LevelK Boards Norwegian Psycho-Thriller 'Anathema' Ahead of Haugesund Pitch
Copenhagen-based sales outfit LevelK has boarded worldwide rights to "Anathema," a Norwegian psycho-thriller from writer-directors Ea Johanne Sandberg and Alpha Nord, according to Variety Variety. The film carries a budget of roughly $1.7 million and is one of 21 projects being pitched to financiers and distributors at the Nordic Co-Production Market in Haugesund on 26 August.
The story centres on Dafne, who lives in a valley with her mother and a man named Bror. When Bror vanishes, then returns drowned and dead, the town refuses to accept it — spiralling into collective delusion and insisting on celebrating his wedding. The film is billed as a "visceral, unsettling exploration of repression, denial and collective madness" Variety.
"Anathema" is the first feature under Empathitude Pictures, a banner set up in 2025 between Oslo and Copenhagen by producers Janne Hjeltnes and Anne Borgaard Sørensen. Hjeltnes comes from Netflix's "Royalteen" and "Midsummer Night"; Sørensen's credits include "Camino" and "Bullshit," and she is a former top executive at the streaming service Viaplay and The Global Ensemble Drama. Both are also credited on "No Paradise If You Are Killed by a Woman," a film bound for the Venice festival.
Financing is structured as a three-way co-production — a deal where multiple companies in different countries pool resources and split rights — between Empathitude Pictures in Norway, Empathitude Pictures in Denmark, and Junafilm in Germany, with backing from the Norwegian Film Institute. Empathitude's development slate also received Creative Media support in summer 2026. At New Nordic Films, the industry sidebar running 25–28 August as part of the Norwegian Film Festival in Haugesund, the Empathitude co-heads are seeking further co-financiers and distributors for "Anathema" and their broader film and series slate.
Sandberg and Nord are newer voices on the scene. Their graduation short "Liminal Space" was selected for the New York City Independent Film Festival in 2025. "Anathema" marks their jump to feature-length work.
LevelK, led in PR and marketing by Natascha Degnova, has a track record of moving Nordic titles into the international market. Swedish director Fanny Ovesen's "Live a Little," repped by LevelK, was picked up for US distribution by Breaking Glass Pictures, as reported by Variety on 13 August Variety.
Norway fields the largest delegation at this year's Nordic Co-Production Market, with seven of the 21 selected projects — a signal of how active the country's independent sector has become on the European co-production circuit.
What stands out about "Anathema" is the contrast between its lean budget and its ambition: a genre film built on psychological unease rather than spectacle, shepherded by producers with both streaming-scale and art-house experience. For audiences, that combination could mean a film that punches well above its weight when it reaches screens — though no release date has been set.
