NORTHWEST

"A tough, absorbing and watchable crime drama ... marks [Noer] out as a talent to keep on watching." – Screen

In the rundown, impoverished Copenhagen suburb of Nordvest, 18-year-old Caspar is his family's primary breadwinner: a low-level burglar trying to rob his way to a better life. When local gang leader Bjørn takes an interest in him, Caspar thinks he may have found a way out, but the closer you are to the power you seek, the more easily it can all come tumbling down.

Former documentary filmmaker Michael Noer follows up his debut feature R, co-directed with Tobias Lindholm (A Hijacking, MIFF 2013), with this gritty and uncompromising journey into the rarely glimpsed underside of Scandinavian society. From a script co-written by Rasmus Heisterberg (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo), it is a richly realised character study as much as it is an edge-of-your-seat gangland thriller, Northwest's commitment to realism is anchored by astounding performances from real-life non-actor brothers Gustav and Oscar Dyekjær Giese.

FIPRESCI Prize winner: Gothenburg International Film Festival.

"A solid mixture of gangster film and realistic social drama, while eschewing most clichés of both genre and arthouse film." – FIPRESCI

D Michael Noer P René Ezra, Tomas Radoor S Rasmus Heisterberg, Michael Noer WS Trust Nordisk L Danish w/English subtitles TD DCP/2013