Jonas Poher Rasmussen will direct the adaptation of The Dane Trilogy
Award-winning Danish writer and director Jonas Poher Rasmussen (Flee) is on board a new animated project. The film, currently under the working title of Data (dansker) is based on the comic series The Dane Trilogy.
Created by Halfdan Pisket, an emerging Danish creator and winner of the Angoulême 2019 Comics Award, the three-book series was first published between 2014 and 2016. The trilogy focuses on identity and integration and draws heavily from Pisket's own father's real-life experiences. The main character of the series, James, is forced to leave his home country of Turkey and struggles to integrate once he arrives in Denmark. From there, he turns to the criminal underworld and his family serves as the key to his survival.
Rasmussen told a Variety, ““ I have personally read The Dane Trilogy a couple of years ago and I was immediately drawn to the brutal and psychedelic approach to a very personal story. I read it all in one breath. I was really impressed afterwards and I was surprised how Halfdan Pisket managed to fascinate me and make me feel empathy towards such an unpleasant protagonist ”.
Rasmussen's acclaimed animated film Flee won the first prize at Sundance and the award for best animated film in Annecy in June. It was also nominated for the Nordic Council Film Prize. The film, which looks like a major awards season this year, will be released by NEON in the US on December 3rd. You can read our interview with the director here.
Data it will be led by full-service production company Ja Film. Dutch studio Submarine is also one of the co-producers of the project. Anders Berthelsen, co-founder of Ja Film and one of the project's three producers, noted that Rasmussen is writing a second draft of the script with Flee script consultant Eskil Vogt. Marie Stokholm Wernicke and Lise Uldbjerg Jørgensen are also the producers.
