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Seasoned actor Tinna Hrafnsdóttir has joined Icelandic counterparts Aníta Briem and Nanna Kristín Magnúsdóttir, successful female actors who have made with panache the leap to screenwriting, sharing the distinction of a nomination for best screenplay of a Nordic drama series.

Flying Iceland’s flag at this year’s Nordisk Film & TV Fond Prize, to be handed out Jan. 30 at Göteborg’s TV Drama Vision, Hrafnsdóttir is competing with her six-part family drama “Descendants,” co-written by Ottó Geir Borg (“The Valhalla Murders”) and Tyrfingur Tyrfingsson (“Wild Game”).

The TV show is her first experience as a long-form scripted director, following her feature film debut “Quake” which screened at multiple festivals and was acquired by Juno Films for North America and the UK.

The compelling story of sibling rivalry, loyalty and greed is set against the backdrop of Iceland’s booming tourist industry. We follow three siblings who end up at each other’s throats,...

Big-budget disaster series “Estonia,” Canneseries winner “Power Play” and “Painkiller,” the TV drama debut of Göteborg victor Gabriela Pilcher (“Amateur”) feature among the five contenders for next year’s Nordisk Film & TV Fond Prize which serves to underscore the robust breadth of current Nordic scripted series.

Also in the running is “Prisoner,” a second admired Canneseries main competition contender featuring “The Killing” star Sofie Gråbøl, and “Descendants,” the showrunning debut of famed Icelandic thesp Tinna Hrafnsdóttir.

Backed by the Göteborg Film Festival and the Nordisk Film & TV Fond, the 8th edition of the Prize, awarded to series’ main writers, pits Beta Film, the sales agent on “Estonia” and owner of its producer, “Bordertown’s” Fisher King, against Fremantle, owner of “Power Play” producer Motlys/Novemberfilm and Red Arrow Studios International, the sales agent on “Descendants.” REinvent International Sales handles sales on “Painkiller” and “Power Play.”

The Nordic drama series...

€2m invested in 11 films and TV series.

Gerrit Bekers’ Quentin Blake’s Box Of Treasures, a series of six animated stories by the UK illustrator and storyteller, has received backing from Screen Flanders in the latest tranche of funding that sees €2m invested in 11 films and TV series

It is produced by Walter Iuzzolino’s UK outfit Eagle Eye with Belgium’s Creative Conspiracy. The main animation studio is Spicy Acorn in Ghent. Aardman will sell the series internationally. BBC, Vrt and France Télé are also on board.

Screen Flanders is also backing Dorien Goertzen’s musical Just Like In...

Final film ‘Wolka’ is set for release later this year.

Icelandic filmmaker Árni Ólafur Ásgeirsson has died aged 49 following a short illness.

The filmmaker was finishing his latest feature film Wolka, a Poland-Iceland co-production that is planned for release later in 2021.

The crime drama, produced by Iceland’s Sagafilm and Poland’s Film Produkcja, is sold internationally by Arri Media. The story follows a woman who is released from a Polish prison and breaks her parole to try to find a woman in Iceland’s Westman Islands.

Ásgeirsson, known in Iceland as Árni Óli, debuted with short film Anna’s Day starring Iben Hjejle,...