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Karin Arrhenius

Karin Arrhenius is a highly acclaimed Swedish screenwriter known for her original screenplays The Girl (2009) and Sanctuary (2013), both directed by Fredrik Edfeldt. The Girl has won awards both domestically and internationally, receiving the ‘Best Debut Film’ (Honorable Mention) and ‘Best Feature Film’ (Deutsches Kinderhilfswerk) at the 2009 Berlin Film Festival. The Girl received four nominations at the Guldbagge Awards in 2010, including ‘Best Script’.

Arrhenius’ screenplays also include In Your Veins (2009), starring Joel Kinnaman and One Eye Red (2007), based on the best-selling book by Jonas Hassen Khemiri.

Besides her early studies in Literature and the History of Ideas at Stockholm University and Lund University, Arrhenius studied screenwriting at the prestigious Stockholm Academy of Dramatic Arts from 2001 to 2004 and at Biskops Arnö in 1999.

January 2023 saw the premiere of the highly praised Blackwater, for which Arrhenius is head-writer together with Maren Louise Käehne. The six-part crime drama is based on Kerstin Ekman’s classic novel of the same name.

Arrhenius is also the screenwriter behind the much awaited There’s Nothing to Be Afraid of which will be directed by renowned Swedish filmmaker Johan Renck. The TV Mini-Series There’s Nothing to Be Afraid of, which is based on Johan Heltne’s novel of the same name, will begin production shortly. Furthermore, Arrhenius is head-writer, alongside Oskar Söderlund, for the second season of the hit series Rebecka Martinsson (2019).

Awards

Ria Awards Nominee (Best Scripted Series) Sweden – Händelser vid vatten Blackwater 2024
C21 Drama Awards Nominee (Best Non-English-Language Drama Series) UK – Händelser vid vatten Blackwater 2023
Prix Europa (Best Mini-Series) – Händelser vid vatten Blackwater 2023
Kristallen Award (Best Drama Series) Sweden – Händelser vid vatten Blackwater 2023
Series Mania Festival (Best Series - International Panorama Section) France – Händelser vid vatten Blackwater 2023
Nordisk Film & TV Fond Prize Nominee – Händelser vid vatten Blackwater 2023
Festroia International Film Festival (Jury's Special Prize) Portugal – Faro Sanctuary 2014
Gothenburg Film Festival Nominee (Dragon Award - Best Nordic Film) Sweden – Faro Sanctuary 2013
International Film Festival Breda (Dioraphte Award) Netherlands – Flickan The Girl 2010
Greta Award - Swedish Association of Film Critics Award Sweden – Flickan The Girl 2010
Guldbagge Award Nominee (Best Screenplay) Sweden – Flickan The Girl 2010
Reykjavik International Film Festival (FIPRESCI Award) Island – Flickan The Girl 2009
Kristiansand International Children's Film Festival (CIFEJ Prize) Sweden – Flickan The Girl 2009
Festival du Nouevau Cinema Montreal (Jury’s Special Mention) France – Flickan The Girl 2009
Festival International Du Film D'arras (Golden Atlas) France – Flickan The Girl 2009
Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (Selected for Variety Critic’s Choice Program) The Czech Republic – Flickan The Girl 2009
Castellinaria International Film Festival (The Silver Castle) Switzerland – Flickan The Girl 2009
Festival International Du Film D'arras (Jury Grand Prix) France – Flickan The Girl 2009
Athens International Film Festival (Best Film, Audience Award) Greece – Flickan The Girl 2009
Berlin International Film Festival (Best Debut Film, Honorable Mention) Germany – Flickan The Girl 2009
Berlin International Film Festival (Best Feature Film, Deutsches Kinderhilfswerk) Germany – Flickan The Girl 2009
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Filmography

Related news

Karin Arrhenius to write Andrev Walden’s ‘Bloody Men’

Andrev Walden’s August Prize winning novel Bloody Men (Jävla karlar) is to be adapted for screen. Behind the adaptation is B-Reel Films, with Jens Sjögren as director (I Am Zlatan, The Pirate Bay), Karin Arrhenius (Blackwater, The Girl) as screenwriter, and producer will be Fredrik Heinig.

Bloody Men is set in Norrköping in the 1980s, where a young boy named Andrev learns that his father is not really his father. This seems like exciting news, but what comes next is a string of new men – seven dads in seven years.

Whether the adaptation will be a TV series or film is yet to be announced. Filming is set to begin in 2025.

‘Blackwater’ wins Best Scripted Series at the 2024 Ria Awards

The winners of the 2024 Ria Awards were announced this weekend, and the hit series Blackwater received the prize for ‘Best Scripted Series’.

Blackwater is written by Karin Arrhenius and Maren Louise Käehne, directed by Mikael Marcimain, and stars Pernilla August, Rolf Lassgård, Asta Kamma August, and Alba August.

