Tuva Novotny Questions Monogamy in ‘Diorama’ Pic (EXCLUSIVE)

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HAUGESUND, Norway — Actress-turned-helmer Tuva Novotny thrives on big challenges. Her feature debut “Blindspot,” Norway’s entry for the 2019 Nordic Council Prize, was shot in real-time in one take and illuminates mental health issues.

Her sophomore mainstream Swedish pic “Britt Marie Was Here” –slated for a Sept. 20 U.S. release via Cohen Media Group – was based on Fredrik Backman’s best-selling novel. With her third directing endeavor “Diorama,” produced by Nordisk Film, she will take a new leap.

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“After ‘Blindspot’ and ‘Britt Marie Was Here,’ I felt safer about directing small or bigger-budget movies and taking on new creative challenges,” the helmer told Variety.

Anxious to tell urgent stories that “not only entertain the audience but also make them reflect, Novotny says her next film will depict what she calls “biological human monogamy.”

“I’m interested in examining the normative boundaries and common patterns of human monogamy and question if the traditional twosome relationship structure is ‘natural’ for humans and if we are made that way.”

She goes on: “Today people live in new modern relationship structures. Surveys show that adultery rate is about 60-70% and divorce around 60%. So obviously we’re fighting for something [monogamy] that might simply be against our nature. How would it be possible to mould our relationships into something that better fits our nature?” ponders the actress of “Borg vs McEnroe.”

To be produced by Scandi major Nordisk Film, the project is pending approval from the Swedish Film Institute and is slated to go into production later this year.

In the meantime, Novotny is writing the script for a[yet unnamed] Danish pic from “When Animal Dream” helmer Jonas Arnby. The actress, who stars next to Nikolaj Coster-Waldau in Arnby’s upcoming existential drama “Suicide Tourist,” says she and the Danish helmer share the same thrill for challenges. “He is humble, intuitive. I love that,” says Novotny.

Her next major starring role will be in Bent Hamer’s long-awaited film “The Middle Man,” scheduled to start filming this fall.

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