RÚV, ZDF commission crime drama Death of a Horse with ACT4, Windlight Pictures

Death of a Horse stars Ásthildur Úa Sigurðardóttir

Pubcasters RÚV in Iceland and ZDF in Germany have commissioned a crime drama series set in the world of competitive Icelandic horsemanship, distributed by Erik Barmack’s Wild Sheep Content.

Produced by Icelandic prodco ACT4 and ITV Studios’ German label Windlight Pictures, Death of a Horse marks RÚV’s first official contribution to the New8 initiative – the alliance between itself, ZDF, Denmark’s DR, Sweden’s SVT, Norway’s NRK, Finland’s YLE, NPO in the Netherlands and VRT in Belgium.

Death of a Horse follows a competitive horse rider whose prized stallion is found dead under suspicious circumstances on the morning of the final of the national horse championships. When the local authorities refuse to investigate, she takes matters into her own hands, beginning a dark journey into the secretive and powerful world of elite horse breeders in Iceland.

The series was created by ACT4 CEO Jónas Margeir Ingólfsson (Thin Ice, Reykjavik Fusion) and head of development Birkir Blær Ingólfsson (Reykjavik Fusion, The Minister), with the latter co-writing alongside Judith Angerbauer (Das Boot, Bauhaus – a New Era).

It will be directed by Óskar Þór Axelsson (Operation Napoleon, Trapped), Álfheiður Marta Kjartansdóttir (Black Sands, Vinátta) and Hafsteinn Gunnar Sigurðsson (Balls, Last Call).

Jónas Margeir Ingólfsson and Birkir Blær Ingólfsson also produce with ACT4’s Ólafur Darri Ólafsson, Hörður Rúnarsson and Milla Ósk Magnúsdóttir, along with Windlight Pictures’ Moritz Polter, Cosima Degler, Andreas Kohl and Tanja Piller.

The cast is led by Ásthildur Úa Sigurðardóttir, who is joined by Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson (Game of Thrones), Lára Jóhanna Jónsdóttir (Black Sands), Eysteinn Sigurðsson (The Last Kingdom), Marlina Mitterhofer (The Fox) and Gabrielle Scharnitzky (Those About to Die).