Viaplay’s The Fortress, SVT’s Blackwater win big at Series Mania

NOTE: This article is a republication- Source: Nordisk Film & TV Fond (by Annika Pham).

The Norwegian series Fortress produced by Maipo Film won Best Screenplay and the Swedish show Blackwater produced by Apple Tree Productions Best Series Int’l Panorama.

The Fortress (Festning Norge) was the only Norwegian show selected for Series Mania competition, out of nearly 400 submissions from 63 countries.

The 7x45’ series was jointly written and created by Linn-Jeanethe Kyed (Rod Knock, Born2Drive) and John Kåre Råke (The Quake) after the two became aware of a trend towards political isolationism in Western Europe, particularly acute after the 2015 refugee crisis.

The solid creative team takes in concept directors Cecilie Mosli (Mammon, Grey's Anatomy) and Mikkel Brænne Sandemose (State of Happiness) and main actors Tobias Santelmann, Selome Emnetu and Russell Tovey.

Set in the year 2037, the story features an enormous wall that surrounds Norway, where its people enjoy privileged and sheltered lives in a self-sufficient Nordic paradise. But when a deadly pandemic breaks out, the inhabitants soon realise that the wall intended to protect them, is instead holding them prisoner.

John-Kåre Raake who was on hand at the Series Mania awards ceremony last Friday said about his win: “Our ambition, and the fundamental theme of The Fortress, is that to solve the enormous challenges the world is faced with, everyone needs everyone. By telling this story, we want to show that withdrawing a nation from the world community and putting yourself first is not the best solution. So we are absolutely thrilled that an international jury understands and recognises this by awarding us the prize for best screenplay,” he said.

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