Iceland's Elma crime drama sets October 15 launch as Glassriver heads to MIPCOM
Iceland has a new television detective. Elma, a crime thriller from Icelandic producer Glassriver, will launch domestically on Síminn's streaming service on October 15.
The series will premiere on Sjónvarp Símans Premium, Síminn's pay streaming service, according to the company. The launch was reported by Deadline on October 9.
Unnur Birna Backman stars as police detective Elma. She previously appeared in Reykjavík Fusion and Black Sands, according to Deadline.
The story starts with a break-up. Elma flees to her small hometown after a romantic affair leaves her heartbroken, according to WorldScreen. She lands in Akranes, a small port town in Iceland, where old secrets come back to the surface.
Elma is adapted from Eva Björg Ægisdóttir's book series. Glassriver has optioned the rights to all five books in the series. The scriptwriter and showrunner, the writer in charge of the series, is Karen Björg Eyfjörð Þorsteinsdóttir. It is directed by Katrín Björgvinsdóttir and Þóra Hilmarsdóttir.
The business behind the show crosses borders. Elma is a co-production, meaning it is made jointly by partners in two countries, with Belgium's Lunamine. It is represented globally by Mediawan, which handles international sales, and it already has a pre-sale to Finland's MTV, meaning the Finnish broadcaster bought the rights before the series was finished.
Glassriver is also taking a second title to market. The company is bringing NCU to MIPCOM Cannes, the annual market in France where broadcasters and streamers buy and sell programmes. NCU is billed as Iceland's first scripted procedural series, a drama built around a new case in each episode.
MIPCOM Cannes 2026 is scheduled for 12-15 October at the Palais des Festivals in Cannes, according to MIPCOM.
For viewers outside Iceland, this means Elma will first be a local launch with international deals still to come. The MIPCOM meetings next week are where those next sales are normally agreed.
