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Netflix goes Nordic Noir with new Swedish thriller

Are you a fan of Scandinavian crime series? You're in for a treat.

Published: 8 September 2017 08:14 CEST

Netflix goes Nordic Noir with new Swedish thriller

Netflix and chill. Photo: AP Photo/Elise Amendola

Netflix has ordered its first Swedish original series from one of the writers of worldwide hit 'The Bridge', capitalizing on the huge global appetite for Scandinavian noir television.

Adapted from the international best-seller by novellist Malin Persson Giolito, 'Quicksand' tells the story of a teenager on trial for murder after a mass school shooting in an affluent Stockholm suburb.

Published in 26 countries and voted Nordic Crime Novel of the year in 2016, the story has been adapted for TV by Camilla Ahlgren, the head writer on Danish-Swedish thriller 'The Bridge', and will go into production in 2018.

“Malin Persson Giolito's novel 'Störst av allt' ('Quicksand') is an original, fresh and suspenseful drama that we believe will make a fantastic Netflix series,” producer Pontus Edgren said in a statement.

“We asked one of Scandinavia's most respected writers, Camilla Ahlgren, to work with us and she was equally thrilled.”

Ahlgren said it would be “a great honour and challenge” to rework the thriller and love story about “guilt, responsibility, punishment and redemption” for TV.

Malin Persson Giolito with her novel 'Störst av allt'. Photo: Sören Andersson/TT

The 'Scandi-crime' genre – sometimes known as 'Nordic Noir' – has produced numerous global hit shows and movies in recent years, including 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo' and its sequels, 'Borgen', 'Wallander' and 'The Killing'.

'The Bridge' (2011) – shown in over 100 countries and remade in both the US and in a British-French reworking called 'The Tunnel – begins with the discovery of a dead body exactly on the centre of the crossing over the Öresund Strait between Malmö and Copenhagen.

“Sweden has a tradition of great crime literature and series and we've been looking for something special in this area,” said Erik Barmack, Netflix's vice president of international original series.

How Extinction Rebellion is training up budding climate activists in Berlin

Extinction Rebellion protesters near Berlin's Potsdamer Platz. Photo: DPA

Seated on the floor, Extinction Rebellion (XR) activists are rehearsing blocking a street at the base of a disused building
in central Berlin, one of their planned actions to pressure governments to “tell the truth” about “climate and ecological emergency”.

After the police issue three warnings, “now they're going to clear you out. It's time to close ranks on the ground!” shouts Tori, an energetic 20-year-old organizer.

A young Berliner, she and other activists prefer not to be named.

READ ALSO: Climate activists block traffic in Berlin as protests heat up

On this cold autumn morning, the XR group is training non-violent civil disobedience, a core technique of the movement since it was founded in Britain last year.

Around 150 people, from dyed-in-the-wool supporters to total climate protest beginners, have gathered at the “House of Statistics”, a former East German government building close to the unmistakeable TV tower at Alexanderplatz.

In a crash course lasting just three hours, they are being integrated into a global environmentalist movement that has made itself felt across the world since Monday.

The roughly gender-balanced attendees are mostly young, between 20 and 30, and white.

Sitting on the ground wearing woollen hats and scarves against the long hours exposed to the chill, the would-be demonstrators fold their arms beneath their thighs.

'Little package'

“Turn yourself into a little package,” one of the organizers advises.

His dreadlocks tied into a bun, he encourages participants to come together in “buddy groups” of ten or so strong to provide mutual support during the sit-ins.

Police with demonstrators in Berlin. Photo: DPA

Then fellow activists playing the role of police begin lifting them from the ground to clear them away.

“If I'm arrested, should I let them take my photo and my fingerprints?” asks one man.

“Can I wear an animal face mask?” asks another.

A third wonders “Can I ask them for vegan food while I'm in custody?”

Now the assembly have gathered around a disused dodgem car stand and are passing around a flask of hot tea.

“Hide your face as little as possible during an action… keep ID on you…leave your mobile phone at home,” Tori advises.

READ ALSO: What are the key points of Merkel's new climate strategy?

Everyone should “ask themselves what their limits are” before blocking a bridge or stopping car traffic, she adds, saying none of the 150 people present should feel bad about leaving a barricade before the police arrive or failing to expose themselves to arrest.

A 28-year-old student calling himself “the lion” tells AFP he's happy to go all the way.

“Civil disobedience is the only way to make my voice heard,” he believes.

'Pacifism'

Even so, “I'm a pacifist, and I've never been in a fight,” the young man adds.

Nearby, two women are following XR's guidelines by marking a phone number for a legal advice service on their arms, giving them a contact in case they are arrested.

“Extinction Rebellion does not commit crimes,” Tori tells her audience.

XR Protesters wear red at the Brandenburg Gate. Photo: DPA

“It's very important that you don't attack anyone either. Our top priority is non-violence,” she insists, repeating the message several times.

Around 2pm, the training is over, and there is no time for a break before another hundred-odd people arrive for the day's second session.

“Back when we started in February, we were doing one or two training sessions a month. Now it's three per week, and five per day these last few days,” she tells AFP.

Another activist shows up asking “if I'm cleared out by the police, am I allowed to come back and rejoin the sit-in?”, dragging the young trainer back into her work.

By Yannick Pasquet

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