The eighth installment in Lars Kepler’s Joona Linna series, The Mirror Man, was just published in Canada and comes in at No. 4 on the Globe & Mail bestseller list.
The nominees for the Swedish 2021 Storytel Awards have been announced. The Storytel Awards have been bestowed since 2007 in Sweden to highlight the best audio books of the year. The awards are granted within six categories: Suspense, Fiction, Non-fiction, Feelgood, YA, and Children’s books.
Among the nominees for suspense are Kristina Ohlsson’s Icebreaker, Hjorth & Rosenfeldt’s As You Sow, Jens Lapidus’ The No-Go Zone, Anders de la Motte & Måns Nilsson’s A House to Die For, Liza Marklund’s The Polar Circle, and Anders Roslund’s Trust Me.
The nominees within the fiction category includes Fredrik Backman’s The Winners and Jonas Gardell’s A Happier Year, and Simona Ahrnstedt’s The Queen of the Night is featured on the Feelgood list.
Meanwhile, Anders Hansen’s Brain Blues and Måns Mosesson’s Tim – The Official Biography of Avicii features on the Non-fiction list, and David Sundin’s audiobook The Audiobook That Did Not Want To End – Part 2, from the same universe as The Book That Did Not Want To Be Read, is in the running for the Children’s books’ award.
Readers will be able to vote for their favorite works until February 9, after which a jury will pick a winner among the three candidates with the most votes in each category.
To cast your vote, click “Read more” below.
Photo: Jani Blom
Filmmaker Ylva Forner has got extensive experience as screenwriter, director, producer and actor.
Her anticipated feature film debut, the erotic queer melodrama The Schoolmaster Games, is set to premiere in April 2022. It has already generated a great buzz and was described as ”stylistically perfect” by Gothenburg Film Festival.
“My strength lies in that I can offer a unique tone to very different kinds of projects. I love big feelings and big drama. I want to invite the audience to worlds they hopefully leave thinking new thoughts and feeling more feelings” says Forner.
Forner’s career started in Barcelona, Spain where she studied directing at Centre d’Estudis Cinematogràfics de Catalunya, and acting at La Casona – Formación del Actor. Following her studies she wrote and directed her first short films Polvo (2001), which premiered at the Rooftop Film Festival in NYC, and Deshielo (2004).
Forner’s acting career also started to take off, but she came to realize that she was more drawn to filmmaking and continued her film studies at Manuspiloterna Runö Folkhögskola and attended a specialized advanced course in show running for TV series at the renowned Stockholm Academy of Dramatic Arts. She also received the prestigious scholarship SWEA Los Angeles Scholarship, which led to her spending some time in the US, giving her the opportunity to deepen her knowledge of the film and TV industry in Los Angeles.
2008 saw the release of her first Swedish short film Greetings från Slussen, Sthlm, and the following years she continued making shorts that explored human encounters, among else Gaming (2013) which was selected for the Palm Springs Shortfest.
Forner is currently developing several of her own film and TV projects, as well as working on a project with B-Reel (more details to be released soon), while always on the lookout for new exciting assignments as a director.
The winners of the Swedish Adlibris Awards of 2021 have just been announced and David Sundin’s hit children’s title The Book That Really Did Not Want To Be Read has been crowned as the ‘Children’s Book of The Year’ for ages 0-6.
Adlibris is the leading book retailer in the Nordics and the nominated titles were selected by a jury of Adlibris employees from all works published throughout 2021. The readers were then able to elect their favourites.
Photo: Johan Paulin
Showrunner, writer and director Henrik Björn has a long-standing career in the film and TV industry, creating groundbreaking, quality storytelling. He is dedicated to and has a passion for genre and exciting world building – and for telling gripping stories that can travel the globe.
Already in his early twenties Björn co-founded the successful production company Palladium, then foremostly working with commercials. As a commercial director he soon moved up in the industry and has today made more than 500 commercials with TV-clients such as Sony Ericsson, Premier League, Peugeot, Viasat, TV4, Amnesty International and the UN. Björn has also received multiple awards for his work, among else Gold in Promax for Premier League/Off to Sweden/Viaplay and Gold in 100W for SEB – The Bank at Home. Furthermore he has been nominated five times as one of the top ten commercial directors in Sweden in the business magazine Resumé’s Film of the Month.
