Three Oscar Nominations for Film i Väst’s Co-Productions
The Gothenburg-filmed The Girl with the Needle by Magnus von Horn has been nominated for an Oscar in the International Feature Film category. Additionally, Sebastian Stan has been nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role, and Jeremy Strong for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for Ali Abbasi’s film The Apprentice, about a young Donald Trump. Both films are co-produced with Film i Väst.
– We have followed Magnus von Horn for more than ten years during his successful career as a director, not least at the Cannes Film Festival, where the moving drama The Girl with the Needle was nominated for the Palme d’Or in 2024. The same goes for Ali Abbasi’s The Apprentice, in which Sebastian Stan and Jeremy Strong delivered powerful performances as Roy Cohn and Donald Trump. We congratulate everyone involved and are keeping our fingers crossed for the Academy Awards on March 3, says Kristina Börjeson, Head of Production at Film i Väst.
The Girl with the Needle
Set in 1918, the film follows young factory worker Karoline, who, after losing her husband in World War I, becomes pregnant. She is rejected by both the child’s father and his mother. Shortly after, she is shocked when her husband returns from the war, severely physically and psychologically broken. While he accepts that she is expecting another man’s child, Karoline finds herself unable to care for either him or the growing baby.
Following a failed abortion attempt at the municipal bathhouse, she meets Dagmar Overbye, who offers her services as a solution—an arranged adoption. However, Karoline gradually begins to understand that the adoption business is not what she believed it to be.
Produced by Nordisk Film Creative Alliance in co-production with Film i Väst, Lava Films & Nordisk Film Sweden (Madeleine Ekman), EC1 Lodz Lower Silesia Film Centre, with support from The Danish Film Institute, The Polish Film Institute, and funding from The Swedish Film Institute, Nordisk Film & TV Fund, Creative Europe & Eurimages, in collaboration with Danish Radio and Swedish Television. Post-production took place in Västra Götaland at Dupp Film and CAN Film.
The Apprentice
Jeremy Strong has been nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Ali Abbasi’s much-discussed film The Apprentice, which had its world premiere in the main competition at Cannes this year. The film is co-produced with Nima Yousefi, Hobab, and Film i Väst. Parts of the post-production were completed in Västra Götaland.
At a time when New York’s skyline is changing as rapidly as the power struggles behind the scenes, a young and ambitious Donald J. Trump emerges. The Manhattan of the 1970s is a breeding ground for big dreams and even bigger risks, and Trump is determined to step out of his father’s shadow and make his own name in the city’s concrete landscape.
On his path to the top, he meets Roy Cohn, a political fixer and lawyer with a talent for manipulating both the law and the media. Under Cohn’s mentorship, Trump transforms into a ruthless power player, blurring the line between success and corruption. Their strategy of lies, threats, and media spectacles paves the way for a future no one could have foreseen.
Starring: Sebastian Stan, Jeremy Strong, Maria Bakalova, Martin Donovan.
Director: Ali Abbasi. Screenwriter: Gabe Sherman. Producers: Daniel Bekerman (Scythia Films), Jakob Jarek (Profile Pictures), Ruth Treacy & Julianne Forde (Tailored Films), Ali Abbasi & Louis Tisné (Film Institute). Executive Producers: Amy Baer, Mark H. Rapaport, Emanuel Nunez, Josh Marks, Grant S. Johnson. Financiers: Kinematics, Head Gear Films, Screen Ireland, Film i Väst, The Danish Film Institute, National Bank of Canada. Co-produced with: Nima Yousefi (Hobab). Post-production in Västra Götaland by: Dupp Film and Filmgate.
