The year is 1402. Margrete has achieved what no man has managed before. She has gathered Denmark, Norway and Sweden into a peace-oriented union, which she singlehandedly rules through her young, adopted son, Erik. The union is beset by enemies, however, and Margrete is therefore planning a marriage between Erik and an English princess. An alliance with England should secure the union’s status as an emerging European power but a breathtaking conspiracy is under way that can tear Margrete and all she believes in apart.

"Margrete I was an impressive woman and I want to tell her story, as it has, surprisingly, remained untold on screen. I will give her a voice and tell the story about one of Europe's strongest rulers. The woman who created the Kalmar Union, a union between Denmark, Norway and Sweden, that was to last for 126 years, and the woman who ruled despite and not because of her gender”, said Charlotte Sieling, director. 

“Margrete – Queen of the North is a modern portrait of a woman whose challenges were, despite a 600 year time gap, not all that different from those which women are struggling with today: career, family, motherhood. The film will show what price Margrete I had to pay to be an incomparable leader", Charlotte Sieling continued.

Trine Dyrholm has gained great recognition both at home and internationally for her role in May El-Toukhy's critically acclaimed and award-winning Queen of Hearts (2019) and has just received her 10th Robert Award for the role. Trine Dyrholm is one of Denmark’s greatest actresses with an impressive theatre, television and film career. She made her film debut in Spring Tide (1990, Bodil® winner, best leading role) and has since then starred in, amongst others Festen/The Celebration (1998), In Your Hands (2004), the Silver Bear Award winner A Soap (2006), the Oscar winning In a Better World (2010), A Royal Affair (2012), Love Is All You Need (2012) and the TV series The Legacy (2014-17). In 2016, Trine Dyrholm became the first Danish woman to receive a Silver Bear for Best Actress for her role in The Commune, and has since also appeared in Nico, 1988 (2017), You Disappear (2017) and Young Astrid (2018). Trine Dyrholm has just received a Bodil nomination for her role in Queen of Hearts (2019).

Charlotte Sieling directed the feature film The Man (2017) with Søren Malling and Jakob Oftebro. Shortly before, she returned from the United States after working on a large number of major television series, such as White Collar (2013), Homeland (2014), The Americans (2014), Wayward Pines (2015) and Queen of the South (2016). Charlotte Sieling made her debut as a director in 2009 with the drama Above the Street, Below the Water featuring Sidse Babett Knudsen, Anders W. Berthelsen and Nicolas Bro, and was thereafter director of three major television successes – The Killing (2007-2009), The Bridge (2011) (BAFTA nominee, 2011, Best International Feature Film) and Borgen (2013) (Robert winner, 2014, Danish television series of the year). Most recently, she directed HBO's upcoming horror series Lovecraft Country, created by Jordan Peele and Misha Greene, and produced by JJ Abrams.

Charlotte Sieling co-wrote the script for Margrete – Queen of the North with Jesper Fink (Before the Frost, 2018) and Maya Ilsøe (The Legacy, 2014-17). Rasmus Videbæk (A Royal Affair, 2012) is the DOP. In 2019, Videbæk won a Silver Bear for best cinematography in Out Stealing Horses. Søren Schwartzberg (Before the Frost, 2018, The Man, 2017) is the production designer and Manon Rasmussen (A Royal Affair 2012, The Hunt 2012, Melancholia 2011) is the costume designer.

The film will be produced by SF Studios with producers Birgitte Skov and Lars Bredo Rahbek and co-producer Jon Nohrstedt in co-production with Norway’s Filmkameratene, The Czech Republic’s Sirena Film and with the support of the Danish Film Institute, The Swedish Film Institute, The Norwegian Film Institute, Czech Film Fund, Nordic Film & TV Fund, Eurimages, TV2 (Denmark), TV4/C More, NRK (Norway) and Creative Europe Programme - MEDIA of the European Union.

“Margrete - Queen of the North is a page turner of a script and a truly grand ambition which has generated record-breaking grants from financiers. This is proof of the strength of Charlotte Sieling’s vision. It’s been a true joy developing and financing the film and we are thrilled that we are now ready to shoot”, said Birgitte Skov and Lars Bredo Rahbek, producers at SF Studios Denmark.

Margrete - Queen of the North will start production on March 2. It is expected to premiere in the first half of 2021. SF Studios will distribute the film in the Nordics and REinvent Studios will handle international sales.

For more information, please contact:​
Camilla Baggesen, Press Manager, SF Studios, +45 20 74 06 50

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 digital services SF Anytime and SF Kids. SF Studios is part of the leading Nordic media company Bonnier.