The BBC just announced that they have acquired two Swedish crime dramas, End of Summer, based on the bestselling work of Anders de la Motte, and the thriller series Jana – Marked for Life, directed by Henrik Björn and Felix Herngren, with Daniel Sawka and Maria Karlsson as head-writers.

End of Summer, based on former police officer Anders de la Motte’s novel of the same name, is a six-part psychological thriller starring Julia Ragnarsson (Midsommar, The Bridge) and Erik Enge (Tigers, The Sandhamn Murders). Viaplay produced End of Summer with Harmonica Films in a co-production with SF Studios and Film i Skåne. The series is directed by Jens Jonsson (Young Wallander) and Henrik Georgsson (The Bridge) with lead writers Stefan Thunberg (Wallander) and Björn Carlström (Hunters), who also produced the series with Per Janérus (Hunters).

Jana – Marked for Life follows the investigation of a murder of a high-ranking official at the Swedish Migration Agency. When the main suspect is also found dead, Jana immediately recognizes something on his scarred body. To understand her own traumatic past, Jana must reach the killer ahead of the police. The six episodes are created and directed by Henrik Björn and Felix Herngren. Daniel Sawka is head-writer together with Maria Karlsson. The series is an adaptation of Emelie Schepp’s bestselling novel of the same name, and in Sweden it will premiere on Prime Video on April 19.

“End of Summer is a complex and absorbing mystery drama in a beautiful setting. Jana – Marked for Life is an intriguing and suspenseful thriller. We are so pleased to be adding these two compelling series to our rich catalogue of Nordic Noir” says Sue Deeks, Head of BBC Programme Acquisition.

Read the full article on BBC by clicking ‘Read more’ below.

Oliver Lovrenski’s lauded debut, Back in the Day, celebrates 6 consecutive months on the official Norwegian bestseller list this week. The title was published in Norway half a year ago and has had a steady place at the top ever since.

Screenwriter Christopher Friman Leffler has an extensive background in investigative journalism, primarily as a reporter for the prestigious and awarded magazine Filter where he started working in 2008. The following year, Friman Leffler was awarded the title ‘Breakthrough of the Year’ at Tidskriftsgalan, and he later became the editor in chief of Filter between the years 2018 and 2022. Several of Friman Leffler’s pieces have also been featured in other prominent magazines, both in Sweden and internationally.

In 2022, Friman Leffler began his screenwriting education at the esteemed Alma Löv Script Academy, and has already been involved in several major productions – including working as script editor for the Prime Video thriller series Jana – Marked For Life and the Netflix crime series Genombrottet.

Furthermore, Friman Leffler has produced the beloved radio show Sommar i P1, working with Ina Lundström’s popular episode from 2023. In 2023 he was also script editor for Dokument inifrån’s documentary series Skamlös which was nominated for ‘Storyteller of the Year’ at The Swedish Grand Prize for Journalism.

Currently, he is working on two projects together with production company Stella Nova: Torsk and Panache.

Antti Tuomainen’s novel The Beaver Theory has been nominated for CrimeFest’s Last Laugh Award 2024 in the category Best Humorous Crime Novel. The CrimeFest convention is one of the biggest crime fiction events in Europe, and the winners will be announced at the CrimeFest Gala Dinner on May 11 in the UK.

The lauded opera Innocence has received a 2024 Olivier Award for Best New Opera Production. The Olivier Award is one of the most prestigious awards in theatre, and the ceremony took place at Royal Albert Hall in London on Sunday.

Innocence was composed by Kaija Saariaho with the libretto written by Sofi Oksanen. The opera had its world premiere at the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence in 2021 and premiered at London’s Royal Opera House in April 2023.

Swedish-Iranian director Mani Maserrat is with his extensive experience from the film & TV industry known for several successful Swedish TV series and films.

Maserrat made his feature film debut in 2007 with Ciao Bella – a film that springs from his own experience and challenges some of the hidden prejudices in Swedish society. The film was met with great praise and travelled around the globe at some of the major international film festivals; in 2008, the film competed at the Berlin International Film Festival and shortly afterwards Maserrat was nominated to the ‘New Voices/New Visions Grand Jury Prize’ at the Palm Springs International Film Festival in 2009.

Following his feature film debut, Maserrat went on to direct the lauded SVT series Våra vänners liv (2010) as well as the mini-series Arne Dahl Bad Blood (2012) which became an international success.

