Norsk filminstitutt

The Norwegian humouristic drama series Countrymen and the short-drama About Saturday, addressing the grey areas of abuse, are both invited to competition in Canneseries in October.

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Countrymen. Photo: Dag Jensen

What if four men with dubious plans move to a farm in the Norwegian countryside and suddenly, more or less against their will, end up as founders of Norway`s first halal cheesemaking business? In Countrymen, this is what happens.

The 8-part series Countrymen is invited to International competition in Cannes. The series is created and written by award-winning director and screenwriter, Izer Aliu (Hunting Files), along with Rubicon’s Anne Bjørnstad. The lead actors are Nader Khademi (Ninjababy,Beforeigners, Homeground, Witch Hunt), Ayaz Hussain (Kasim Bæder), Jonas Strand Gravli (Ragnarok, Wisting, July 22) Arben Bala (Exit, Lilyhammer) and Erika Strand Mamelund. 

Anne Bjørnstad, Creative Director at Rubicon comments: “This metaphoric concept will get people talking here in Norway, and also resonate with global audiences. This high-quality series has been elevated with Izer Aliu writing and directing, and we are proud to create characters that are so brilliantly portrayed with warmth and humour by our cast.

The series will be screened in the national public broadcast stations in the Nordic countries and in ARTE in France and Germany. Banijay Rights is the distributor.

Etter lørdag
About Saturday

About Saturday

About Saturday is to be screened in the short-form competition in Canneseries.

The 12 part, 4-10 minute episode series is about podcast talent Klara (22) who is challenged to go on a date with a random guy who is not her typical match. After a few drinks at the local bar, Klara invites him back to her place. At the flat, her date crosses the line and the evening ends badly.

The morning after, unable to tell her friends what really happened, she realizes that this has affected her more deeply than she thought. How will she shake off the incident when her body is working against her, and her friends are starting to get worried?

The series is written by Liv Mari Ulla Mortensen and Sofia Lersol Lund and directed by Liv Mari Ulla Mortensen.

"Don`t suck it up"

-About Saturday started with a feeling that all my friends who struggled with something chose to «suck it up». When you ignore those feelings they grow out of control, and I wanted to make a series about how leaning on your friends can be the key to dealing with them. But also how hard it is to know what to do as a friend when you´re being pushed away. 

The goal of About Saturday is to inspire new conversations about consent by portraying a sexual assault we rarely see on the screen. Assaults of this kind are more common, but less violent and harder to define. I want to show how they nonetheless can evoke strong reactions when you lose control with someone you initially trusted, says director Liv Mari Ulla Mortensen.

About Saturday was screened in Norwegian TV2 Play this summer.

Canneseries takes place  from October 8th to October 13th 2021 at the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès in Cannes and online