The year is 1918. World War I is coming to an end, and the Spanish flu is ravaging. A pastor returns home to his family in Norway to start a congregation, after several years as a missionary in Madagascar. With the help of a local mining company, he starts the work of building a church, but the place turns out to be an old South Sami burial ground. When it is decided that the remains should be removed, an indefinable evil begins to haunt the settlers.

Possession is a magnificent account of faith and doubt in the time of the pandemic, and how the Sami were treated by the Norwegian society around the beginning of the last century. The film describes a tight and strict time, where we get to know the beating hearts that strive to embrace their human nature, in a society that is far too cramped. In the center is a Sami girl who was adopted at a young age and is now being thrown out on an identity journey.

Possession is directed by the internationally acclaimed filmmaker Henrik M. Dahlsbakken, known for his genre film Project Z currently running in Norwegian cinemas, as well as the previous successes Another Happy Christmas and An Affair.

“This project is close to heart for me, and undoubtedly the most ambitious I have ever done. The South Sami culture has rarely been portrayed, and in Possession we also explore a supernatural aspect. How we humans can find our inner flame in the face of oppression and injustice”, says Henrik M. Dahlsbakken, director.

The lead actors are Norwegian star Jan Sælid (Curling King, Etaten) and the 10-year-old debutant Eva Nergård from Tromsø. The main cast also includes Tarjei Sandvik Moe (Skam, An Affair), Dennis Storhøi (The Heavy Water War), Benjamin Helstad (King of Devil’s Island), Nina Ellen Ødegård (Tottori), Alfred Ekker Strande (Blank, Lifetime) and Ellen Dorrit Petersen (Blind, Thelma). The shooting took place in the Røros area in the Inland.

Tarjei Sandvik Moe plays one of the leading roles in the film and changed his appearance greatly for the role as a priest's son with inner demons.

“Possession was a tough joy to record. A period horror with western elements, about the white man's oppression of indigenous peoples. There is a touch of Bergman and Ibsen in the visual combination of the realistic and the symbolic, the duality that exists in all the characters, while the film has a tremendous entertainment factor. This is going to be epic!”, says Tarjei Sandvik Moe, lead actor.

SF Studios distributes the film in the Nordic region, and this is the company’s third collaboration with filmmaker Dahlsbakken in the last three years. The Danish sales agent Reinvent International Sales handles all marketing and sales outside the Nordic region. The film is produced by Norwegian production company FilmBros with the support from Filminvest and the Norwegian Film Institute.

“We are proud to nurse and handle Henrik’s unique and talented storytelling once again. He always takes his audience on a cinematic road trip with unknown destination”, says Yaba Holst, Head of Nordic Acquisition at SF Studios.

“There is generally good demand for genre films, and we are already experiencing great interest in the film internationally”, says Helene Aurø, Sales & Marketing Director at Reinvent International Sales.

Possession will premiere in cinemas in Norway in February 2022.

For more information, please contact: 
Yaba Holst, Head of Nordic Acquisition, SF Studios, yaba.holst@sfstudios.se, +46 73 411 95 35
Malin Strihagen, VP Brand & Communications, SF Studios, malin.strihagen@sfstudios.se, +46 70 780 39 35
Helene Aurø, Sales & Marketing Director, Reinvent International Sales, helene.auro@reinvent.dk, +45 23 42 00 07

About SF Studios
SF Studios, established in 1919, is one of the world’s oldest film companies. Today SF Studios is the leading film studio in the Nordic region with its headquarters in Stockholm, Sweden and offices in Oslo, Copenhagen, Helsinki and London. The company is producing and distributing feature films and TV series as well as providing the streaming service SF Anytime. SF Studios is part of the leading Nordic media company Bonnier.

About REinvent
REinvent is a packaging, sales and financing studio all in one. REinvent has extensive knowledge of original trends and sales opportunities in both the Scandinavian and international markets and works with high profile European production companies.