In 2013 Maserrat’s second feature film, Vi/Us, premiered to stunning reviews and became part of the main competition at the Thessaloniki International Film Festival of the same year.

Since then, Maserrat has directed the psychological thriller series Modus (2015) for TV4, which met with international acclaim, and his later works include directing the crime/thriller mini-series Box 21 (2020) for Viaplay as well as the second season of Young Wallander (2022) for Netflix.

Maserrat currently has several original projects in development and is the director of the upcoming thriller series Maffia/Mafia for Viaplay.

Buccaneer, the UK-based international content production company behind Irvine Welsh’s Crime, Marcella, The Burning Girls and The Doll Factory, today announces it has partnered with guitar legend Slash for The Crow Girl, the forthcoming drama series based on the #1 international bestselling trilogy of novels by Erik Axl Sund.

Already an Executive Producer on the series, Slash will join composer Adam Price (Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part 1, Black Adam) in contributing to the soundtrack for The Crow Girl, which is currently in production in Bristol for Paramount+ UK and Ireland.

The Crow Girl (6 x 60”) is a multi-faceted contemporary psychological thriller featuring a cast including Eve Myles (Hijack, Broadchurch, A Very English Scandal), Katherine Kelly (Mr Bates vs the Post Office, Liar, Inside No.9) and Dougray Scott (Irvine Welsh’s Crime, Vigil).

Joining Slash as executive producers are Milly Thomas who adapted the series for the screen, along with Erik Axl Sund, Niclas Salomonsson, Federico Ambrosini, and Tony Wood and Richard Tulk-Hart for Buccaneer.

Charles Martin and Rebecca Rycroft are both directors of the series with Andy Mosse serving as producer.

Slash says, “I fell in love with Erik Axl Sund’s novel, The Crow Girl and was really excited to partner up with Buccaneer to produce it. There’s an amazing cast and crew hard at work now to bring the harrowingly dark and suspenseful story to life as a limited series. It looks amazing!”

“Working with Slash has been a privilege. He knew Erik Axl Sund’s powerhouse of a trilogy before we did and brings an amazing insight to it; working with an artist of such standing from a different medium has massively elevated the work” said Tony Wood, co CEO of Buccaneer.

Click ‘Read More’ below to read the full article in Deadline

Hans Rosenfeldt’s Ronja the Robber’s Daughter (Ronja Rövardotter) premiered on March 28 to great reviews.

“Ronja the Robber’s Daughter is loaded with a new kind of darkness.”
– SVT

“The new TV series Ronja the Robber’s Daughter is lavish and medieval-dark, but also contemporary in terms of language and special effects. A well-played adventure with a storm of emotions. Love and friendship, hatred and vengeance against a breathtakingly beautiful backdrop of natural lyricism. The first part leaves you wanting more.”
– Dagens Nyheter

“Rosenfeldt has modernized the story in ways that are obvious and expected today. There is a social conscience, the issue of robbery is problematized, background stories and traumatizing events play a more prominent role, and it’s obvious that they’ve considered gender and diversity. […] The new Ronja the Robber’s Daughter is a blend of magnificent natural lyricism and a bit of appropriately dark and scary family fantasy that maintains high quality.“
– Aftonbladet

“The series creators have been faithful to Lindgren’s spirit and unique storytelling style, while also spicing up the story with ‘modern’ elements, but preserving the unique Scandinavian style, culture, and societal portrayal. There is never any doubt that the series is a genuinely Scandinavian product that could not be recreated in an ‘Americanized’ manner. […] Without hesitation, we award a special recommendation […] to a series that impresses, entertains, and will continue to fascinate young and old alike.”
– Ljud och Bild

Anders de la Motte’s The Mountain King, is one among four other crime titles that has been shortlisted for the newly founded Norwegian crime award Glasskniven. The award is given to the best translated crime novel published in Norway in the last three years.

The Mountain King is the first installment in the bestselling Leo Asker series, and the jury praises it in the following way: “Anders de la Motte writes wistfully beautifully. He has a language that flows easily, with an underlying nerve that spreads beyond the action. The story is dark but still fresh, with things happening in the shadows that could scare the living daylight out of most people. The book is composed with a lot of action and intrigue, but the interest is maintained throughout the novel. This was simply a unique reading feast and a thrilling mystery, with condensed action, written in a literary language that few other crime writers can boast.”

The winner will be announced the 15th of May.