Finite Films & TV and Shoni Productions are to adapt Conny Palmkvist’s critically acclaimed non-fiction bestselling, The Elsinore Crossing (Sundets Röda Nejlikor), as limited series The Sound.
Ole Bornedal (Nightwatch, The Possession, 1864) will create and develop the script drawing from the book’s real events to blend 1940-43 occupation history with a 2010 present-day frame “where lived memory challenges fiction in its impact.”
Danish director Bornedal’s credits include I Am Dina, Deliver Us from Evil, Just Another Love Story, Killers, and The Bombardment (Shadows in My Eyes), which depicted the tragic 1945 bombing of Copenhagen’s Gestapo headquarters. Bornedal has also created major television works for Danish and global audiences, notably the war epic 1864.
The Sound follows journalist Neville Parker, who arrives in Helsingør in 2010 to cover a forgotten 1964 Hamlet production at Kronborg Castle which notoriously starred future icons like Christopher Plummer, Donald Sutherland, and Michael Caine before they became famous – only to uncover the story of unknown 92-year-old Christian Larsen, a former policeman, whose diaries reveal his pivotal role in Denmark’s extraordinary 1943 civilian rescue of 95% of its Jewish population by rowing them across to Sweden.
At the centre of the 1943 narrative lies The Elsinore Sewing Club, a small group of four ordinary men – a bookbinder, a police officer, a rookie cop, and a journalist—who masterminded 142 perilous nighttime crossings of the Øresund Strait, ferrying refugees to safety. In perilous winter waters and under constant threat from Nazi patrols, their courage defined a rare chapter of cross-border solidarity and triumph of civic spirit in the face of immense tyranny and danger. The Sound also illuminates the long-overlooked role of the Swedish police and their cooperation with the Danish resistance – offering a fresh dual-national perspective on this historic rescue.
Executive Producers Christian D. Bruun and Benni Korzen – Oscar-winning producer of Babette’s Feast – join the project. Korzen, one of the last living survivors connected to the 1943 Elsinore events, lends a deeply personal perspective to the series’ historical authenticity and moral resonance.
The Sound now joins Shoni & Finite Films & TV’s growing co- production slate of high-end, internationally driven drama projects, including The Many Lives of Miss K, based on Jean-Noël Liaut’s biography of model and WWII resistance agent Toto Koopman; Konfidenz, based on Ariel Dorfman’s novel of the same name, and the animation Rabbits Rebellion by the same author.
Amy Gardner, Founder and Producer at Finite Films & TV says: “The Sound is a story about ordinary people whose extraordinary bravery saved thousands of lives in one of history’s most critical rescue operations. Conny Palmkvist’s book reveals the quiet heroism and human cost behind this remarkable story which we believe has profound contemporary resonance. It is the kind of character-driven storytelling that we at Finite are committed to bringing to the global screen.”
Dana Høegh, Founder and Executive Producer says “The Sound embodies the moral courage and compassion story that define our creative mission. We’re honoured to bring this extraordinary story of resistance and action to the screen in collaboration with such distinguished partners.”
Picture: Ole Bornedal by Per Arnesen
Jon Creamer
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