Frederik Nørgaard’s My Robot Brother set to become a sci-fi family flick and mobile game app

12/04/2021 – The story is set in the near future, where the climate crisis has been solved, everything is green and sustainable, and people live with their own personal robot assistants

(l-r) Kristian Ibler, Selma Iljazovski and Lise Baastrup in My Robot Brother (© Nimbus Film/Andreas Bastiansen)

Danish filmmaker Frederik Nørgaard (Team Albert, Kidnapning [+see also:
trailer
film profile]) is now filming his new feature, a sci-fi family flick with the working title My Robot Brother. The story, penned by Jacob Tingleff and the director himself, is based on a novel by Morten Dürr and is set in the near future, where the climate crisis has been solved, everything is green and sustainable, and people live with their own personal robot assistants.

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Here, lonely 12-year-old Alberte (played by Selma Iljazovski) is given the perfect birthday present: the newest humanoid model on the market, Konrad (Philip Elbech), who looks and acts completely as if he were human. He’s far better than her old teddy-bear-like robot, Robbi (voiced by Lars Brygmann), who is quite an embarrassment to her at school. Alberte’s popularity spikes as she is now the kid with the most advanced technology in school. She also seems to be forming a genuine connection with Konrad – but is it even possible to befriend a robot? The cast is rounded off by Lise Baastrup, playing the lead’s mother, Tine, and Kristian Ibler, who portrays her dad, Torben.

The project’s technical crew includes DoP Martin Top Jacobsen, editor Lars Wissing, composer Povl Kristian, production designer Camilla Bjørnvad, costume designer Stine Gudmundsen-Holmgren and sound designer Mick Raaschou. Filming, which is now under way in the Danish region of Funen, is set to wrap at the end of April.

Producer Jasmine Hermann Naghizadeh told Cineuropa: “With My Robot Brother, we aim to create a sci-fi comedy with themes that are extremely relevant for a young audience. We’ve developed a universe for the story that doesn’t fall into the usual pit of dystopian sci-fi. Instead, we’re in a future where everything is green, hopeful and based on recycling. A setting where even though technology is very present, it is in fact a lovely future for the next generation to live in. It is a moving story about friendship and humanity versus artificial intelligence – a sci-fi with a comedic twist. Aside from the feature film, we are simultaneously producing a game app in collaboration with Copenhagen-based Niila Games. The game will act as an expansion of the film’s storytelling but will also be standalone, allowing the story universe to grow to multiple platforms and making it possible for the young audience to interact with it.”

My Robot Brother is being produced by Jasmine Hermann Naghizadeh for Copenhagen-based firm Nimbus Film. Scanbox Entertainment is in charge of its Nordic distribution, whilst international sales have been entrusted to Sola Media. The feature also received backing from the Danish Film Institute, FilmFyn and the European Union’s Creative Europe – MEDIA programme. It will be ready for release in the spring of 2022.