Bille August to direct the Karen Blixen film The Pact

Palme D’Or-awarded director Bille August will direct The Pact, a psychological drama about the intense friendship between world renowned author Karen Blixen and the young and promising poet Thorkild Bjønvig, based on a screenplay by Christian Torpe. The film is adapted from Thorkild Bjørnvig’s self-biographical book of the same name. The Pact is produced by SF Studios and MOTOR with Jesper Morthorst as producer. The film is planned for an early 2021 theatrical release.

Thorkild Bjørnvig first met Karen Blixen in 1948 - he was 30, she was 63 - and they formed a special bond. A bond that became a secret pact. Bjørnvig was a young, sensitive and easily influenced poet with a wife and child. Blixen was a woman ahead of her time - strong, composed and deeply fascinating.

Blixen and Bjørnvig had promised each other to first tell the world about their pact when either one of them were dead. Twelve years after Blixen’s death, Bjørnvig published the book The Pact about his and Blixen's special and turbulent relationship.

”The Pact is a relationship drama, the eternal story of seduction and wanting to be seduced, of the art of manipulation, of guilt and innocence, of a highly unusual friendship between two deeply talented people and a relationship that develops into a fateful bond. A dramatic tale of a dangerous pact and of the unmanageable consequences of an inevitable dependency relationship. A thrilling connection between two of Denmark's greatest personalities”, says director Bille August.

The internationally acclaimed Bille August has been awarded with the Palme D’Or for his films Pelle the Conqeuror (1987) and The Best Intentions (1991). Recently, he has directed the SF Studios productions Silent Heart (2014) and Marie Krøyer (2012).

The Pact is produced by SF Studios and the production company MOTOR, founded by producer Jesper Morthorst and screenwriter Christian Torpe.

Nordic distribution and international sales are handled by SF Studios.

For more information, please contact:

Camilla Baggesen, Publicity Manager Denmark, SF Studios, +45 20 74 06 50