Thessaloniki International Film Festival presents a retrospective series with seven films by Ole Christian Madsen – from his feature debut "Pizza King" (1999) to this year's Danish Oscar candidate, the divorce comedy "Superclásico". Madsen is travelling to Thessaloniki to present his films.
Madsen was part of the so-called 'golden cohort' at the National Film School in the early nineties, which included Thomas Vinterberg and Per Fly. He made his feature debut with "Pizza King" (1999), followed by the Dogme film "Kira's Reason – A Love Story" (2001), "Prague" (2006) and the WW2 resistance drama "Flame & Citron" (2008). "Superclásico" is Madsen's first comedy.
Read interview with Ole Christian Madsen
Complex human relationships
Thessaloniki's Lilly Papagianni motivates the selection of Ole Christian Madsen:
"There is a commitment to exploring and understanding the human condition through human relationships, with all their delicacy and complexity; people are nothing without their connections to others in Madsen’s films. In his work, ordinary people and ordinary situations become extraordinary and, ultimately, authentic", Papagianni writes and concludes that Madsen with "Superclásico" "surprises us yet again, with a lighthearted, charming comedy."
Predicted for Oscar shortlist
"Superclásico" enjoyed a warm reception at its North American premiere in Toronto in September and was well received by the trade press. Recently, Screen Daily critic Mike Goodridge predicted "Superclásico" as one of the ten films which might make the cut for the foreign-language Oscar shortlist.
"In an age where feelgood movies are winning awards over more morally complex ones, Ole Christian Madsen’s wry and entertaining comedy might have a strong shot at tickling the members of the foreign language committee. More bittersweet than it initially appears, it nevertheless has that feelgood factor in spades", Goodridge writes on his blog.
Popular divorce comedy
Set in Buenos Aires, "Superclásico" follows Christian (Anders W. Berthelsen) who travels halfway around the world with his son to make his soon-to-be ex-wife Anna (Paprika Steen) sign the divorce papers while harboring a secret desire to win her back – a trip that also turns out to be a veritable clash of cultures for the edgy Dane.
The film opened domestically in March and reached a total of 185,000 admissions. Interest from international buyers is growing after the film's successful Toronto release, and it has been selected to a string of prestigious festivals worldwide, among them Rio de Janeiro, Warsawa, Reykjavik, Busan, and Tallinn.
"Superclásico" is produced by Lars Bredo Rahbek and Signe Leick Jensen for Nimbus film, and international sales are handled by The Match Factory.
Also showing
Thessaloniki International Film Festival has also selected Christoffer Boe's "Beast", which will be presented in the festival's Open Horizons section.