Shorts Exclusive: Connie Nielsen Boards ‘Ivalu’ as Executive Producer

Ivalu is a short film about a young girl affected by the disappearance of her younger sister. Imagine the trauma of losing someone so close to you and having to cope with those complicated emotions at a young age. She has no idea why her father makes no effort to find Ivalu. The Anders Walter film is eligible for the Live Action Short Oscar.

In an exclusive for Awards Daily Walter sits down with Nielsen about the importance of telling stories of abuse and survival. She released a statement about becoming part of the project.

“I am incredibly proud to collaborate on IVALU – a film that challenges the audience to bear witness to the traumatic effects of incest rape and child abuse. This abuse still happens and continues to victimize children, not just in indigenous societies, but in communities all over the world” says Nielsen. “Growing up inside a tight-knit family, our lives are often marred by male rage and violence, I sympathized with the characters in IVALU, and was reminded of the sense of helplessness a child can experience when imprisoned in the family violence. Incest is a secret no one should keep. I hope IVALU will help us join a conversation to help break the taboo”.

Anders Walter is an OSCAR® winning film director and screenwriter. He won for his short film HELIUM in 2014 and 9 METER was shortlisted for an OSCAR in 2013. Anders directed his first feature film, I KILL GIANTS (US) in 2016 and is currently working on his next feature film. Anders Walter is represented by Oliver Aziz, Independent Talent.

IVALU Greenlandic cast includes newcomers Mila Heilmann Kreutzmann (Pipaluk) and Nivi Larsen (Ivalu), alongside known actor Angunnguaq Larsens (Borgen, Thin Ice, Nummiqq) stars as their father.

IVALU is produced by Rebecca Pruzan and Kim Magnusson. Rebecca Pruzan is an independent producer who was previously the commissioning editor of Children’s Programming at the Danish Broadcasting Corporation (DR). IVALU is the first film Pruzan has produced. Ms. Nielsen joins Ola Strøm as Executive Producer.

Kim Magnusson founded M&M Productions with his father, Tivi Magnusson in 1995. He was later headhunted to run Nordisk Film’s Film Division. He has produced or Executive Produced more than 150 films, and TV-series such as ADAM’S APPLES, HEADHUNTER, TERKEL IN TROUBLE, R, PUSHER II &P III, MEN & CHICKEN and I KILL GIANTS. He has been Oscar® nominated in the category “Live Action Short Film” seven times and won the coveted award 2 times – in 1999 for ELECTION NIGHT and in 2014 for HELIUM. He recently co-founded a new pan-Nordic distribution company Scandinavian Film Distribution.