TrustNordisk Enlists EFM for Norwegian Folklore Pic ‘The Ash Lad’ (EXCLUSIVE)

TrustNordisk has nearly sold out Mikkel Braenne Sandemose’s live-action fantasy feature “The Ash Lad” at Berlin Festival Festival’s EFM.

Inspired by a Norwegian folk tale, the film follows the epic journey of Espen, the 17-year-old son of a poor farmer, who sets off with his brothers to rescue a princess from a troll known as the Mountain King to collect a reward and save his family from ruin. The film was written by Aleksander Kirkwood and Synnove Horsdal.

The movie was acquired for Latin America (California Filmes); France (Seven Sept); Italy (Videa); Spain (Art Mood); Germany, Austria, German-speaking Switzerland (Telepool); Japan (Interfilm); and China (HGC Entertainment).

More sales were inked for Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan (Capella Film); the Czech Republic and Slovakia (Cinemart); Turkey (Euromedia); Korea (Activers Entertainment); Croatia (Discovery Film & Video); Estonia (Estin Film); and Malaysia and Vietnam (Red Pictures).

“The Ash Lad” opened in Norway in September and turned out to be a box office hit.

The movie was produced by Ashild Ramborg and Horsdal at Scandinavian company Maipo. Czech Republic’s Serena Film and Ireland’s Subotica co-produced it.

When speaking to Variety about the film, Horsdal said the script delivers modernized take on the characters and has some humor to appeal to teens and adult audiences. The producer also pointed out the princess character is “strong-willed, sharp and utterly charming.”

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