Glenn Close, Jonathan Pryce, Matt Dillon, Bruno Ganz, Eili Harboe and Kaya Wilkins are just some of the actors in three features by Björn Runge, Lars von Trier and Joachim Trier, all co-produced by Film i Väst. Joachim Trier’s Thelma is right now shot in Studio Fares in Trollhättan and next spring Lars von Trier will direct his The House That Jack Built in the same studio. Björn Runge shoots in Scotland with his The Wife.

THE WIFE
Six-time Academy Award nominee Glenn Close (Guardians of the Galaxy Vol I & II, Damages, Albert Nobbs, Dangerous Liaisons, Fatal Attractio)  is joined by co-star Jonathan Pryce (Taboo, Wolf Hall, Game of Thrones, Pirates of the Caribbean), Christian Slater (Mr. Robot, Nymphomaniac: Vol I & II, True Romance), Annie Starke (Bastards, Albert Nobbs), Max Irons (Woman in Gold, Terminal) and Harry Lloyd (Anthropoid, The Theory of Everything, The Iron Lady).

The Wife, with its wise and provocative tone, is a story built around a moment of revelation for Joan Castleman (Close), who is married to one of those men (Pryce) who own the world…and who has no idea how to take care of himself or anyone else! He is also one of America’s pre-eminent novelists, about to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature; and the flawlessly gracious Joan, who has spent forty years ignoring her own literary talents to fan the flames of his career, has finally decided to stop. The Wife charts the course of a famous marriage and what has brought them to this breaking point. It raises intriguing questions about the nature of partnership and the precarious position of an ambitious woman in a man’s world, culminating in a surprising and unforgettable conclusion that outs a carefully kept secret.

The Wife is produced by Rosalie Swedlin, Meta Louise Foldager, Piers Tempest, Piodor Gustafsson and Claudia Bluemhuber. London-based Embankment Films has secured multiple pre-sales throughout international territories and brokered the financing for the film, provided by Silver Reel, Creative Scotland, Film i Väst, Chimney, the Swedish Film Institute and SF Studios.

Swedish director Björn Runge (De Blaue Engel, Daybreak), winner of Berlin’s Silver Bear and two Swedish Academy Awards, directs from a screenplay by award-winning screenwriter Jane Anderson (Olive Kitteridge, The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio), adapted from Meg Wolitzer’s 2003 novel.

THE HOUSE THAT JACK BUILT
Lars von Trier reveals the first cast for his upcoming feature The House That Jack Built with the leading role as the serial killer Jack to be portrayed by American star, Matt Dillon. From his breakthrough performance in The Outsiders to his hilarious turn as an obsessed private investigator in There’s Something About Mary, Dillon has proven himself to be one of the most diverse actors of his generation. He has won IFP Spirit Awards for both his gritty performance as a drug addict in Gus Van Sant’s Drugstore Cowboy, and his arresting performance as a racist cop in the critically acclaimed Crash, for which he also received Academy Award, Golden Globe Award, Screen Actors Guild Award, and BAFTA Award nominations.

Facing Matt Dillon as Jack, Swiss all-timer Bruno Ganz will take on the role as the mysterious Verge, who engages Jack in a recurring conversation about his actions and thoughts. Bruno Ganz has had a prominent career in especially German language films and TV, and had his big breakthrough in Sommergäste from 1976. He has worked with several internationally acclaimed directors such as Werner Herzog, Wim Wenders and Francis Ford Coppola, and is known for Wings of Desire and Pane e tulipani as well as his acclaimed portrayal of Adolf Hitler in Der Untergang. At the 2010 European Film Awards, Ganz received a Lifetime Achievement Award.

The House That Jack Built follows the highly intelligent Jack over a span of 12 years and introduces the murders that define Jack’s development as a serial killer. We experience the story from Jack’s point of view, while he postulates each murder is an artwork in itself. As the inevitable police intervention is drawing nearer, he is taking greater and greater risks in his attempt to create the ultimate artwork.

Shootings will take place in Trollhättan, Sweden and Copenhagen, Denmark. The House That Jack Built is produced by Zentropa Group in co-production with Film i Väst, Copenhagen Film Fund, Slot Machine, with support from Danish Film Institute, Swedish Film Institute, Nordisk Film & TV Fond, CNC, Film- und Medienstiftung NRW, Eurimages, The Media Programme of the European Union, and in cooperation with DR, Nordisk Film Distribution, Concorde Filmverleih, Potemkine, Les Films du Losange, SVT.

THELMA
Winner of the Nordic Council’s Film Prize, Norwegian director Joachim Trier has started principal photography for his upcoming film, Thelma in Göteborg and at Studio Fares at the Swedish regional film centre Film i Väst in Trollhättan. Thelma will premiere on Halloween in 2017.

Thelma returns to his native Oslo (which is shot in Sweden) to follow twenty-year-old Thelma who moves to the city to study. When she falls in love, she realises she has frightening and inexplicable powers. The supernatural thriller has some added horror elements, plus a coming-of-age story.

Joachim Trier is one of Norway’s biggest directors. He is known in Norway for Oslo, 31 August, Reprise and prize winner of the Nordic Council Louder Than Bombs, which starred Isabelle Huppert and Gabriel Byrne, was the first Norwegian film to be selected in competition at the Cannes International Film Festival in 36 years, and then went on to tour 17 international film festivals.

Thelma is scripted by Trier and Eskil Vogt. This is the first supernatural thriller to be set in realistic, contemporary Norway and Trier aims to combined visual genre film with character drama. It is produced by Thomas Robsahm, Motlys, in co-production with among other Film i Väst.