Jessica Ask serves as Film i Vast production chief.

After celebrating its 20th anniversary earlier this month, Swedish regional film centre, Film i Väst in Trollhättan has confirmed that it will join four major co-productions, including Danish director Lars von Trier’s Nymphomaniac, which started an 11-week shoot earlier this week on German and Belgian locations.

Film i Väst and production chief Jessica Ask will also back Swedish director Felix Herngren’s The Centenarian Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared (Hundraåringen som klev ut genom fönstret och försvann) – the adaption of Swedish author Jonas Jonasson’s novel which is in pre-production for Sweden’s Nice Novel.

Robert Gustafsson will play the lead as 100-year-old Allan Karlsson who disappears from his own birthday party, just as celebrations are about to begin. Soon he has turned the nation on its head, which he apparently has done before. Herngren will produce with Henrik Jansson-Schweizer and Patrick Nebout.

The 1960s whirlwind romance of Swedish legendary singer Anita Lindblom and boxer Bosse Högberg, with Millennium star Noomi Rapace and her ex husband Ola Rapace in the leads, will start filming in the Göteborg region on Oct 15, under the direction of American director Catherine Hardwicke (Red Riding Hood, Twilight).

Scripted by Peter Birro, the as-yet-untitled $9 million (SEK 60 million) feature will be produced by Helena Danielsson, of Hepp Film Maria Dahlin and Garagefilm International’s Malte Forsell, in collaboration with Lone Korslund, of Nordisk Film, and Fredrik Malmberg, Gudrun Giddings, of Paradox Entertainment.

Fourth Film i Väst co-production is German director Oliver Hirschbiegel’s Diana, previously known as Caught in Flight – the life of Princess Diana, as told by her lifelong bodyguard, Ken Wharfe. The Douglas Hodge, Naomi Watts [pictured] and Geraldine James starrer is currently shooting; VFX will be in the hands of Göteborg’s Filmgate.

Owned by the Västra Götaland region, and headed by Tomas Eskildsson, the largest film centre in Sweden operates on annual $15 million (SEK 100 million) budget, co-producing or co-financing between 30-40 Swedish or international features every year, adding shorts, documentaries and TV drama.

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