According to industry reports, the BBC has acquired Oscar-nominated director Thomas Vinterberg’s first TV series.
The corporation has picked up the apocalyptic Families Like Ours from Studiocanal.
Families Like Ours, which premiered in Venice and launched on Scandi broadcasters and Canal+ late last year, is set in Denmark in a not-too-distant future where rising water levels can no longer be ignored, and the country needs to be evacuated. As people disperse in all directions, they must bid farewell to what they love, what they know, and who they are.
The series, shot across five countries, was shown in Venice and Toronto. It stars Amaryllis August, Albert Rudbeck Lindhardt, Nikolaj Lie Kaas, Paprika Steen, Helene Reingaard Neumann, Magnus Millang, Esben Smed, Thomas Bo Larsen, David Dencik, Asta Kamma August, and Max Kaysen Høyrup.
Vinterberg said he has always had a “deep connection with the UK, and as you will see, it also plays a part in this series.” “Therefore, it is with eager anticipation that I now await how a new audience will receive Families Like Ours. I am very thankful to the BBC for delivering this story to a nation with which I feel such a close kinship,” he added.
Vinterberg is a storied Danish director who made 2020’s Oscar-nominated Mads Mikkelsen-starrer Another Round. The film is currently being remade in English with Leonardo Di Caprio and Chris Rock. Past credits include The Hunt and Far From the Madding Crowd.
The BBC has long been a buyer of Scandi drama and was an early acquirer of hits like The Bridge.
Bo Hr co-wrote Families Like Ours. Hansen and produced by Lars von Trier’s Zentropa Entertainments for TV 2 Denmark, Studiocanal and Canal+. It was co-funded by The Danish Film Institute – Public Service Fund, The European Union and Nordisk Film & TV Fond in co-production with NRK, TV4, Ard Degeto, co-produced by Film I Väst, Sirena Film, Zentropa Sweden, Saga Film and Ginger Pictures, co-produced with the support from Czech Film Fund and BNP Paribas Fortis Film Finance in collaboration with Canal+ Poland and M7. It is distributed by StudioCanal.
