At the origin of this unique bi-national crime investigation is writer Hans Rosenfeld (183 Days), lead author of the series who developed the concept with episode writers Nikolai Scherfig (Unit One) and Måns Mårlin (Storm). The plot centers around a spectacular murder on the Øresund bridge, right on the border between Sweden and Denmark that forces police squads from both countries to work together. The other twist is that the body found consists of two different halves: the top is from a Swedish politician, and the bottom from a Danish prostitute. The police duo leading the investigation over the ten part series (similar to DR's The Killing) are Martin Rohde (Kim Bodnia) from Denmark and his Swedish counterpart Saga Norén (Sofia Helin) - pictured. Martin is a laid-back family man, and Saga, a skillful police officer but also a social misfit. As for the murderer, he is described as a ‘moral terrorist' who methodically exposes truths that he feels are ignored by the public in its daily life.
For Filmlance International's Anders Landström who shares the main production credit with his Danish colleague Bo Ehrhardt (Nimbus Film), the main characters and the plot offer new intriguing turns to the crime genre, re-invented as well via the innovative Danish/Swedish set up where the two languages are spoken throughout the series and cast and crew members are split equally between the two nationalities. The experienced Danish director Charlotte Sieling (Chronicle) is concept director and her Swedish alter-egos Lisa Siwe and Henrik Georgsson are attached to the following episodes.
Behind the scenes, the challenge for the Danish and Swedish crews was to work for the seven month shooting time in the two languages, with different working habits. "It was a bit tough," admits Landström, "but something very interesting came out of it. We had to make things work, despite our differences such as the Danish hierarchical working methods, totally dissimilar from our flat organizational way. "We had lots of fun with clichés about each other" admitted Nimbus Film's Ehrhardt. "We hope Swedish and Danish audiences will react positively. DR media did a test-screening which showed that Danish audiences felt the Swedish part brought added value with Swedish actors unknown to them."
The €80m crime series was co-financed by SVT, DR, ZDF, NRK, Nelonen, Film i Skåne and Film i Väst, with support from the MEDIA Programme and Nordisk Film & TV Fond. ZDF Enterprises which handles international sales outside Scandinavia will introduce the series at the upcoming MIPCOM in Cannes. According to Landström, leading foreign broadcasters have already shown strong interest and talks around a second season are underway.