SYNOPSIS

Karoline (Vic Carmen Sonne), a young factory worker, is struggling to survive in post WW1 Copenhagen. When she finds herself unemployed, abandoned and pregnant, she meets Dagmar (Trine Dyrholm), a charismatic woman running an underground adoption agency, helping mothers to find foster homes for their unwanted children. With nowhere else to turn, Karoline takes on the role of a wet-nurse. A strong connection is formed between the two women, but Karoline’s world shatters when she stumbles upon the shocking truth behind her work. Inspired by a true story and directed by Magnus von Horn (The Here After, Sweat) THE GIRL WITH THE NEEDLE is an unsettling tale about a woman struggling to find love and a sense of morality. 

DIRECTOR’S
BIOGRAPHY

Magnus von Horn was born in 1983 in Göteborg, Sweden but has lived for almost 20 years in Poland. A graduate of the Polish National Film School in Lodz where he is currently also a teacher. Already with his short films, he established himself internationally as a promising director presenting films at festivals such as Sundance and Locarno. Finding it inspiring to work in different languages his feature film debut, THE HERE AFTER, was in Swedish and premiered at Director’s Fortnight in Cannes 2015; it also earned him the Swedish Guldbaggen award for best director and best film. His second feature film, SWEAT, was in Polish and part of the Cannes official selection in 2020. His third film, THE GIRL WITH THE NEEDLE (2024), is a Nordisk Film Production and is in Danish.

Selected Filmography

2024 The Girl with the Needle
/ Pigen med nålen

2020 Sweat
/ Sweat

2015 The Here After
/ Efterskalv

2014 The Word
/ Obietnica

2011 Without Snow (Short)
/ Bez śniegu

2011 The Doctors (Short Doc.)
/ Lekarze

2009 Echo (Short)
/ Echo

2007 Radek (Short Doc.)
/ Radek

COMMENTS FROM
THE DIRECTOR

In The Girl With the Needle we meet a poor woman living up in an attic, a prince on a white horse who turns out to be a coward, a monster without a face but with a heart of gold, and a witch in a candy store. A fairytale for grown-ups. This is the style we have chosen to use to tell a story that happened a long, long time ago but addresses a matter so close to us today: the unwanted, and what we ARE to do with them. 

The main character, Karoline, is struggling to find a better life. But what is the right way of doing so? A cold world creates cold methods and Karoline's moral compass easily loses direction. The good looks bad and vice versa. We follow Karoline on a journey trying to escape poverty where she learns that it is easy to flirt with the devil but it takes a big effort to love. With her husband lost at war she experiences a humiliating romance that leads to an unwanted pregnancy. For a woman like Karoline, life becomes a living hell - and with this film I wanted to explore if it is possible to be good in hell. 

The Girl With The Needle is inspired by true events surrounding the most controversial murder case in Danish history.
A national trauma that echoes through time and can still today remind us of what it means to turn a blind eye to the horrors in society.

MAIN CAST

Vic Carmen Sonne
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Vic Carmen Sonne is an actor and writer based in Copenhagen, Denmark. Throughout her career, Vic has been dedicated to forging emotional connections in cinema by challenging norms and illuminating the often-unseen complexities of human life. In 2016, Vic starred in Rasmus Heisterberg ́s feature film IN THE BLOOD for which she won a Bodil Award for Best Actress (the Danish Critic’s Association). Shortly after, she started her continuing collaboration with director Hlynur Palmason when she boarded his WINTER BROTHERS, for which she received the Robert Award (the Danish Film Academy) for Best Supporting Actress. In 2018, she starred in Isabella Eklöf ́s Sundance premiere, the grand jury prize nominee HOLIDAY. The film was recognized widely, awarding Vic with a Bodil for Best Actress. In 2019, Vic was invited to sit on the feature narrative and documentary jury for Film Festival Oslo Fusion, a festival focusing on LHBTQIA2S+ and QTIBIPOC alongside Bartholomew Sammut. Vic’s contributions to cinema were internationally acknowledged in 2020 with the Shooting Star award at the Berlinale. In 2022, Vic starred in Palmarson’s GODLAND that premiered at Cannes and was shortlisted for the Academy Awards' Best International Feature. Vic's coming projects include E.L. Katz's AZRAEL, Milad Alami’s BULLSHIT, the Netflix series THE HELICOPTER HEIST, created by Ronnie Sandahl and Daniel Espinosa, and Magnus von Horn's THE GIRL WITH THE NEEDLE.

Trine Dyrholm
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Trine Dyrholm is one of the most acclaimed and awarded actresses of the Nordics today. Dyrholm has been a bright star in the cinematic and TV universe, both at home and internationally. 

Her big breakthrough came in 1998 with the Danish feature THE CELEBRATION, which won The Jury Prize at Cannes Film Festival.

In 2016, Dyrholm reunited with Thomas Vinterberg and won The Silver Bear at the Berlin Film Festival for her role in THE COMMUNE. 

