Anders Weidemann has been chosen as a recipient of this year’s SF Bio Children’s Film Grant for Monky, a moving and action-packed children’s film set to premiere in Sweden on December 22nd. The film is based on Weidemann’s original idea, and he has also written the script. The other two recipients of the grant are Patrick Ryborn and Maria Blom, producer and director of the film, respectively.

The SF Bio Children’s Film Grant is part of SF Bio’s (Sweden’s largest cinema chain) initiative to promote Swedish children’s cinema. The grant will be handed out during BUFF, the International Children and Young People’s Film Festival, in Malmö in March, 2018.

The jury motivates their choice of winners with the following:

“During the process of selecting this year’s winner, there was one movie that stood out and caught the jury’s interest early on – a film that is at heart a serious original story, but at the same time has a wide audience appeal and high creative ambitions. The film is an excellent example of how an idea is born, and is made into reality through common efforts, where the result has the potential to be the big, heart-warming family film of this holiday season. The jury has therefore decided that the grant will be divided equally between three recipients. The SF Bio Children’s Film Grant of 100.000 kronor is awarded to the creative triumvirate behind the film Monky: screenwriter Anders Weidemann, producer Patrick Ryborn, and director Maria Blom.”

Jo Nesbø’s The Thirst, Kristina Ohlsson’s The Flood, Jens Lapidus’ Top Dog and Anders de la Motte’s Deeds of Fall have all been shortlisted for the Swedish book award The Grand Audiobook Prize in the ‘Suspense’ category.

Fredrik Backman’s Us Against You and And Every Morning the Way Home Gets Longer and Longer are both shortlisted in the ‘Literary Fiction’ category, and Carl-Johan Forssén Ehrlin’s The Tractor Who Wants To Fall Asleep is shortlisted in the ‘Children’s Books’ category.

The winners of The Grand Audiobook Prize will be crowned in March 2018 at an award gala in Stockholm. To vote for your favorite author and audiobook, click “Read more” below.

Niklas Natt och Dag’s gripping debut novel, 1793, has received The Swedish Academy of Crime Writers’ Award 2017 for ‘Best Debut’. The awarding jury lauds Natt och Dag and the novel, praising it as “A well-depicted historical murder mystery filled with cruelty as well as warmth and humanity.”

It is now official that Jørn Lier Horst’s internationally bestselling series about Police Inspector William Wisting will be turned into a major Norwegian drama series, and shooting will commence on January 17th, 2018.

Wisting, as the TV series will be called, will be shot in the Norwegian twin towns of Larvik and Stavern. The first season of the series will be based on two of the most popular installments in Horst’s book series, The Hunting Dogs and The Caveman. Playing the role of the hard-working, compassionate protagonist William Wisting is Sven Nordin (Valkyrien).

“I am delighted by the great enthusiasm the project has been met with, and that the Wisting series will become a reality. I’m grateful that Sven Nordin has accepted the leading role of William Wisting. It is an excellent choice. He is stylistically assured and one of our very best character actors,” says Jørn Lier Horst.

The producers behind the series are Good Company Films and Cinenord, and screenwriters Trygve Allister Diesen and Katrine Valen Zeiner have co-written the series based on Jørn Lier Horst’s novels. Trygve Allister Diesen, an experienced writer-director, will also direct together with Katarina Launing.

Wisting will air on Scandinavian Viaplay, TV3 Norway, and German broadcaster ARD Degeto.

The second season of Mammon, written and created by Gjermund Stenberg Eriksen together with Vegard Stenberg Eriksen, is the winner of the 45th International Emmy Award for ‘Best Drama Series’. Mammon II thus makes history as the first Norwegian drama series to win an Emmy Award.

First aired by Norwegian public broadcasting company NRK last year, Mammon II has already received two Golden Screen awards in Norway and wide international acclaim. The Guardian proclaimed it “exactly what you want from Scandinavian quality crime.”

Fredrik Backman has been nominated for LovelyBooks’ Der Leserpreis 2017. He is nominated in the ‘Fiction’ category for Beartown.

Click on “Read more” below to vote for your favorite. The voting ends on November 28th.