Niels Arden Oplev's "Worlds Apart"/ "To verdener" is Denmark's entry for the 2009 Academy Award nominations for Best Foreign Language Film. "Worlds Apart", the fourth feature by director Arden Oplev, was critically acclaimed in Denmark and sold an astonishing 315,000 tickets in a home market of five million.The film has been shown at several prestigious international film festivals, with more to come, and has been sold for theatrical distribution in the US. The American distributor, IFC Films, also distributed Danish Susanne Bier's "After the Wedding," which was nominated for an Oscar two years ago. "Worlds Apart" tells the story of Sara and her family who proudly belong to Jehovah's Witnesses. In the local community they go from door to door and preach on Judgment Day and eternal salvation for Jehovah’s chosen ones. But when Sara falls in love with Teis, she is confronted with her most difficult choice in life. Teis is not a Witness, yet their love grows through stolen, secret meetings. Sara is torn between her conscience, faith and passion, forced to make a choice between her love and her family that are worlds apart.The story of a young woman torn between religion and love captivated New York audiences at the Tribeca Film Festival this spring. The young woman, whose real-life story the movie is based on, appears in the final scene of the film.Arden Oplev and Steen Bille co-wrote the script, Thomas Heinesen produced for Nordisk Film and the film was subsidised by the Danish Film Institute’s consultant scheme via Lena Hansson Varhegyi. TrustNordisk is handling the international sales. Denmark previously won Best Foreign Language Film Academy Awards for Gabriel Axel's "Babette's Feast" in 1988 and Bille August's "Pelle the Conqueror" in 1989. Susanne Bier's "After the Wedding" was nominated for an Oscar in the category in 2007. The Oscar nominations will be announced on 22 January. The actual Academy Awards ceremony will take place on 22 February.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences: www.oscars.org
Trailer
DFI factsheet
www.toverdener.dk
Niels Arden Oplev For further information:
Danish Film Institute
Henrik Bo Nielsen, CEO, +45 4034 9996, hbn@dfi.dk