The Icelandic TV series Blackport won the Grand Prize at the 2021 Series Mania festival yesterday. Blackport will premiere on RÚV on December 26 and is produced by Vesturport in collaboration with RÚV, ARTE France, and Turbine Studios.
“On Cloud Nine”
Based in Lille since 2018, Series Mania is a festival dedicated solely to European TV shows. This year marked the first in-person iteration of the festival since 2019. During the festival’s award ceremony yesterday, the Icelandic TV series Blackport (Verbúð) was honoured with the Grand Prize in the International Competition.
“We’re on cloud nine,” actress Nína Dögg Filippusdóttir remarked, speaking to Iceland Review from her home in Reykjavík this morning. “We’re incredibly happy to have been accepted to the festival; we were competing with big productions, from the likes of HBO, so we weren’t exactly expecting to win. Being honoured with the grand prize far exceeded our expectations.”
Premieres on December 26
As noted by Screen Daily, Blackport is a “political thriller set in a once-thriving fishing port hit by quota restrictions in the mid-1980s.” Created by Nína Dögg Filippusdóttir, Gísli Örn Garðarson, and Björn Hlynur Haraldsson, the series – mainly shot in Suðureyri and the Greater Reykjavík area – entered into production last summer and wrapped in August.
“It’s been a long road, complicated by COVID-19; we shot part of the series in Hull and Grimsby, but travelling there last winter proved difficult in light of the pandemic,” Nína Dögg stated. The actress plays the lead role in the series along with Björn Hlynur Haraldsson. Blackport also features Gísli Örn Garðarsson, Unnur Ösp Stefánsdóttir, Hilmir Snær Guðnason, Ingvar E. Sigurðsson, Steinunn Ólína Þorsteinsdóttir, and Selma Björnsdóttir.
Blackport is produced by Vesturport in partnership with RÚV, ARTE France, and Turbine Studios. The series comprises eight episodes and will premiere on RÚV on December 26. “Before the premiere, we’ll be taking it to Mipcom in October and to another festival in Barcelona. From there, the ball will start rolling,” Nína Dögg stated.