Whilst working as a commercial director he felt increasingly drawn to creating stories for bigger formats, and an idea for a TV series started to grow. The following years this idea evolved into the incredibly successful crime fantasy drama Jordskott (2015-2017) for which he was creator, showrunner, head writer and conceptual director. Jordskott was a mega hit among viewers and critics alike, and has been sold to over 160 countries to date. It was awarded with a Swedish Emmy – a Kristallen award – for ‘Best TV Drama’ and the Banff Rockie Award for ‘Best Serial Drama’.
2021 saw the premiere of his audio drama Djupet/The Deep, starring Alba August and Stina Ekblad. The series, which he wrote and directed, was a huge success for commissioner SR. It was nominated at the Swedish Radio Academy’s Golden Ear Awards in the prestigious ‘Best Pod Production’ category as the only drama production.
Currently, Björn is working on several projects for TV, soon to be announced.
Anders Hansen & Mats Wänblad’s Insta-Brain Junior claims the top position on the official Swedish bestseller list for children’s books this week.
Katrine Engberg’s entire Copenhagen series dominates the official Norwegian bestseller list for paperbacks this week. The Tenant comes in at No. 2, Blood Moon at No. 3, The Butterfly House at No. 4, Isola at No. 6 and The Harbor at No. 12.
Cry Wolf, Hans Rosenfeldt’s first novel under his own name and the first installment in the Haparanda series, debuts on US trade magazine Publishers Weekly’s bestseller list this week at No. 13.
The official Finnish bestseller list for the month of December is out. On the list for hardcover fiction, Liza Marklund’s The Polar Circle is featured for the third consecutive month, climbing to the No. 2 spot.
Marc Forster (Finding Neverland, World War Z, The Kite Runner) has been set to direct the anticipated US adaptation of A Man Called Ove, the hit movie based on Fredrik Backman’s bestseller with the same name, with Tom Hanks set to star. Two-time Oscar nominee David Magee (Life Of Pi) is scripting the project and re-uniting with Forster after their collaboration on acclaimed drama Finding Neverland, for which both were BAFTA nominated. SF Studios is producing the film with Rita Wilson (Mamma Mia!, My Big Fat Greek Wedding). Neda Backman is attached as Executive Producer and production is due to begin this year.
Marc Forster stated: “When I first read Fredrik Backman’s novel, I fell in love with the notion that friendship has the power to shape a person’s life. I can’t wait to create a film with so much humor and heart alongside Tom and Rita.”
Rita Wilson said: “Fredrik Backman wrote a novel that has entertained, moved and inspired countless readers through his character of “Ove”. The humanity of the story has resonated with people all over the world, including myself. I have always looked for films that bring people joy and, hopefully, create a common experience of recognizing ourselves in others. It’s an honor to be producing this movie and to be bringing it to audiences everywhere.”
US, HarperVia
Closed by Senka Hasanovic
North Macedonia, Matica
Two-book deal closed by Emma Granberg
Denmark, Lindhardt og Ringhof
Closed by Tor Jonasson
Slovenia, No! Press
Closed by Emma Granberg
China, Booky
Two-book deal closed by Emma Granberg
Czech Republic, Zlin
Two-book deal closed by Julia Angelin
Diary of a Ditched Girl is a true ten./…/ A series that’s better than the book it’s based on.
– SR
Diary of a Ditched Girl is this fall’s must-watch Swedish TV show.
– DN
The chemistry between Amanda and her main friendship group is refreshingly authentic, with writers Moa Herngren and Tove Eriksen Hillblom doing a fantastic job of capturing the pitfalls of modern dating.
– Nordic Watchlist
Diary of a Ditched Girl is one of this year’s best Swedish series. /…/
It’s nearly impossible not to get swept up in Amanda’s ill-fated Tinder odyssey and feel the full spectrum of emotions she goes through — hope, joy, sorrow — over and over again.
– Filmtopp
Kristina Ohlsson’s gripping crime novel Beyond Rescue awaits. Combining deep suspense with a richly atmospheric setting, it’s a must-read for all fans of Scandinavian crime fiction. Ohlsson captivates with compelling characters, an intricate plot, and a haunting late-summer mood that lingers until the very last page.
– 24books.de
Bo is running out of time. Yet time is one of the few things he’s got left. Fortunately he still has his beloved elkhound Sixten for company, only now his son insists upon taking the dog away. The very same son that Bo is wanting to mend his relationship with before his time is up.