Swedish-Polish director Magnus von Horn’s dark period drama “The Girl With the Needle” will compete for the Palme d’Or at the 77th Cannes Film Festival. PvNew has been given exclusive access to a first-look clip from the film.
Written by von Horn and Line Langebek (“I’ll Come Running”), “The Girl With the Needle” is loosely based on the true story of Dagmar Overbye, a Danish woman who established an underground adoption agency in post-World War I Copenhagen to help poor women dealing with unwanted pregnancies.
Starring Trine Dyrholm (“In a Better World,” “Queen of Hearts”), Vic Carmen Sonne (“Godland,” “Holiday”) and Besir Zeciri (“Wildland”), the film follows Karoline (Sonne), a young factory worker who is struggling to survive on the fringes of society. When she finds herself unemployed, abandoned and pregnant, she meets Dagmar (Dyrholm), a charismatic shopkeeper who helps poor mothers to find foster homes for their unwanted children.
With nowhere else to turn, Karoline takes on the role of a wet-nurse, and a strong connection forms between the two women. But Karoline’s world shatters when she stumbles upon the shocking truth behind her work.
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In the exclusive clip below, Karoline arrives at Dagmar’s doorstep and appeals to the woman for help in finding her newborn a home:
Von Horn’s third feature marks a stylistic departure from his previous movies. Lensed in moody black-and-white by “Sweat” cinematographer Michal Dymek, it is both the director’s first foray into period drama and his first stab at genre.
Describing the film as a “fairy tale for grownups,” von Horn says he was motivated “not to just make a straight genre piece [but] to flirt with genre.” “That became a great lens to look at the story, for me and the cinematographer and the set designers and the costumes,” he says.
Born in Göteborg, Sweden, and an alumnus of Poland’s venerable Lodz Film School, von Horn has become a regular fixture in Cannes since his feature debut, “The Here After,” premiered in the festival’s Directors’ Fortnight sidebar in 2015. His sophomore effort, “Sweat,” was also part of the festival’s official selection during its 2020 pandemic edition, and would go on to travel widely, securing U.S. distribution with Mubi.
“The Girl With the Needle” is produced by the Nordisk Film Creative Alliance in co-production with Lava Films and Nordisk Film Production Sverige. It’s co-produced with Film i Väst, EC1 Łódź Film Fund and the Lower Silesia Film Center and co-financed by the Danish Film Institute, the Polish Film Institute, the Swedish Film Institute, DR, SVT, Nordisk Film & TV Fond and Eurimages and Creative Europe Media. The producers are Malene Blenkov and Mariusz Włodarski. The executive producers are Henrik Zein, Calle Marthin, Katrine Vogelsang and Lone Scherfig. The Match Factory is handling world sales.
The Cannes Film Festival runs May 14 – 25.
