"Princess" to kick off Directors' FortnightAnders Morgenthaler's first feature, "Princess," has been selected to open the Cannes Film Festival's prestigious sidebar Directors' Fortnight on Thursday May 18. "Princess" is produced by Sarita Christensen for Zentropa GRRRR and co-written by Morgenthaler and Mette Heeno. Like the recent double Berlin awardwinner, "A Soap," the film is made possible by funds from DFIs New Danish Screen. "Princess" will open in Denmark on 16 June.
This is the first time in nearly 30 years that Directors' Fortnight is screening a Danish film. The sidebar's films are picked by the French Directors' Guild. In 1977, two Danish films were selected, Henrik Stangerup's "The Earth is Flat" and Peter Watkins' "Evening Land."
"Princess" is an animated film about a minister, August, who returns from abroad to find his sister, a porn star known as "The Princess," dead of a drug overdose. Taking hand of his sister's little daughter, Mia, he soon realizes that the girl has suffered perhaps irreparable harm from violence and abuse. Oppressed by grief and rage, August seeks revenge, vowing to eradicate the porn industry's kingpins and erase his sister's pornographic legacy.
René Ezra: Denmark's Producer on the MoveRené Ezra of Nordisk Film Production is this year's Danish Producer on the Move in Cannes, an initiative by European Film Promotion to give new producers a leg up to international careers. René Ezra, who graduated from the National Film School of Denmark in 2003, was the associate producer of Leif Magnusson's "Doxa" from 2005. He and Leila Vestgaard are coproducing Tomas Villum Jensen's "Sprængfarlig bombe,"(English title to be announced) opening 8 September in Denmark.
Cannes MarketThree Danish features will be screened at the Cannes Market: Anders Morgenthaler's "Princess," Susanne Bier's "After the Wedding" and Janis Cimermain and Gert Fredholm's "The Three Musketeers." In addition, three Danish short films will screen: "Little Man" by Esben Tønnesen, "First Flush" by Mikkel Munch-Fals and "Me As Usual" by Martin Zandvliet.
For more information:
DFI Cannes sitewww.dfi.dk/cannes
Cannes Film Festivalwww.festival-cannes.fr
Quinzaine des Réalisateurs/Directors' Fortnightwww.quinzaine-realisateurs.com/
DFI contacts
Lizette Gram Mygind, +45 3374 3506, lizetteg@dfi.dkVinca Wiedemann, +45 2025 8081, vincaw@dfi.dkAnne Marie Kürstein, +45 3374 3609, kurstein@dfi.dkLouise Hagemann, +45 3374 3559, louiseh@dfi.dk