Sweden’s Göteborg Film Festival announced Tuesday lineup for its 46th edition, with “Danish Girl” star Alicia Vikander and double Palme d’Or winning director Ruben Östlund among attendees.

The biggest festival in Scandinavia, Göteborg opens with the world premiere of Abbe Hassan’s “Exodus” on Jan. 27. Its closing film is “Camino” by Birgitte Stærmose.

The festival will screen 250 films during 10 days. “Exodus” will compete for the title of Best Nordic Film – and a prize sum of SEK 400 000 ($38,000) – alongside “Godland,” IFFR opener “Munch,” “Ellos eatnu – Let the River Flow,” “Unruly,” “Four Little Adults,” “Copenhagen Does Not Exist” and “Dogborn,” already shown in Venice.

In the Nordic Documentary Competition, the audience will get to see “Hypernoon,” “The King,” IDFA winner “Apolonia, Apolonia,” “Bong Thom” (“The Brother”), “Labor” and “Monica in the South Seas.” 

“Nordic countries are opening up for discussion about their role in colonial history. It’s something that’s very visible in this year’s program,” artistic director Jonas Holmberg told Variety.

“‘Empire’ is a story about the last slaves in the Danish West Indies, ‘Ellos eatnu – Let the River Flow’ about the relationship between the Norwegian state and the Sámi minority. ‘Godland’ reflects on Denmark’s colonial history,” he stated, also singling out Mika Taanila and Sami van Ingen’s “Monica in the South Seas,” exploring the legacy of Robert Flaherty and his family.
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Alicia Vikander (Blue Bayou) is replacing Michelle Williams as Queen Catherine Parr in the royal thriller Firebrand from Brazilian helmer Karim Ainouz (The Invisible Life of Eurídice Gusmão), Deadline has confirmed. She’ll star alongside Jude Law, who is set to portray King Henry VIII.

Ainousz’s first English-language feature, based on Elizabeth Fremantle’s bestselling historical novel Queen’s Gambit, centers on Parr—Henry VIII’s sixth and final wife, who was the only one to avoid banishment or death.

By the time young Catherine Parr (Vikander) married the deteriorating, increasingly despotic King Henry VIII (Law), she had no assurances of a happy marriage; in fact, she had no assurances of surviving this marriage at all. Of her predecessors, two were thrown out, one died in childbirth and two were beheaded. While Catherine tried to keep her head about her to navigate the politics of her position, she brought a secret agenda. She was Protestant, believed it her duty to marry Henry, for it would be the only position in which she could convert him – and the kingdom – from his pro-Catholic position. That faith was tested when the church resisted granting his divorce from his first wife so he could marry Anne Boleyn, who would later be beheaded. With arrests, torture, and executions of Protestants on the rise, Catherine invited a dangerous game that would leave one of them dead before long. The thriller is told through Catherine’s singular point-of-view of the psychological horror of living with a monster—and the remarkable will to not only survive, but thrive.

Killing Eve‘s Jessica Ashworth and Henrietta Ashworth adapted the script, with Brouhaha Entertainment producing.

Vikander is perhaps best known for her Oscar-winning turn in Tom Hooper’s The Danish Girl, and for her portrayal of the humanoid A.I. Ava in Alex Garland’s Ex Machina, which had her starring opposite Oscar Isaac. The actress recently wrapped production on Olivier Assayas’ limited series Irma Vep for A24 and HBO which is set to debut this fall, and most recently appeared in Justin Chon’s Blue Bayou for Focus Features, and David Lowery’s The Green Knight for A24. She has also appeared in films including The Glorias, Tomb Raider, Submergence, Tulip Fever, The Light Between Oceans, Jason Bourne, Burnt, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., Testament of Youth, The Fifth Estate and Anna Karenina, among others. [Source]

A24 has finally set the new release date for David Lowery’s upcoming medieval fantasy film The Green Knight after it was pulled from the studio’s theatrical release schedule earlier this year. Originally scheduled for a May 2020 release and SXSW debut, the Dev Patel-led film has now been pushed back to hit the theaters on Friday, July 30, 2021.

An epic fantasy adventure based on the timeless Arthurian legend, The Green Knight tells the story of Sir Gawain (Dev Patel), King Arthur’s reckless and headstrong nephew, who embarks on a daring quest to confront the eponymous Green Knight, a gigantic emerald-skinned stranger and tester of men. Gawain contends with ghosts, giants, thieves, and schemers in what becomes a deeper journey to define his character and prove his worth in the eyes of his family and kingdom by facing the ultimate challenger. From visionary filmmaker David Lowery comes a fresh and bold spin on a classic tale from the knights of the round table.

