The Danish Netflix feature film Ehrengard: The Art of Seduction, directed by Academy Award and two-time Palme d’Or winner Bille August, will premiere on Netflix September 14. The film is based on Karen Blixen’s novel, Ehrengard, and the screenplay is written by Anders August. Set design and costumes are created by Queen Margrethe II.

Danish screenwriter Anders August is set to adapt Karen Blixen’s novel Ehrengard for Netflix. The Danish Oscar winner Bille August has been recruited to direct the project. The project has been developed over the last decade by Jacob Jørgensen and JJ Film, with SF’s Marcella Dichmann producing. Queen Margrethe II of Denmark is designing the sets.

Ehrengard is set in the fairytale kingdom of Babenhausen, where a young, self-appointed expert on love, Cazotte, is hired by the scheming Grand Duchess to help her secure an heir. While searching for a suitable future Princess, Cazotte teaches the timid and introverted Crown Prince the art of seduction and lovemaking. But their plan soon backfires, when an heir is conceived out of wedlock and the royal family has to seek refuge in the castle of Rosenbad. Here, as rivals within the royal family close in on their scheme, Cazotte himself falls in love with Ehrengard, the maid of honour, and gradually learns that in fact, he’s no expert on love at all.

Lina Brounéus, director co-production and acquisition EMEA at Netflix, said: “With such a strong creative team in Bille August and Anders August, our close partners SF Studios producing combined with the extraordinary decoupages from Queen Margrethe II, I feel confident that this timeless tale will be just as epic, ingenious and witty as Karen Blixen’s masterpiece from 1962.”

Nordisk Film’s screen adaptation of Jussi Adler-Olsen’s crime novel The Marco Effect, the fifth book from the Department Q series, is now shooting. There are high expectations for this new production, as each chapter of the saga topped the national box office, and the most recent film in the series became the highest-grossing Danish film to date.

The screenplay for The Marco Effect is written by Anders August and co-writer Thomas Porsager. Martin Zandvliet is directing and Ulrich Thomsen and Zaki Youssef star as buddy cops Carl Mørck and Assad.

The film centers on a 12-year-old homeless boy, Marco. Currently on the run, Marco is the key to uncovering a story of multinational embezzlement of government funds earmarked for development aid in Africa. As they race against the clock to find the boy, Carl Mørck and Assad find themselves face to face not only with cynical, powerful ringleaders, but also the brutal criminal gang on the hunt for Marco.

A Fortunate Man, written by Anders August and directed by Bille August, premiered in Denmark on August 30th. The film, which is based on Nobel prize-winning author Henrik Pontoppidan’s 1898 novel Lykke-Per, has received outstanding reviews and was one of the three films shortlisted to be the Danish entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 91st Academy Awards. A Fortunate Man is also set to air as a miniseries on Danish TV 2 in 2019, and it ranks as one of the most ambitious European series to date.

“A Fortune Man is highly entertaining /…/ Go see it at the movie theatre now.”
– JydskeVestkysten

“A dazzling experience /…/ It’s poignant storytelling, melancholic, refined, wry, timeless and modern, empathetically adapted by the father-son team of Bille and Anders August.”
– Cineuropa

“Even after almost three hours of playing time you’re glad that the TV series will deepen the story even more.”
– Filmmagasinet Ekko

“With A Fortunate Man August & August have crafted a lovely and beautiful film about the conditions and hopes of human existence.”
– Soundvenue

Danish screenwriter Anders August has a wealth of experience in major TV shows, feature films and shorts, and is the recipient of Denmark’s biggest film award: The Nordisk Film Award.

Currently, August is working on the highly anticipated project A Fortunate Man, based on Nobel prize-winning author Henrik Pontoppidan’s 1898 novel Lykke-Per. Set to become both a feature film and a miniseries, it is the biggest fiction project so far from the Danish broadcasting channel TV 2 and ranks as one of the most ambitious European series to date. Produced by Nordisk Film, the feature film will see its premiere in August 2018, with the miniseries airing on Danish TV 2 in 2019.