‘A Nearly Normal Family’ and ‘Blackwater’ nominated for the Ria Awards 2024

The incredibly successful Netflix series A Nearly Normal Family has together with the immensely popular series Blackwater been nominated for Sweden’s Ria Awards 2024 in the category ‘Best Scripted Series’. A Nearly Normal Family is written by Anna Platt and Hans Jörnlind, with Per Hanefjord directing. Blackwater is written by Karin Arrhenius and Maren Louise Käehne, and directed by Mikael Marcimain.

The Ria Awards draws attention to and rewards the best creators, authors and employees in the Swedish television production industry. The winners will be announced on March 7 at Cirkus in Stockholm.

‘Blackwater’ wins Prix Europa

The winners of the prestigious Prix Europa have been announced, and Blackwater was named ‘Mini-Series of the Year.’ Based on Kerstin Ekman’s classic novel of the same name, Blackwater is written by Karin Arrhenius and Maren Louise Käehne, and directed by Mikael Marcimain.

Prix Europa is Europe’s largest festival for television, radio, and online media.

‘Blackwater’ wins Best Series at Kristallen Awards

SVT’s Blackwater (Händelser vid vatten), written by Karin Arrhenius and Maren Louise Käehne, received Kristallen’s prestigious ‘Best Drama Series Award.’ 

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.

‘Blackwater’ awarded at the Series Mania Festival

The Series Mania Festival has unveiled its champions and Blackwater triumphed in the International Panorama section, receiving the top prize for ‘Best Series’.

Based on Kerstin Ekman’s classic novel of the same name, Blackwater is written by Karin Arrhenius and Maren Louise Käehne, and directed by Mikael Marcimain.

‘Blackwater’ to premiere on SVT

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 ★★★★

Karin Arrhenius nominated for the Nordisk Film & TV Fond Prize

The nominees for the prestigious Nordisk Film & TV Fond Prize 2023 are revealed. Among the five nominated series is Blackwater, written by Karin Arrhenius together with Maren Louise Käehne, and directed by Mikael Marcimain. 

On a Midsummer’s night in 1973, two tourists are found murdered in a tent, far up in the mountains of Northern Sweden, near the small town of Blackwater. An incident that intersects the lives of three random people, intertwining their destinies for better and for worse. And which, after years of repression, is brought back to life, interfering with the lives they now lead. The series is based on Kerstin Ekman’s classic novel Blackwater (Händelser vid vatten).

Blackwater will premiere on SVT Play on January 13. The winner will be announced on February 1, 2023.

‘Rebecka Martinsson’ season 2 premiere

The second season of the successful TV series Rebecka Martinsson premieres today on C More and May 6 on TV4. Karin Arrhenius and Oskar Söderlund are head writers of this season, which is freely based on Åsa Larssons’s novels, and directed by Fredrik Edfeldt and Andrea Östlund.

‘Rebecka Martinsson’ season 2 to premiere in April

In the upcoming season, Rebecka Martinsson has moved into her grandmother’s house in Kurravaara, where she now works as a prosecutor. The relocation to her childhood home forces Rebecka to face her past. What really happened to her as a child, when she decided to leave her father and move in with her grandmother? While Rebecka wrestles with her past, we get to follow her as she heedlessly throws herself into case after case.

Season 2 is written by Karin Arrhenius and Oskar Söderlund, freely based on Åsa Larssons’s novels, and directed by Fredrik Edfeldt and Andrea Östlund.

The crime drama series will premiere April 27 on C More and May 6 on TV4.

Photo: Tove Risberg/TV4

‘Rebecka Martinsson’ renewed for a second season

TV4 and C More have announced the renewal of Rebecka Martinsson for a second season. The popular crime drama series, based on Åsa Larsson’s novels revolving around lawyer Rebecka Martinsson, is produced by Yellow Bird.

Karin Arrhenius and Oskar Söderlund are the writers for the second season and Fredrik Edfeldt has assumed the role of concept director. Actress Sascha Zacharias (Modus, Beck) has taken over the role of protagonist Rebecka Martinsson. The series is currently filming and the premiere is slated for 2020 on TV4 and C More.

B-Reel to produce Karin Arrhenius’ ‘There’s Nothing to Be Afraid of’

It’s now official that Karin Arrhenius, the screenwriter behind the critically acclaimed The Girl (2009), is working on a new feature film. There’s Nothing to Be Afraid of (Det finns inget att vara rädd för) will be produced by B-Reel Films and directed by Swedish filmmaker Johan Renck, and follows Jonathan, a 16-year-old belonging to the Swedish Christian fundamentalist cult Livets Ord. It is a coming-of-age romance that will center on the love relationship between two teenagers. There's Nothing to Be Afraid of is set to begin filming at the end of 2017.

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