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Swedish actors Sofia Helin, Anja Lundqvist, Julia Dufvenius and Elin Klinga star as four middle-aged friends struggling with stifled sex lives in new comedy “Lust,” coming to HBO Max in March and premiering at the Berlinale Series Market. Balancing lighthearted comedy with a more serious focus on topics such as sexual harassment, marriage counselling, and personal identity, the show offers entertaining relief while spotlighting the under-examined world of womanhood over 40.

Developed from an idea that originated with the actors themselves, “Lust” stands out as one of few recent comedies wholly devoted to middle-aged lead female characters. Producer Sandra Harms says: “The actors came with the idea to make something on the topic of female sexuality over 40 because they noticed that when they passed 40, the characters they were offered to play were increasing lacking sexuality. They said there must be so many stories here that aren’t being told, which I thought was really interesting.

The program announcements continue for this year’s Berlin International Film Festival, with the Series and Generation strands both unveiling today, as well as the line-up for the Co-Production Market. Scroll down for the lists of titles.

The Berlinale Series selection, which is increasingly becoming a more high-profile part of the festival, again boasts several buzzy titles.

Premiering in Berlin will be Amazon Prime Video’s Argentinian series Yosi, The Regretful Spy, the Swedish show Lust from HBO Max, Sky’s UK series The Rising, and Lone Scherfig Danish show The Shift, which comes from local broadcaster TV2.

The Generation strand, which features youth-focused cinema, includes 14 features this year. The selection marks the last of long-time Generation head Maryanne Redpath.

Elsewhere, the European Film Market has confirmed titles for its Co-Production Market, which like the rest of the industry activity will take place virtually this year.

The Berlinale runs February 10-20 this year,...

Exclusive: Off the back of yesterday’s HBO Max European launch event, which featured previews of a host of new content coming to the platform, today we can reveal a first look at one of the streamer’s upcoming local originals, Lust.

The Swedish show, which has just entered production, stars Sofia Helin (The Bridge) alongside Anja Lundqvist, Julia Dufvenius and Elin Klinga. It is billed as an outrageous and painfully honest comedy about four middle(ish) aged women in Stockholm struggling to keep their libidos alive in a sexually frustrating world.

The trio have all been friends since school. When they find out that one of them is conducting a government survey dubiously dubbed ‘Make Sweden Sexy Again’, they are intrigued. Is good sex – or the lack thereof – impacting the health of Swedish women over 40?

The project comes from Scandi major Miso Film Sweden, which is owned by Fremantle.

HBO Max has greenlighted the Swedish original comedy Lust, starring The Bridge actress Sofia Helin and produced by Fremantle-backed Miso Film. It comes ahead of HBO Max’s launch in the Scandinavian country later this year.

Co-starring Anja Lundqvist, Julia Dufvenius and Elin Klinga, the eight-part series is billed as an outrageous and painfully honest comedy about four middle-aged women in Stockholm struggling to keep their libidos alive in a sexually frustrating world.

Anette (Helin), Nadia (Lundqvist), Ellen (Dufvenius) and Martina (Klinga) have all been friends since school. When they find out that Anette is conducting a government survey dubiously dubbed “Make Sweden Sexy Again,” they are intrigued. Is good sex — or the lack thereof — impacting the health of Swedish women over 40?

Lust is written by Frans Milisic Wiklund, based on an idea and in close collaboration with Åsa Kalmér, Dufvenius, Helin and Lundqvist. Ella Lemhagen directs, while the...

HBO Max has ordered a daring Swedish comedy series entitled “Lust” from Fremantle-owned banner Miso Film, ahead of its launch in Sweden.

The new Max Original half-hour series will be headlined by Sofia Helin (“The Bridge”), Anja Lundqvist, Julia Dufvenius and Elin Klinga as four middle-aged women in Stockholm who have been friends since school and are struggling to keep their libidos alive.

The series starts with one of them, Anette, getting commissioned to conduct a government survey dubiously dubbed ‘Make Sweden Sexy Again.’ She starts looking into the sex lives of Swedish women over 40 who have to juggle their careers, kids, marriages, divorces and physical shape.

Directed by Ella Lemhagen (“The Crown Jewels”), the series is written by Frans Milisic Wiklund, in close collaboration with Åsa Kalmér, Dufvenius, Helin and Lundqvist.

The show is produced by Sandra Harms and Karl Fredrik Ulfung at Miso Film, and executive produced by...

Today’s film is the 2003 short Nu, also known as Now. The film is directed by Simon Staho, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Peter Asmussen, and stars Elin Klinga, Mikael Persbrandt, and Mads Mikkelsen. While Mikkelsen first drew the attention of film fans as part of filmmaker Nicholas Winding Refn’s Pusher trilogy, he gained widespread attention for this role as Le Chiffre in 2006′s Casino Royale. He also won Best Actor at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival for The Hunt, before taking on the titular role in NBC’s Hannibal. His newest feature, Charlie Countryman, opened in limited release in American theatres this weekend.

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