The drama series "Below the Surface" will be making its world premiere at the Berlin Film Festival (9-19 February) in Berlinale Special Series, the section inaugurated in 2015 as an acknowledgement of the boom in serial storytelling. Festival audiences will be presented with the first two episodes of the series.
Kasper Barfoed is creator, head writer and concept director of the crime thriller series, based on an original idea by writers Adam Price ("Borgen") and Søren Sveistrup ("The Killing").
"Below the Surface" builds on one of the greatest horror scenarios of our time, an act of terrorism in the heart of a big city. In Copenhagen, 15 people have their lives turned upside down one morning in October when a metro train is hijacked by unidentified men, threatening to kill them one by one if their demands aren't met.
The series' eight episodes feature a number of both established and up-and-coming actors, led by Johannes Lassen (TV series "Follow the Money"), Paprika Steen ("Silent Heart") and Sara Hjort Ditlevsen (TV series "Rita") as the main cast.
Kasper Barfoed has previously worked in the series format with "Dicte" (2013-14) and "Those Who Kill" (2011). He made his feature debut with the children's film "My Sister's Kids in Egypt" (2004), followed by the adventure film "The Lost Treasure of the Knights Templar" (2006). He signed the two action thrillers "The Candidate" (2008) and "The Numbers Station" (2013), the latter a US production featuring John Cusack, and most recently the biographical comedy drama "Summer of '92" (2015).
"Below the Surface" is produced by SAM Productions for Kanal 5 of Discovery Networks Denmark with support from the Danish Film Institute's Public Service Fund and EU's Creative Europe Media. The drama series has attracted international attention and has already presold to several countries by sales agent Studiocanal, who is also a partner of SAM Productions and has helped to obtain a large part of the show's international financing.
SAM Productions, established in 2014, is a screenwriter-based TV production company owned equally by Meta Louise Foldager Sørensen, Adam Price, Søren Sveistrup and StudioCanal. Read interview with CEO Meta Louise Foldager Sørensen Exciting Times in a Booming Market.
Christoffer Boe pitching Warrior
Another series headed for Berlin is Christoffer Boe's "Warrior," which is selected for the Berlinale Co-production Market's CoPro Series, inviting producers, TV stations, distributors and series financiers to pitching sessions.
The thriller series, which Boe wrote with Simon Pasternak, follows a soldier returning home from war in Afghanistan. Miso Film is producing for TV 2, and the Danish Film Institute's Public Service Fund has backed the development of the series.
Danish participation at Berlin 2017
As per 30 January
- Loving Pia / feature film / dir. Daniel Borgman / prod. Adomeit Film / Forum
- Below the Surface / crime thriller series / dir. Kasper Barfoed / prod. SAM Productions / Berlinale Special Series
- A Trip to Mars (1918) / feature film / dir. Holger-Madsen / Retrospective
Co-productions
- Strong Island / documentary / dir. Yance Ford / US-DK / DK prod. Final Cut for Real / Panorama Documente
- Sami Blood / feature film / dir. Amanda Kernell / SE-DK / DK prod. Nordisk Film / NATIVe
- Sumé / documentary / dir. Inuk Silis Høegh / GL-DK-NO / DK prod. Bullitt Film / NATIVe
- Half&Half / short film / dir. Aka Hansen / GL-DK / DK prod. Uilu Stories / NATIVe
More names
- Esben Smed / actor / Shooting Star
Gidseltagningen
Historien tager udgangspunkt i et af vor tids største skrækscenarier, en terroraktion i hjertet af København. 15 mennesker får vendt op og ned på deres liv en tidlig morgen i oktober, da et metrotog bliver kapret af ukendte gerningsmænd, som truer med at likvidere dem én efter én, hvis de ikke får deres krav opfyldt.
