Zentropa wraps “A Royal Affair” in the Czech Republic

Danish production company Zentropa has concluded production in the Czech Republic on A Royal Affair.

Roughly 100 Czech crew members and few dozen other service providers assisted a Danish team of fewer than 10 people on the shoot.

It’s fantastic to be here in the Czech Republic, working with a film industry that is 10 times better than our own,

said executive producer Peter Albaek Jensen.

Filming took 40 days, only a quarter of which were in the studio. The majority of the production took place on live locations. “We had more than 20 locations across the Czech Republic, including castles in Kroměříž, Ploskovice, Český Krumlov, Kačina, Doksany and Ledeč nad Sázavou,” said Pavel Müller of Sirena Film, the project’s Czech co-producer. “In Prague we were in the Colloredo-Mansfeld palace and in Foerster Hall. Exterior scenes were shot in Liliová Street and elsewhere.”

Sirena Film has shot several films with Danish producers in the Czech Republic. The company previously worked with Zentropa on the 2008 thriller Fear Me Not, starring Ulrich Thomsen and Paprika Steen.

For the new film, Zentropa spent CZK 70 million locally, which is not quite half the project’s total budget. Thanks to the Czech Film Industry Support Programme, introduced last year, the producers will soon receive a rebate of up to 20% of their costs.

A Royal Affair is directed by Nikolaj Arcel from a screenplay he wrote with Rasmus Heisterberg. Arcel and Heisterberg previously collaborated on the international hit The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.

The story is based on events in the late 18th century. Mads Mikkelsen stars as Johann Friedrich Struensee, physician to the Danish king. The king suffered from mild schizophrenia but trusted Struensee and made him a state counsellor. Ultimately the doctor became de facto ruler of the kingdom — and the queen’s lover.

A Royal Affair is a co-production between Zentropa Entertainments (Denmark), Sirena Film (Czech Republic), Trollhättan Film (Sweden) and Zentropa Entertainments (Germany). TrustNordisk is handling international sales. The film will be released in February 2012.