Her other credits include Susanne Bier’s Academy Award winning IN A BETTER WORLD from 2010, the DR family drama THE LEGACY directed by Pernilla August, Susana Nicchiarelli’s NICO 1988, the winner of The Horizon Award at the Venice Film Festival in 2017 and Sundance Audience Award winning QUEEN OF HEARTS, directed by May el-Toukhy (2019) for which she received the first ever acting award at the Gothenburg Film Festival, Dragon Award (2019).

Dyrholm continued the good work with projects like THE ALMOND AND THE SEAHORSE (2022), opposite Charlotte Gainsbourg and POISON (2024), a chambre play drama with Tim Roth.

In 2023, she starred in Michael Noer’s acclaimed feature, BIRTHDAY GIRL and at the moment, she appears as Queen Anne in the D.C. Moore series, MARY & GEORGE (2024). 

Later in 2024, we can also see her in the mini-series REMATCH, winner of the latest edition of Series Mania directed by Yan England.

Besir Zeciri
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Besir Zeciri was born in Copenhagen 1990, raised with a unique blend of Albanian and Danish heritage. From a young age, acting did not crossed his mind due to his fear of speaking in front of large crowds. He always wanted to be an integral part of his community and even considered joining the police force.

This all changed in 2009 when he joined theatre group to help deal with his anxieties on stage. The group toured around Denmark and in 2010 he debuted in his first theatre production the Greek Tragedy ‘Elektra’. During his time in the theatre he also starred in ‘1864’ and ‘The Bridge’.

Besir decided to pursue acting as his upbringing exposed him to many different people and lifestyles. He wanted to explore these diverse experiences and carries them still through his craft. In 2019 he graduated from the Danish National School of Performing Arts.

Besir is best known for his character work and ability to embody complex characters. During his studies, he was offered the role of Mads in WILDLAND. For this performance he was nominated for a Bodil award. In 2021 he played Mohammed in OUTLAW for which he won a Robert Award (The Danish Film Academy). After this, he vowed to wait for the right role to find him for his next acting venture. Not soon after, he was offered Peter in THE GIRL WITH THE NEEDLE.

Joachim Fjelstrup
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Joachim Fjelstrup is an acclaimed Danish actor and he graduated from The Danish National School of Performing Arts in 2013. Fjelstrup was appointed Shooting Star at the Berlin Film Festival in 2015.

Fjelstrup stars as Klaus Rifbjerg in the widely acknowledged feature TOVE’S ROOM about the famous Danish poet, Tove Ditlevsen. For his work he was nominated for a Danish Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. 

His resume also includes features such as Jeanette Nordahl's WILDLAND opposite Sidse Babett-Knudsen, and THE BLUE ORCHID for which he was nominated for a Danish Academy Award for Best Actor, and ITSI BITSI for which he was nominated for a Danish Critics Association award for Best Actor.

Most recently, he portrays the unnerving cult leader Atu in DEPARTMENT Q: BOUNDLESS. He also stars as Mads in Swedish series ALL AND EVA which was nominated for Best Series in International Panorama at Series Mania.

Other recent titles include Dagur Kari’s feature, HYGGE! and series THE DREAMER, which premiered at Cannes Series in 2022.

Up next, Fjelstrup will star as Jørgen in Magnus von Horn’s feature THE GIRL WITH THE NEEDLE which is competing for the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival this year.

MAIN
CAST

Vic Carmen Sonne
as Karoline

Trine Dyrholm
as Dagmar

Besir Zeciri
as Peter

Avo Knox Martin
as Erena

Joachim Fjelstrup
as Jørgen

Tessa Hoder
as Frida

MAIN
CREW

Director: Magnus von Horn
Producer: Malene Blenkov,
Mariusz Włodarski
Scriptwriters: Magnus von Horn,
Line Langebek
Director of photography: Michał Dymek PSC
Production designer: Jagna Dobesz
Costume designer: Małgorzata Fudala
Make up designer: Anne Cathrine Sauerberg
Line producer: Deborah Marlow, Luiza Skrzek
Editor: Agnieszka Glińska PSM
Sound designer: Oskar Skriver
Casting: Tania Grunwald

TECHNICAL
DETAILS

Original title: Pigen med nålen
International title: The Girl with the Needle
Duration: 115 min
Aspect Ratio: 3:2
Format: DCP
Sound: Dolby SR 7.1
Year: 2024
Original language: Danish
Countries of production: Denmark, Poland, Sweden
Production Companies: Nordisk Film Production
Co-production Companies: Lava Films, EC1 ŁÓDŹ, Lower Silesia Film Centre, Film i Väst, Nordisk Film Sweden
With the support of: Danish Film Institute, Polish Film Institute, Swedish Film Institute, Eurimages, Nordic Film & TV Fund, Creative Europe MEDIA, DR, SVT

INTERNATIONAL
PRESS IN CANNES

INTERNATIONAL RESCUE PR

Manlin Sterner
manlin@manlin.se

Charles McDonald
charles@charlesmcdonald.co.uk