Second Swedish-French drama copro on horizon

Following on from SVT and Canal+ thriller Midnight Sun, a second Swedish-French scripted coproduction is in development.

Stockholm-based Dramacorp and Isolani Pictures, a newly launched French prodco from Jan Mojto’s Beta Film stable, are behind Rare, which is planned as a 8x45mins sci-fi series.

Beta is also a major shareholder in Dramacorp, which Nice Drama founder Patrick Nebout launched last year.

Set in a parallel, mid-distant future in which Earth is running out of oxygen, the plot follows healthy humans cryogenically frozen for two centuries under a government programme.

The writer is Alex Haridi, who was behind SVT’s sci-fi drama Real Humans, with French director Thierry Poiraud (France 2’s Zone Blanche) also attached. Nebout and Mia Sohlman executive produce on behalf of Midnight Sun coproducer Dramacorp, while Poiraud collaborator Alexandre Richardot and Daniel J. Cottin (Chef’s Table France) from Isolani do the same.

“Rare is a dream project,” said Poiraud. “I’ve been planning to do it for some time now. It has everything I love in film; sci-fi and an independent, character-driven, unsettling vibe.

“The unique premise of our show – oxygen on earth is vanishing- allows us to create a brand new world. I have this vision of a ‘low tech’ future, where the sudden and unexplained lack of oxygen supplies become a huge challenge for everyone and everything. Nordic and Baltic landscapes are the perfect backdrop for our story and the world we’re creating.”