Poppoli Pictures

City State director Olaf de Fleur and Returning Home director Henrik Martin Dahlsbakken among those backed.

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Seven titles have been selected by the Nordisk Film & TV fund for the second round of its Nordic Genre Boost initiative.

Three sci-fi films, City State director Olaf de Fleur’s new project East By Eleven, Returning Home director Henrik Martin Dahlsbakken’s Substitute and To Guard A Mountain director Izer Aliu’s Deep Down, have been picked.

Also on the list are Thordur Palsson’s debut feature psychological horror The Damned, Saara Saarela’s dystopian drama Memory Of Water, Hanna Bergholm’s horror-drama Birds Of A Feather and Tor Fruergaard’s animation Bente And The Mutant Scouts.  

     Icelandic crime thriller, City State 2 (Borgríki 2 – Blóð hraustra manna) has been chosen to participate in the upcoming Rotterdam International Film Festival (IFFR).

   The film will be shown as a part of the festival’s Spectrum section which keeps tabs on new and recent feature-length works by experienced filmmakers and artists who provide, in the opinion of IFFR, an essential contribution to international film culture.

Olaf de Fleur’s City State “stand-alone sequel”, Brave Men’s Blood, comes out in Icelandic cinemas this month. He says it is the “same tone” as the first film but on a slightly bigger budget (still less than $1m). “The reason for the sequel is that I felt something in my chest that had to come out,” he says.

  Darri Ingolfsson (Dexter) leads the cast; Celluloid Dreams/Mongrel Media represent sales rights. Meanwhile, New Regency bought remake rights to crime thriller City State with James Mangold attached to direct.

   De Fleur, whose diverse credits include Berlinale 2008 award-winning Philippine transsexual story The Amazing Truth About Queen Raquela, is very much a rising star overseas — Summit bought his big-budget sci-fi script Revoc, and he will direct that film in English. The story follows a man who is an alien interrogator working after aliens invade Earth. “I’ve always been a sci-fi fan. I let myself think very freely,” the writer-director says.

Directed by: Olaf de Fleur. Screenplay: Hrafnkell Stefansson and Olaf de Fleur. Starring: Darri Ingolfsson, Agusta Eva Erlendsdóttir, Ingvar E. Sigurdsson, Sigurdur Sigurjonsson, Zlatko Krickic and Hilmir Snaer Gudnason. 95 minutes.

BRAVE MEN'S BLOOD

★★★★

It's a wrap!

Filming is over for Poppoli Pictures new feature film, 'Brave Men's Blood', which is a stand alone sequel to Poppoli's critically acclaimed 2011 film 'City State'.

Directed by Olaf de Fleur, based on a screenplay by Hrafnkell Stefánsson and Olaf de Fleur, the film stars Darri Ingolfsson (Dexter), Ágústa Eva Erlendsdóttir (Jar City), Ingvar E. Siguðursson (K-19: The Widowmaker), Sigurður Sigurjónsson, Zlatko Krickic and Hilmir Snær Guðnason (Angels of The Universe) with an appearance by J.J. Field (Captain America: The First Avenger)

A new science-fiction story is on the horizon and this one hails all the way from the Nordic nation of Iceland. Olaf de Fleur Johannesson, who has become well known in his home country for his action thriller Borgríki (known here in the U.S. as City State) has sold a pitch to Summit Entertainment for a new sci-fi action movie called Revoc. 

The Hollywood Reporter first reported the news about the acquisition, but just about all details about the plot are being kept under wraps at this time. The only thing that's known about the story is that it is in the same vein as Neill Blomkamp's District 9 and Duncan Jones' Moon and is "a post-alien invasion." Given those comparisons it sounds as though the movie is going to be a lower-budget affair and be a bit more character based than standard blockbusters. David Hoberman and Todd Lieberman of Manderville Films will be producing the project, making it the second time that they have paired up with Summit. Their first collaboration, the zomromcom Warm Bodies, will be in theaters early next year. 

City State has been released on DVD in the United Kingdom.

Buy it now on Amazon

The writing duo behind 2001′s Lara Croft: Tomb Raider feature has been tapped to remake the Icelandic thriller, City State for New Regency.  Patrick Massett and John Zinman will pen the new version of Olaf de Fleur Johannesson’s 2011 feature.  We previously reported that directorJames Mangold (Walk the Line) would be moving onto City State after wrapping on The Wolverine.The story of City State follows four characters caught in the cross-hairs of a drug syndicate and juggles “a crooked police captain in love with a prostitute, an aging crime boss with a heart condition looking to get out of the game alive, a mechanic determined to avenge the death of his unborn child, and a female cop who is attacked by thugs and takes matters into her own hands.”  Hit the jump for more on City State.

