‘Northern Comfort:’ Dark Comedy From ‘Triangle Of Sadness’ Producer Inks Key International Deals Following SXSW Debut

Zac Ntim
·2 min read
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.

EXCLUSIVE: Paris-based sales company Charades has finalized a raft of deals with international buyers for its upcoming comedy Northern Comfort, which debuted at SXSW in March.

The pic, directed by Icelandic filmmaker Hafsteinn Gunnar Sigurdsson, has sold to Rezo (France), September Films (Benelux), Kismet (Australia & NZ), Vertigo (Spain), I Wonder (Italy), Pris Audiovisual (Portugal), M2 (Poland), Cirko Films (Hungary), Aerofilms (Czech Republic, Hungary), Transilvania (Romania), Megacom (ex-Yugoslavia), Volga (CIS & Baltics), New Cinema (Israel), Falcon (Lebanon & Gulf), Avjet (Taiwan), and Pictureworks (India).

More from Deadline

Elsewhere, Scanbox has rights in Scandinavia, Sena has rights in Iceland, Weltkino in Germany and Switzerland, with Netflix taking SVOD rights in the UK.

Co-written by Sigurdsson with Halldor Laxness Halldorsson and Tobias Munthe, the pic is billed as a “dark comedy” and stars Lydia Leonard, Timothy Spall, Sverrir Gudnason, Ella Rumpf, Simon Manyonda and Rob Delaney.

Synopsis reads: A special forces veteran, an uptight property developer, an influencer with half a million followers, and an incompetent instructor are thrown together on a high-end fear of flying course. The course’s final challenge is an experience flight from London to Iceland, which ends up being a horrendous ordeal. Lost in Iceland, freezing and terrified, they must find a way of facing their fears and working together to spread their wings… and fly.

The film is a Netop Films production, co-produced with Good Chaos (UK) and One Two Films (Germany). Producer is Grimar Jonsson (Under The Tree), and co-producers are Sol Bondy (Holy Spider), Fred Burle (Holy Spider), and Mike Goodridge (Triangle of Sadness). Financial backing came from the Icelandic Film Centre, ZDF/Arte in collaboration with Arte, RUV, Film4, Nordisk Film & TV Fund, Medienboard Berlin Brandenburg, and Creative Europe.

Director Sigurdsson is best known for his 2017 film Under The Tree, which played Venice. His debut feature Either Way was remade by David Gordon Green in the U.S. as Prince Avalanche. Northern Comfort marks Sigurdsson’s English-language debut.

Best of Deadline

Sign up for Deadline's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Click here to read the full article.