"It fascinates me that this substance captured in a bottle can open up a life and also kill a person," says Thomas Vinterberg about his drama 'Another Round' and his cinematic exploration of the essence of alcohol.
'Another Round', which received the Cannes Festival's Official Selection label, is now making its on-site world premiere at Toronto Film Festival (10-19 September) and moving on next week to the main competition at San Sebastian (18-26 September).
The director's fascination with the effects of spirits, reflected in the film's four main characters, stems from memories of youth, sensing the world without fear, ambition or control: "I think the men in the film are longing for that point in their lives, perhaps not consciously. But the feeling of dying slowly and not being there in your life is weighing them down."
'Another Round' has taken home its first prize, the Art House Cinema Award as the best film among 12 official Cannes 2020 titles. Also, it has secured a release in the US through distributor Samuel Goldwyn Films, in addition to the more than 30 territories worldwide already announced.
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Mads Mikkelsen, Thomas Bo Larsen, Magnus Millang and Lars Ranthe play the four central characters in 'Another Round', which has its starting point in the theory that we should be born with a small amount of alcohol in our blood, and that modest inebriation opens our minds to the world around us, diminishing our problems and increasing our creativity. Heartened by that theory, Martin and three of his friends, all weary high school teachers, embark on an experiment to maintain a constant level of intoxication throughout the workday. If Churchill won WW2 in a heavy daze of alcohol, who knows what a few drops might do for them and their students?
Thomas Vinterberg wrote the script with Tobias Lindholm. Sisse Graum Jørgensen and Kasper Dissing are producing for Zentropa in co-production with Film i Väst, Zentropa Sweden, Topkapi Films and Zentropa Netherlands with support from the Danish Film Institute, TV 2 DENMARK, Eurimages, the Netherlands Film Fund, Svenska Filminstitutet, the Netherlands Film Production Incentive and the MEDIA Programme of the European Union. International sales are handled by TrustNordisk.
Release in Denmark is set for 24 September.