EOne has acquired U.K. and Canada rights to Olaf de Fleur's "City State," a crime thriller that has been snapped up for international distribution by Hengameh Panahi's Gallic sales-production house Celluloid Dreams.

Panahi is also bringing "City State" sequel "Brave Men's Blood" to the Cannes Market.

The eOne buy, Celluloid Dreams' double pickup and other early reactions to "City State" -- including negotiations for a U.S. remake with a view to James Mangold ("Knight and Day") directing -- mark Iceland's de Fleur ("The Amazing Truth About Queen Raquela") as a talent to track.

  Nominations for the Edda, the Icelandic Film Awards, were announced this past weekend and Poppoli Pictures is proud to have received 13 nominations for the features City State and Polite People that both saw theatrical releases in Iceland in 2011. CITY STATE received 9 nominations including best picture, best director; Olaf de Fleur and best actor; Sigurður Sigurjónsson. Furthermore, Polite People received 4 nominations including best script and Eggert Þorleifsson received best supporting actor nomination for his outstanding performance as Markell the mayor. We at Poppoli Pictures are thrilled and honored and wish to express out deepest gratitute to all our crew and cast and everyone who helped us make these films become a reality, especially The Icelandic Film Centre and Myndform, our national distributor. The Edda Film Awards will be held on February 18th and will be broadcasted live throughout the country. For a full list of nominations for both films please see below.

  City State:

- BEST PICTURE -

Best Director: Olaf De Fleur

Best Actor: Sigurður Sigurjónsson

Cinamatography: Bjarni Felix Bjarnason & Gunnar Heidar

Editing: Olaf de Fleur & Sigurður Eyþórsson

Sound: Gunnar Arnason

Production Design: Heimir Sverrisson

Costume Design: Ellen Loftsdottir

Make Up: Elín Reynisdóttir & Eygló Ólöf Birgisdóttir

  Polite People:

Best Script: Olaf De Fleur Johannesson & Hrafnkell Stefánsson

Best Supporting Actress: Halldóra Geirharðsdóttir & Margrét Ákadóttir

Criminal Element | Leslie Gilbert Elman

Now that Contraband, based on the Icelandic film Reykjavík-Rotterdam and with a screenplay by crime novelist Arnaldur Indridason (Indriðason), has hit box-office gold, how long before the next American thriller based on an Icelandic film is announced? Apparently not long at all. Word is the 2011 low-budget Icelandic film Borgríki (City State) will be given the full Hollywood treatment.

By Thorarinn Thorarinsson

★★★★

City State; A hardboiled crime thriller.

Let’s get straight to the point. Olaf De Fleur’s CityState is an incredibly cool hardboiled crime thriller which raises the bar for the Icelandic crime thriller genre. The actors were fantastic, the cinematography was slick, and the film has an intoxicatingly cool style and feel about it.

It doesn’t hurt that the film realistically depicts Iceland’s underworld, with of course minor embellishes to build suspense. Even though the violence in the film is very rough, it’s very tastefully handled and shouldn’t drive anyone away. The fights scenes are beautifully choreographed by Mjölnir MMA fight-club.

Olaf De Fleur is a gentle soul, as witnessed in his previous films and would never offer up an empty plate of action and violence. You could say that film is split up in three parts; Sergej a Serbian immigrant, Andrea a young policewoman and Gunnar a crime boss. None of these characters are model citizens but still you can’t help connecting with them and the people in their lives.

The worlds of these three characters collide violently, when Sergej’s wife miscarries after an attack from Gunnar’s thugs. Sergej proceeds to gather a group of tough fellow Serbians, comes full force, after his new enemy Gunnar. Andrea and her police cohorts then land smack in the middle of Gunnar’s and Sergej’s personal war.

It’s certainly not easy to create a story with as many characters as City State and manage to weave them expertly together like Olaf does in the film. He’s not re-inventing the wheel, and uses a story telling device from Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs, which was clearly the best solution to a complex story.

Twitch writer Swarez last year got involved in making a short movie which he co-wrote and directed with the help of friends including Icelandic filmmaker Olaf De Fleur. After much encouragement UNDYING LOVE was shot in 2010 and is currently in post production for release very shortly creating a little zombie epic, its only 30 seconds long no dialect, some sound but very powerful stuff,check it out….