Short films burn through at Odense

FESTIVAL. Mikkel Munch-Fals, new artistic director of Odense film festival, has lifted the short film into a sphere of its own, reserving the competitive section solely for this format. Odense is about the short and sweet. Festivities kick off Monday 23 August.

Odense International Film Festival (OFF10), kicking off Monday 23 August, has skimmed the cream of international short films—animated, fiction and documentary—and compiled a programme that is bold and provocative, sexy and rebellious, as Mikkel Munch-Fals puts it, Odense Film Festival's new artistic director.

The Danish films participating in competitive programmes include:

National programme

Megaheavy / Fenar Ahmad / Berlin Generation 14+
Beast / Lars p Arendt
The New Tenants / Joachim Back / Oscar nominee
The Coach / Lars Mikkelsen
Picnic / Kasper Torsting
Out of Love / Birgitte Stærmose / Special Mention Berlin Generation 14+
Berik /Daniel Joseph Borgman / Critics' Week Grand Prix, Cannes

Children & Youth

Under the theme Can you keep a secret? are three Danish children and youth films:

Her bor Jensen / Martin Strange-Hansen /
The Fantastic 3 / Esben Tønnesen
Whistleless / Siri Melchior / Berlin Generation KPlus

Animation: Danish nominees for the talent award

Venus / Tor Fruergaard / National Film School of Denmark
Heavy Heads / Helena Frank / National Film School of Denmark

There is also a wide fan of Danish films in the In Focus programmes:

Stories that jolt

Included in the non-competitive section is Michael Madsen's 'Into Eternity'—winner of the Grand Prix at Nyon—a documentary thriller that takes you into the future and down into a radioactive underworld. There's a preview of 'The President' by Christoffer Guldbrandsen, Danish documentary filmmaker and mouthpiece for modern taboos. This latest work is meant to stir.

New Danish Screen on animation

The talent development pool New Danish Screen will be talking about their work, and the directors behind the three film projects—'Machine', 'The Great Mistake' and 'Four Minutes in the Warsaw Ghetto'—will share details about their films and show film clips.

CPH:DOX preview

There are two sneak previews of brand new films from Phie Ambo, co-winner of Joris Ivens Award for 'Family'. Ambo takes up battling neighbours in 'The Home Front' and gives an intimate portrait of an artist in 'Fever'. These films will be accompanied by 200 others, when CPH:DOX opens its doors to the popular international doc festival in Copenhagen 4-14th November 2010.

And there are more films that will jolt you in your seat. Read Odense film festival programme.