Jeppe Rønde's feature debut "Bridgend" and Camilla Nielsson's documentary "Democrats" are selected for Tribeca Film Festival, taking place on 11-26 April in New York City.
"Bridgend" is selected for the World Narrative Competition as the first Danish film since 2009.
"Bridgend" is based on a mysterious teenage suicide cluster a few years back in a former coal mining province in South Wales. The film follows Sara (Hannah Murray) and her dad Dave (Steven Waddington) as they move to a small village which is haunted by suicides among its young inhabitants. Sara falls dangerously in love with one of the teenagers, Jamie (Josh O'Connor), while Dave, as the town's new policeman, tries to stop the mysterious chain of suicides. The film focuses on the relationship between vulnerable teenagers and their parents who are left in the dark as the inexplicable suicides gradually take on the character of a punishing ritual.
"Bridgend" world premiered at Rotterdam Film Festival in January and received a Special Mention at Göteborg. The film will have its North American premiere at Tribeca.
"Bridgend" is produced by Michel Schønnemann and Malene Blenkov for Blenkov & Schønnemann Pictures, who is also handling international sales. The film is supported by the Danish Film Institute's talent programme New Danish Screen.
Read interview with Jeppe Rønde: United in Death
Democrats
"Democrats." Photo: Henrik Bohn Ipsen
Camilla Nielsson's "Democrats" will have its North American premiere in the World Documentary Competition.
Over the course of more than three years, Camilla Nielsson was up close in the inner circles of politics in Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe. With the process of creating a new constitution as its narrative backbone, "Democrats" tells the story of the political elite in Zimbabwe fighting the battle over the founding principles defining the country's possible future.
Camilla Nielsson is making her first feature documentary with "Democrats," produced by Henrik Veileborg for Upfront Films. The film received two awards at CPH:DOX in November and screened at IDFA and Göteborg. The film is enjoying its North American premiere at Tribeca.
Read our interview with the director: On the Road to Democracy
Furthermore, two Danish co-productions are invited to the festival: Dágur Kari's Icelandic-French-Danish "Virgin Mountain" is in the World Narrative Competition, and Måns Månsson's Swedish-Danish-Chinese hybrid "Stranded in Canton" will be presented in the Viewpoint section, which this year focuses on the search for identity.
Tribeca Film Festival 11-26. april
