Seasoned producer Yngve Sæther of Norwegian powerhouse Motlys, credited for Joachim Trier’s “Oslo, August 31st” and most recently Dag Johan Haugerud’s successful trilogy “Sex-Love-Dreams,” produced with Hege Hauff Hvattum, is heading off to Haugesund’s New Nordic Film Market with fast-on-the-rise Norwegian talent Johan Fasting and his directorial debut “How to Steal a Bike.”
The project, in early development, will be pitched at the Nordic Co-Production Market Aug. 20.
An established writer-showrunner, credited for the EFA winning comedy “Ninjababy,” series “Home Ground” (2018-2019) and Canneseries 2023 winner “Power Play,” all under Motlys’ label, Fasting is making the leap into feature length creation with a comedy drama about a young outcast girl who turns to bicycle theft to survive in Oslo and joins a community.
The main character Hedda (26), has a go at her first bicycle theft, which goes terribly wrong, until notorious bike thief Pål rescues her and takes her under his wing, teaching her the ropes of his trade.
“Whenever I bring the topic of bicycle thieves up with family and friends (which happens more and more as I’ve come to realize that everyone has a story), their first instinct is usually to express contempt for these damned thieves who should be jailed, executed, or preferably, and I quote: “burn in hell!” said the director, adding: “I’ve always stood by Roger Ebert’s description of films as “empathy machines,” and I’m quite certain we could all use a reminder that people who turn to crime often have better reasons for doing so than we have for imprisoning them.”
“How to Steal a Bike” will have “Home Ground’”s sentimentality and sense of community. It will have “Power Play”’s anarchistic streak. But it should also be bold enough to set aside the tools of television and let frost forming on lips or the sound of a kettle clicking off take up just as much space as dialogue, antagonism and momentum.”
Finding similarities between Fasting and Haugerud ’s unique writing talent in combining depth and lightness, Sæther said: “Anybody with a bike will relate to this story and myself I’ve had three bikes stolen once! It’s so frustrating. But in this film, Johan will get under the skin of a bicycle thief. It’s poetic, emotional and you do get to like the thief! It’s very much a study of an outsider who stumbles over this trade as a way to survive in rich Oslo and turns to a community that cares.”
An obvious reference will be Vittorio de Sica’s classic “The Bicycle Thief,” but also Tsai Ming-Liang movies, according to the producer.
So far, the $2.5 million pic has received development support from the Norwegian Film Institute and a minimum guarantee from local distributor Norsk Filmdistribusjon. Sæther will be looking for “all co-production and co-financing opportunities” in Haugesund.
“Sex-Love-Dreams” Distribution
At Haugesund’s Norwegian International Film Festival’s parallel confab, running over Aug. 19-22, the producer will also discuss his own trade secrets and experience of launching Haugerud’s “Sex-Love-Dreams” trilogy internationally at the panel Dreams of Being the Nordic Loveable – Promoting Nordic Films Internationally,’ hosted by Europa Distribution.
Sharing in advance with Variety some of his lessons learned, Sæther said: “Dag Johan had a very clear vision to deliver three films back to back about love, longing and sexuality, portrayed in a fresh and even funny way. Our goal was to produce them in the same year and premiere each one of them at ‘A’ festivals. It wasn’t evident they’d be selected, and we needed margins to be on our side,” he stressed.
Eventually “Sex” made it at Berlin’s Panorama 2024 where it won three awards, and “Love” was the first Norwegian film in 38 years to run for a Golden Lion in Venice 2024. “Dreams” didn’t make it in Cannes, but entered the Berlin competition where it scooped the coveted Golden Bear.
On the distribution side, having from the outset strong partners who believed in the core of the project was crucial.” We were lucky to partner with three high-profile Nordic arthouse distribution partners: Arthaus in Norway, Camera Film in Denmark and TriArt in Sweden who all believed in our concept, and some had released Dag Johan’s previous films “I Belong” and “Beware of Children.” When we unveiled the first clips at Göteborg’s Nordic Film Market in 2023, all were super enthusiastic and could see what we were trying to do.
Now looking back, we can see that depth and entertainment works; there is a market for that,” Sæther said, referring as well to the trilogy’s far-ranging international distribution via sales agent M-Appeal which licensed the rights to territories including the U.S. (Strand Releasing), the U.K. (Modern Films), France (Pyramide), and in addition to around 50 territories.
“The market right now is tough,” the seasoned producer admitted. “The streaming bubble has burst, many TV professionals are going back to feature film and competition is tight for public coin. A lot of people in the business have turned to other industries, and unfortunately, we will lose talent. But at Motlys [which turns 42 this year], we will continue to produce at the same pace. By working with talent over time – such as Dag Johan and Johan, we feel stronger and optimistic. What’s key to us is helping talent find the best project, not just making films to survive.
We should push boundaries and borders, help funders believe that it’s still possible to make auteur films that stand out on the global market. It would be easy to be conservative, but we simply have to take risks, try to find new talent who give us films or series that we didn’t know we would like.”
Sæther said the trilogy’s critical acclaim has opened many more doors internationally for the versatile Haugerud, but his next script should not be ready before spring 2026. “Dag Johan is writing a theatre play and a novel at the same time, while representing the trilogy at festivals. He’s kind of busy!!” he quipped.
Two of Haugerud’s films in the trilogy-“Dreams” and “Love” garnered a total of 10 nominations at Norway’s national film Amanda Awards, to be handed out Aug. 16 in Haugesund.
