Miso Film, SVT, and Film i Väs have partnered to adapt Linn Ullmann’s novel ‘The Cold Song’ for television.
Plans for the series were announced this afternoon at the Goteborg Film Festival’s TV Drama Vision sidebar.
Mikael Marcimain (Blackwater) will direct the six-episode series, which is a co-production between Fremantle’s Miso Film, SVT, Film i Väst, and Northern European public service broadcasters through the New8 initiative. Fremantle is handling international sales.
Filming will start on the Swedish west coast this fall. The series is slated for release on SVT in the fall of 2026. As part of SVT’s New 8 collaboration, the series will premiere across the Nordics, Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands.
Described as a “gripping and suspenseful drama,” the show follows Siri, a restaurant owner, and her husband novelist Jon, who lead a busy life in Stockholm with their two daughters. Every summer, they seek tranquillity at Siri’s childhood home on the Swedish West Coast. This summer, Siri plans an unwelcome 75th birthday party for her mother Jenny, and hires a nanny, Mille, to help. When Mille disappears during the party, the family is forced to confront hidden secrets and guilt. The synopsis reads: What happened to Mille, and who bears responsibility?
“The Cold Song is a story about three generations of women, their fractured relationships, and their struggle for reconciliation,” Marcimain said. “It’s a drama that moves between bright summer and dark autumn, between idyll and tragedy. It’s a story as beautiful as it is unsettling, and I’m very much looking forward to bringing it to television.”
The original book has been published in 14 countries. Ullmann is an author and journalist. She is also the daughter of Ingmar Bergman and Liv Ullmann. She added: “The Cold Song is a multifaceted story about love and doubt, about secret lives and painful connections. I am delighted to follow Mikael and the entire team as they bring this story to the screen.”
The Cold Song is produced by Christian Rank and Daniel Gylling at Miso Film, with Amna Maksumic as executive producer for SVT and Kristina Börjeson executive producing for Film i Väst. Peter Bose and Jonas Allen are acting as executive producers for Miso Film.
