FIRST SALES FOR SWEDISH BOX-OFFICE HIT HAMMARSKJÖLD – FIGHT FOR PEACE STARRING MIKAEL PERSBRANDT

While Hammarskjöld – Fight For Peace enjoys an outstanding box office success in Sweden and continues to hold a spot in the Top 3 of the weekly box office charts, Beta Cinema has sold the inspiring biopic to Italy (Rai Cinema), France (Swift Productions), Spain (Twelve Oaks), Portugal (Outsider Films) and Former Yugoslavia (Discovery). A US deal currently is in negotiations. Hammarskjöld – Fight For Peace is directed and co-written by acclaimed director Per Fly (Backstabbing For Beginners, Borgen) and stars one of Europe´s most popular actors, Mikael Persbrandt (In A Better World, Sex Education) as Dag Hammarskjöld.

The story is set in New York City, 1961. At the peak of the Cold War, the charismatic diplomat Dag Hammarskjöld has reached the pinnacle of his power, serving as Secretary-General of the United Nations. After decolonization, he takes it upon himself to bring peace to the African countries, thwarting plans to further exploit resources of both powerful entrepreneurs and world leaders. Just when his old friend Peter shows up in New York, turning his life upside down, Dag boards a plane towards the Congo, in a final attempt to negotiate a cease-fire… 

Hammarskjöld – Fight For Peace was released in Sweden on Dec 25 and is a major hit at the local box office, selling more than 260,000 tickets so far - making it the most seen film of the year – and grossing more than 3,450,000 USD at the box office. The gripping true story-drama celebrated its international premiere at the Rotterdam Film Festival, where it made its way into the Top 10 of the Audience Award Ranking.

Hammarskjöld – Fight For Peace is helmed by the award-winning Danish director and screenwriter Per Fly (The Bench, The Inheritance, Manslaughter, Monica Z). Fly also wrote and directed the feature film Backstabbing for Beginners (2018), produced by A24, with Theo James and Ben Kingsley in the leading roles. In 2022 he directed the hugely successful, BAFTA-winning TV Series Borgen. Fly currently is in preproduction of the Nordic crime series Reservatet for Netflix.

The cast is led by iconic actor Mikael Persbrandt (In A Better World, Everlasting Moments, The Hobbit Netflix's Sex Education and Lars von Trier's The Kingdom Exodus). The film also features Francis Chouler (Dam, Eye In the Sky, Troy: Fall Of A City), Cian Barry (Nina Forever, Doctor Foster), Colin Salmon (Resident Evil, Arrow, East Enders), Sara Soulié (Nymphs, The Guardian Angel), Hakeem Kae-Kazim (Hotel Rwanda, Pirates Of The Caribbean: At World's End), Thure Lindhart (Flame & Citron, Keep The Lights On, Into The Wild, The Bridge) and Richard Brake (Batman Begins, 31, Mandy).

Hammarskjöld – Fight For Peace is produced by Patrick Ryborn of Unlimited Stories - Beta Nordic Studios’ Swedish powerhouse - in coproduction with Nordisk Film, SVT, Film I Väst, TV4, Nordsvensk Filmunderhållning, Maipo Film, Meta Film, Per Fly APS and Cambo Productions. The movie is supported by the Swedish Film Institute, the Nordisk Film & TV-Fond and the Norwegian Film Institute, in association with Beta Film, Do Productions and DR.

Founded in 2019, Beta Nordic Studios focuses on local scripted projects with an international appeal, leveraged via Beta Film’s international distribution network. Under the umbrella of BNS are Swedish Unlimited Stories (Hammarskjöld, Missing People), Icelandic Sagafilm (The Minister, Stella Blomkvist), and Norwegian Cinenord (International Emmy: Atlantic Crossing).

Beta Cinema will host two market premiere screenings for Hammarskjöld – Fight For Peace at EFM: on Thursday, February 15 at 5pm at CinemaxX2 and on Saturday, Feb 17 at 9:10am at CinemaxX1.