The Berlin Film Festival has unveiled the first titles for its Panorama section, and among the selected films is Milad Alami’s Opponent.

Opponent stars Payman Maadi, Arvin Kananian, Marell Nasiri, Björn Elgerd and Ardalan Esmaili.

The film follows Iman and his family who have been forced to flee Iran in the aftermath of a devastating rumor. As refugees, they end up in a run-down hotel in Northern Sweden. Despite feeling powerless, Iman tries to maintain his role as the family patriarch. To increase their chances of asylum, he breaks a promise to his wife and joins the local wrestling club. As the rumours start to resurface, Iman’s fear and desperation begin to take a hold.

The Berlin Film Festival will take place February 16-26, and Opponent will premiere in Swedish theaters March 31.

Fredrik Backman’s beloved debut novel A Man Called Ove celebrates its 90th week on the New York Times bestseller list this week, coming in at No. 11 on the paperback list. A masterful feat considering the book has been on the market for eight years in the US.

Meanwhile, the US film adaptation A Man Called Otto, featuring Tom Hanks in the leading role, is now out in theaters across the globe. The film has received raving reviews, and a Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score of 97%.

Jo Nesbø and Jørn Lier Horst are the two most sold Norwegian authorships during 2022. Jo Nesbø is the No. 1 best selling author with his Killing Moon, the thirteenth Harry Hole novel. Jørn Lier Horst is No. 2 with The Traitor, the sixteenth novel about William Wisting.

Liza Marklund continues to place first on the official Norwegian bestseller list for paperbacks, coming in at No. 1 also this week with The Polar Circle.

Liza Marklund performs a hat-trick on the first weekly bestseller list of 2023 in Norway. The Mire, the standalone second installment in Marklund’s The Polar Circle trilogy, goes straight to No. 1 on the official list for hardcover fiction as well as on the e-book list upon publication, while The Polar Circle comes in at No. 1 on the paperback list.

The official list of the bestselling books of 2022 has just been released. Published towards the end of October, Lars Kepler’s The Spider performed a remarkable feat and became the most sold novel in Sweden of last year. Also featuring on the top 10 is Ia Genberg’s August Prize winning The Details which comes in at No. 9 on the fiction list, Björn Natthiko Lindeblad’s I May Be Wrong at No. 8 on the non-fiction list and No. 4 on the paperback list. The paperback list also sees Anders de la Motte & Måns Nilsson’s A House to Die For on the No. 2 spot and Liza Marklund’s The Polar Circle at No. 5, while Martin Widmark’s The Masquerade Mystery takes the No. 8 spot on the children’s list.

The highly anticipated TV series Blackwater (Händelser vid vatten), written by Karin Arrhenius and Maren Louise Käehne, will premiere on SVT Play January 13, and on SVT1 January 15.

Based on Kerstin Ekman’s classic novel of the same name, Blackwater is directed by Mikael Marcimain and stars Pernilla August, Rolf Lassgård, Asta Kamma August and Alba August.

The six-part series has received outstanding reviews;

SVT’s intense and fantastic small town thriller Blackwater is top class. /…/ Worth every minute.
– DN ★★★★★

The first TV home run of the year came early. Blackwater is an almost perfect dramatization of Kerstin Ekman’s novel from 1993.
– SvD

Even though we’re only two weeks into the new year, it could very well be the best Swedish TV series of 2023.
– SVT Nyheter ★★★★

The biggest festival in Scandinavia, Göteborg Film Festival opens with the world premiere of Abbe Hassan’s much awaited feature debut Exodus on January 27. Exodus will also compete for the title of ‘Best Nordic Film.’