Danish star Ulrich Thomsen is moving behind the camera and is presenting his directorial debut, In Embryo, at Berlin’s Co-Production Market.

Best known for his roles in Thomas Vinterberg’s Festen and Brothers and Adam’s Apples, Thomsen’s first feature is an intense English-language drama about a drug dealer who falls in love with a mysterious beauty.

“Together they go on a journey supposed to be a new beginning but which becomes a fatal journey into an abyss of fear and trauma and violence,” the writer-director explained.

The film will be set against a backdrop of gangsters and drug dealers. “There are a few rough things in it but my approach will be more poetic, especially in terms of the sex,” Thomsen added.

The $4m (€3m) project will be handled internationally by Bavaria Film International. It is being produced through Cine Plus Filmproduktion and Royal Pony Film, with Danish powerhouse Zentropa as the co-producer.