05/10/2021 - The director of the 2020 hit A Perfectly Normal Family is working on a historical drama inspired by the infamous event which took place in Sprogø between 1923 and 1961

Malou Reymann is now filming her second feature between West Zealand and Copenhagen. The Danish helmer is best known for her 2020 hit A Perfectly Normal Family [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile]. Thanks to her debut, Reymann won a Bodil and two Roberts along with Rotterdam’s Big Screen award.

The project, a historical drama titled Unruly [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], is based on some real events that took place in the small island of Sprogø between 1923 and 1961. Women judged “morally feeble” were held there and subjected to forced sterilisation. In particular, the plot will focus on a 17-year-old girl called Maren, sent to the island to be “re-educated”. The girl refuses to comply and ignites a spark in Sørine, who has been dutiful at the institution for six years. Reymann co-penned the script with writer Sara Isabella Jønsson (Miss Osaka, Persona non grata [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Lisa Jespersen
film profile]).

The lead roles – Maren and Sørine – are respectively played by Emilie Koppel (Dreambuilders [+see also:
trailer
film profile], Collision [+see also:
trailer
film profile], You Disappear [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Peter Schønau Fog
film profile]) and Jessica Dinnage (A Perfectly Normal Family, Ninna [+see also:
trailer
film profile], the TV series The Rain). Other main cast members are Lene Maria Christensen, Anders Heinrichsen and Danica Curcic. Moreover, the technical crew includes DoP Sverre Sørdal, editor Ida Bregninge, production designer Rie Lykke, make-up designer Sara Sofia Kasper and costume designer Mads Nikolaj Elley Jacobsen.

Unruly is produced by Matilda Appelin for Copenhagen-based outfit Nordisk Film Production, with backing from the Danish Film Institute. The feature is set for a release in March 2023. Yesterday, Screen International has announced that sales agent TrustNordisk has boarded the project’s world sales.