Six Danish films and one Danish co-production have been selected to screen at the Toronto International Film Festival (7-16 September).
In recent years, Danish films have increasingly been aiming for a presence at the festival, where films by Susanne Bier, Ole Christian Madsen, Anders Thomas Jensen and Nicolas Winding Refn have been screened and well received.
Susanne Bier’s and Zentropa's "After the Wedding" will be shown in the festival’s high-profile Gala section. The film’s market screening at Cannes generated a lot of attention and it was sold to a large number of countries, including Canadian distribution by Seville Pictures. A huge hit in Danish theatres this spring, "After the Wedding" was seen by a full 8 percent of the population (400.000 admissions).
Peter Schønau Fog’s and Final Cut's "The Art of Crying" is having its world premiere in the Discovery programme. The festival’s only competition section, Discovery is devoted to emerging filmmakers from around the world. The winner of the $10,000 Diesel Discovery Award is picked by the festival press corps, consisting of approx. 800 international media.
Ole Christian Madsen’s and Nimbus Film's "Prague" is having its world premiere in the Contemporary World Cinema programme. This intense love drama stars Mads Mikkelsen and Stine Stengade as a married couple who go to Prague to collect his father’s body.
Anders Morgenthaler’s and Zentropa GRRRR's "Princess" will be screened in the cultish Midnight Madness programme. "Princess," which opened the Cannes Film Festival's prestigious sidebar Directors' Fortnight in May, is Morgenthaler’s first feature. It was produced under the successful New Danish Screen programme.
Michael Hegner and Karsten Kiilerich’s animated "The Ugly Duckling and Me" is showing in a new programme, The Family Zone. Injecting some adrenaline into Hans Christian Andersen’s classic fairytale, this 3D comedy was produced and directed by the people at A. Film, who brought us "Terkel in Trouble" and "Help! I'm a Fish."
Asger Leth’s and Nordisk Film's "Ghosts of Cité Soleil" has been selected for the documentary section Real to Reel. The filmmaker and his crew tracked two brothers, Bily and 2pac, supporters of President Aristide and armed gang leaders in the Cité Soleil slum of Haiti’s capital during the final months of Aristide’s rule.
The festival will open with "The Journals of Knud Rassmussen" co-produced by Barok Film of Denmark and starring three Danish actors, Jacob Cedergren, Kim Bodnia and Jens Jørn Spottag as Danish polar explorers.
Danish directors, actors, producers and sales company representatives will join the Danish Film Institute in Toronto. For more information, see DFI's Toronto web page: www.dfi.dk/toronto
Scandinavian Films, representing Denmark and the other Scandinavian nations, has a desk at the Sutton Place Hotel, 955 Bay Street, Toronto, ON M5S 2A2. Phone: +1 416 972 1914. Regular hours: 9am to 6pm.
Toronto International Film Festival: www.bell.ca/filmfest
Below are links to articles from the Danish Film Institute's magazine FILM and fact sheets for each of the films.
"After the Wedding" / "Efter brylluppet"DFI Fact Sheet FILM #50: "Bier better than ever"
"Prague" / "Prag" DFI Fact Sheet FILM #50: "Love's labyrinths"
"The Art of Crying" / "Kunsten at græde i kor"DFI Fact Sheet FILM #50: "Cheerful mourning"
"Princess"DFI Fact Sheet FILM #50: "Not nice and not for kids"
"The Ugly Duckling and Me" / "Den grimme ælling og mig" DFI Fact Sheet FILM #46: "A is for animation" FILM #46: "A fresh take"
"Ghosts of Cité Soleil"DFI Fact Sheet FILM #47: "Cité Soleil, Haiti"
"The Journals of Knud Rassmussen"Website: http://www.sila.nu/pub/swf/journal/en/ FILM #50: "Dogsleds, Inuktitut and -50°C temperatures"
For further information:
Danish Film InstituteChristian Juhl Lemche, christianjl@dfi.dk, +45 3374 3464Lars Fiil-Jensen, larsf@dfi.dk, +45 2032 8121