The film stars Dev Patel (Slumdog Millionaire, Lion), Alicia Vikander (Ex Machina, The Danish Girl), Joel Edgerton (The Great Gatsby, The King), Sarita Choudhury (Lady in the Water), Sean Harris (Mission: Impossible – Fallout), Kate Dickie (Game of Thrones), Barry Keoghan (Dunkirk, The Eternals) and Ralph Ineson (Game of Thrones).

The film is directed and written by David Lowery (Ain’t Them Bodies Saints, The Old Man & the Gun) from a story based on the poem of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. The story was already adapted into film twice before by Stephen Weeks, the first of which starred Nigel Green (Jason and the Argonauts) as the Green Knight and the second of which starred Sean Connery (From Russia With Love) as the titular knight.

Lowery will be producing the project alongside Toby Halbrooks (Pete’s Dragon) and James M. Johnston (A Ghost Story) through their Sailor Bear banner. Tim Headington and Theresa Steele Page are also producing on behalf of Ley Line Entertainment. Bron’s Aaron L. Gilbert and Creative Wealth Media’s Jason Cloth are executive producing. [Source]

Over the past couple of years, we’ve seen Netflix not only become a major player in terms of original content, but also with buying the distribution rights to films that have already been produced. And during the COVID-19 pandemic, we’ve seen Netflix amp up its purchasing with a ton of new projects, including a film we’ve been looking forward to for well over a year, “Born to Be Murdered.”

According to THR, Netflix has purchased the distribution rights to “Born to Be Murdered,” a thriller that stars John David Washington, Alicia Vikander, and Vicky Krieps. Even though that’s a great cast, the most exciting part of the film might actually be the fact that Ferdinando Cito Filomarino is making his English-language debut with the film. Filomarino is probably best known for being the second-unit director for Luca Guadagnino on films such as “Call Me By Your Name” and “Suspiria.” And yes, Guadagnino is a producer on “Born to Be Murdered.” The thriller features a couple (Washington and Vikander) that are on vacation in Greece and find themselves caught up in a violent, deadly conspiracy.

“Born to Be Murdered” marks the second big Netflix acquisition starring Washington in recent months. Prior to this, the streaming service paid top dollar for a new black and white drama, “Malcolm & Marie,” starring Washington opposite Zendaya, directed by “Euphoria” creator Sam Levinson. In addition, 2020 has also seen the release of the actor’s most recent film, “Tenet,” which finds Washington in the lead role in Christopher Nolan’s time-bending action feature.

Vikander and Krieps are both incredible actresses with acclaim to spare. Vikander is probably best known for her Oscar-winning work in “The Danish Girl,” but she’s also starred in a number of high-profile features such as “Ex Machina” and “Tomb Raider.” Krieps wowed audiences with her performance in Paul Thomas Anderson’s most recent film, “Phantom Thread.”

It’s unclear when “Born to Be Murdered” will arrive on the streaming platform but THR believes it will be in 2021. [Source]

After initially planning a theatrical release in the fall, the Gloria Steinem biopic The Glorias, starring Oscar winners Julianne Moore and Alicia Vikander, will be released on Prime Video September 30. Tony winner Julie Taymor (The Lion King) directs and co-writes the screenplay with two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist Sarah Ruhl (The Clean House).

Joining Moore and Vikander as Steinem in various stages of the political activist’s life are Lulu Wilson and Ryan Kiera Armstrong. The movie features a number of stage and film stars as Steinem’s contemporaries, including Tony winner Bette Midler as Bella Abzug, Janelle Monáe as Dorothy Pitman Hughes, Lorraine Toussaint as Flo Kennedy, Monica Sanchez as Dolores Huerta, and Kimberly Guerrero as Wilma Mankiller.

Deadline reports the film will be available to watch exclusively in the U.S. and Canada on the streaming service, with The Glorias also available as a one-time purchase through video on demand platforms.

The film, inspired by Steinem’s memoir My Life on the Road, premiered earlier this year at Sundance and was picked up by Roadside Attractions and LD Entertainment.

This isn’t the first time Steinem’s life has been explored in art. The stage play Gloria: A Life by Emily Mann debuted Off-Broadway in 2018, starring Christine Lahti as the feminist leader, before regional productions in New Jersey and Massachusetts took the show on the road. [Source]