Søren Malling and Danica Curcic to London

Several Danish premieres are lined up for the 61st BFI London Film Festival, rolling out the red carpet for this year's edition 4-15 October.

Birgitte Stærmose's drama "Darling" with Danica Curcic and Ulrich Thomsen is world premiering in the festival's thematic Thrill section presenting "nerve-shredders," while Henrik Ruben Genz' black comedy "Word of God" starring Søren Malling is selected for the Laugh section featuring "humour in all its forms."

Selected for the First Feature Competition is Hlynur Pálmason's "Winter Brothers," and in the Documentary Competition line-up is Elvira Lind's "Bobbi Jene."

Graceful dance film and wacky tale

"Darling" and "Word of God" make up two of the three films which festival programmer Sarah Lutton recommends to Scandi film fans.

"Whether you're a ballet aficionado or not, this is a film you must see," Lutton says about "Darling." "Director Stærmose's controlled direction is gracefully balanced by the empathy with which she explores the pressures of performance and creative collaboration. Actors Curcic, Skarsgård and Grarup Elbo are all incredibly strong, with Curcic's physical transformation breathtaking."

"Word of God" receives these words of recommendation:

"As per what we've come to expect from Danish humour (think Men & Chicken), pretty much nothing is off limits here: nuclear fallout, AIDS, religious expression, masturbation, sex … It's a wacky tale, but sweet and rather grubby (in a good way). And Søren Malling will be a revelation to those familiar with his more straight-laced TV roles."

Read the full recommendation

Prestigious wins

"Winter Brothers" world premiered at the Locarno Festival in August, where it took home the Best Actor prize to Elliott Crosset Hove. The film made its North American premiere at Toronto Film Festival. Read interview with the director Exploring the Unknown

In April, "Bobbi Jene" won no less than three awards at Tribeca Film Festival. Read update Bobby Jene wins at Tribeca

"Winter Brothers" has Julie Waltersdorph Hansen and Per Damgaard Hansen on the producer team for Masterplan Pictures. "Bobbi Jene" is produced by Julie Leerskov and Sara Stockmann for Sonntag Pictures.

"Word of God " is produced by Morten Kaufmann and Signe Leick Jensen for Toolbox Film, "Darling" by Peter Aalbæk Jensen and Marie Gade Denessen for Zentropa.

All four films have received funding from the Danish Film Institute.

BFI London Film Festival 4-15 October 2017

Word of God

Henrik Ruben Genz, 2017

A film about an eccentric man of the world called God who lives in an ordinary detached house with his family: his Swedish wife Gerd Lillian and his two youngest sons, Thomas and Jens. The oldest son, Mikkel, wants nothing to do with God, so called because he treats the world as his own creation. In reality, God is a man with a mild dependency on alcohol.

Darling

Birgitte Stærmose, 2017

Darling is a world-famous Danish ballerina. After a long absence, she and her husband Frans return to the Royal Danish Ballet in Copenhagen to perform the classic ballet 'Giselle.' She will dance the title role with Frans as choreographer.

Winter Brothers

Hlynur Pálmason, 2017

A brother odyssey set in a worker environment during a cold winter. We follow two brothers, their routines, habits, rituals and a violent feud that erupts between them and another family. The film is a lack-of-love story, focusing on the younger brother Emil and his need to be loved and desired.

Bobbi Jene

Elvira Lind, 2017

After a decade of stardom in Israel, American dancer Bobbi Jene takes intensity to a new level when she decides to leave behind her star position at the world-famous Batsheva Dance Company, as well as the love of her life, to return to the US to create her own boundary breaking performances. A love story, the film portrays the dilemmas and inevitable consequences of ambition. It is a film about a woman’s fight for independence and her attempt to succeed with her own art in the extremely competitive world of dance.