life, and discovering the power of silence on screen.


Host: Wendy Mitchell, filmwendy.com
Presenting partner: Nordisk Film & TV Fond, https://nordiskfilmogtvfond.com/
Audio producer: Karoline Balstrøm
Logo designed by: Tine Seerup
Music artist: Bail Bonds 
Title: Swimming Lessons

Danish director Martin Zandvliet, known for 'Land of Mine', joins the Nordic Film Talks podcast to talk about his first TV series, 'Harvest'. 

The eight-episode drama follows a farming family thrown into conflict when the patriarch leaves the farm to his daughter instead of her two brothers.

Zandvliet says he wanted to make a character-driven story about ordinary people and family relationships. A theme he feels runs through all his work. 

Host: Wendy Mitchell, filmwendy.com
Presenting partner: Nordisk Film & TV Fond, https://nordiskfilmogtvfond.com/
Audio producer: Karoline Balstrøm
Logo designed by: Tine Seerup
Music artist: Bail Bonds 
Title: Swimming Lessons

Swedish filmmaker Ester Bergsmark spent seven years shaping 'A Sweetness from Nowhere', a hybrid film premiering at CPH:DOX that moves between essay, documentary, fiction — and what she sometimes calls a fable.

In this episode, Bergsmark talks about the nerve-racking creative process behind the film, which blends abandoned sci-fi footage, disco-like jellyfish and deeply personal reflections on trauma, fear and healing.

The conversation explores how different cinematic forms can hold different kinds of truth — and how darkness can transform into connection, beauty and joy.

Host: Wendy Mitchell, filmwendy.com
Presenting partner: Nordisk Film & TV Fond, https://nordiskfilmogtvfond.com/
Audio producer: Karoline Balstrøm
Logo designed by: Tine Seerup
Music artist: Bail Bonds 
Title: Swimming Lessons

After her breakout horror hit Hatching, Finnish writer-director Hanna Bergholm returns with Nightborn, a dark, Grimm-style fable about motherhood, identity, and the fears we don’t talk about.

Premiering in Berlinale Competition, the English-language film follows a new mother who becomes convinced something is terribly wrong with her baby.

In this episode, Bergholm dives into the personal experiences behind the story, her fascination with practical effects and unsettling creature design, and why she wanted to explore rage, isolation, and transformation in parenthood — all with a touch of dark humor.

Host: Wendy Mitchell, filmwendy.com
Presenting partner: Nordisk Film & TV Fond, https://nordiskfilmogtvfond.com/
Audio producer: Karoline Balstrøm
Logo designed by: Tine Seerup
Music artist: Bail Bonds 
Title: Swimming Lessons

Norwegian screenwriter Eskil Vogt is having a huge season. His latest film Sentimental Value, co-written with longtime collaborator Joachim Trier, has swept the European Film Awards and landed a record-breaking nine Oscar nominations and eight BAFTA nods.

On the Nordic Film Talks podcast, Vogt breaks down how the film grew from two simple ideas: reuniting with Renate Reinsve and exploring the complicated bond between sisters.

Reinsve stars as anxious actress Nora opposite Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, with Stellan Skarsgård as their emotionally absent, filmmaker father — a role Vogt admits hits uncomfortably close to home for obsessive writers and directors.

Host: Wendy Mitchell, filmwendy.com
Presenting partner: Nordisk Film & TV Fond, https://nordiskfilmogtvfond.com/
Audio producer: Karoline Balstrøm
Logo designed by: Tine Seerup
Music artist: Bail Bonds 
Title: Swimming Lessons

Faroese producer Jón Hammer joins Nordic Film Talks to discuss making history with The Last Paradise on Earth — the first Faroese film to win the Nordic Council Film Prize.

He reflects on the film’s message, the rapid growth of Faroese filmmaking, and his own path from Zentropa to building Outlier Projects.
Hammer also shares insights from international shoots like No Time To Die and How To Train Your Dragon, the rise of new Faroese talents, and his current work on Tea Lindeburg’s The Seal Woman. 

Plus: how tourism shapes culture, why documentaries matter, and what’s next for storytelling from the Faroe Islands.

Host: Wendy Mitchell, filmwendy.com
Presenting partner: Nordisk Film & TV Fond, https://nordiskfilmogtvfond.com/
Audio producer: Karoline Balstrøm
Logo designed by: Tine Seerup
Music artist: Bail Bonds 
Title: Swimming Lessons

Swedish filmmaker Isabella Eklöf – known for 'Holiday', 'Kalak' and 'Border '– joins us to talk about her bold new TV series 'The Death of Bunny Munro', starring Matt Smith.

She reveals why England’s decaying seaside towns inspired her “crumbling empire” story, how adapting Nick Cave’s manic novel became her proudest work yet, and what it’s like to be a first-time showrunner.

Eklöf also teases her next project: A “BDSM love story” racing against Dogma 25’s one-year rule and opens up about blending real life with fiction, her creative fears, and the art of finding beauty in the brutal.

Host: Wendy Mitchell, filmwendy.com
Presenting partner: Nordisk Film & TV Fond, https://nordiskfilmogtvfond.com/
Audio producer: Karoline Balstrøm
Logo designed by: Tine Seerup
Music artist: Bail Bonds 
Title: Swimming Lessons