Les Arcs Film Festival Unveils Work in Progress Roster, Including ‘The Swedish Torpedo,’ ‘U Are The Universe’

Elsa Keslassy
·2 min read
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Les Arcs Film Festival, the European equivalent to the Sundance Film Festival, has unveiled the list of projects which will be presented during its competitive Work-in-Progress showcase.

Curated by Tribeca and Les Arcs’ artistic director Frederic Boyer and Lison Hervé, the selection will present a broad range of movies in post-production seeking a sales agent, festival slots and international distribution.

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This year’s roster includes several titles from Scandinavia, including “Acts of Love,” a Danish-language film directed by Jeppe Rønde, and “The Swedish Torpedo,” a period epic directed by Frida Kempff (“Winter Buoy”). Josefin Neldén (“Border,” “438 Days”) stars in “The Swedish Torpedo” as Sally Bauer, the first Scandinavian to swim across the English Channel in 1939. The film is produced by Momento Film, with Amrion, Inland Film Company, and Velvet Films.

“Acts of Love,” meanwhile, tells the story of a young woman living in a religious community and stars Jonas Holst Schmidt (“Copenhagen Does Not Exist”), Cecilie Lassen (“Walk With Me”) and Ann Eleonora Jørgensen (“Italian for Beginners”). “Acts of Love” is produced Palomar Productions (“Club Zero”). The lineup also includes “U Are The Universe,” an Ukrainian post-apocalyptic movie directed by Pavlo Ostrikov and following a lonely space trucker; and “Peaches Goes Bananas,” a documentary delivering an intimate portrait of musician Peaches directed by New York-based filmmaker Marie Losier (“The Ballad of Genesis and Lady Jaye”).

The Work in Progress session is one of the popular events hosted at Les Arcs Festival’s industry sidebar, alongside the Coproduction and Talent Villages. The 13 projects were picked out of a record 181 submissions and comprise eight debuts and four sophomore outings. All but one projects will compete for three prizes — the TitraFilm Award, Alphapanda Audience Engagement Award and 22D Music Award.

Many projects presented at Les Arcs’s Work in Progress showcase have gone on to world premiere at prestigious festivals. A recent alumni, Delphine Girard, who won the Artekino Award at Les Arcs with her movie “Through the Night” world premiered at Venice and played at San Sebastian and Chicago film festivals.

As previously announced, Palme d’Or winning director Ruben Ostlund (“Triangle of Sadness”) will be guest of honor of the 15th edition of the festival.

Here’s Les Arcs 2023 Work in Progress Selection:

“Acts Of Love,” Jeppe Ronde

“Hotel Orion,” Zoltan Moll

“Little Trouble Girls,” Urska Djukiv

“Paradijs,” Bobbie Koek

“Peaches Goes Bananas,” Marie Losier

“The Doctor Says I’ll Be Alright But I’m Feeling Blue” (working title), Mascha Schilinksi

“The Swedish Torpedo,” Frida Kempff

“Toxic,” Saule Bliuvaite

“U Are The Universe,” Pavlo Ostrikov

“Wind, Talk To Me,” Stefan Djordjevic

“Year Of The Widow,” Veronkia Liskova

“Zion,” Nelson Foix

“Young Hearts,” Anthony Schatterman (out of competiton)

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