The Göteborg Film Festival's 40th edition boasts a programme of 457 films from 84 countries, opening on 27 January with Dome Karukoski's "Tom of Finland."
This year's recipient of the Nordic Honorary Dragon Award is director Lone Scherfig. The festival will be showing a trio of her films, which are "Italian for Beginners" (2000), "The Riot Club" (2014) and her latest endeavour, "Their Finest" (2016).
The Man in Dragon Award competition
The festival's main competition, the Dragon Award Best Nordic Film, showcases eight films from the Nordic countries, including, from Denmark, Charlotte Sieling's "The Man" and Gudmundur Arnar Gudmundsson's "Heartstone." Read interview with Charlotte Sieling I Have a Very Quick Pace in My Life.
In the documentary competition, Frida and Lasse Barkfors' "Death of a Child" will be enjoying its world premiere, while another film to be making its first showing is Lise Birk Pedersen's "Tutti a Casa – Power to the People?" in the Nordic Light section.
In "The Guilty," Jakob Cedergren plays a policeman who responds to a 911 distress call from a kidnapped woman. Photo: Nikolaj Møller
New films at Nordic Film Market
The Nordic Film Market, which is the festival's business and networking platform for the Scandinavian and international film industry to be held 2-5 February, presents several Danish projects.
Among the finished feature films to be shown for the invited industry audience is Fenar Ahmad's "Darkland," which opened 19 January in Denmark and was well received by critics and audiences alike. Also in the line-up is Jacob Bitsch's "Letters for Amina," a film to present an "intense, high-octane Dane" in the lead role, to quote the European Film Promotion's presentation of Esben Smed, who will be one of ten young Shooting Stars catching the spotlight at the Berlinale.
Danish titles among the works in progress include Christian Tafdrup's "A Horrible Woman," which is the first film from the Danish Film Institute's development-oriented initiative The Sketch to have gone into shooting. Another film to explore new ways of production and storytelling is Gustav Möller's "The Guilty," which takes place in real time, over the course of one night, in one location and with one main character.
Danish films at Nordic Film Market
Market screenings – finished feature films
- Darkland / second feature / dir. Fenar Ahmad / prod. Jacob Jarek for Profile Pictures / world sales: TrustNordisk
- Letters for Amina / second feature / dir. Jacob Bitsch / prod. Birgitte Skov for Toolbox Film / world sales: TBA
- The Man / second feature / dir. Charlotte Sieling / prod. Lars Bredo Rahbek for Nimbus Film / world sales: SF Studios
- While We Live / featue debut / dir. Mehdi Avaz / prod. Victoria Sara Bjerre Pedersen for Rocket Road Pictures / world sales: LevelK
Works in progress – presented by the director and/or producer
- All In / third feature / dir. Christian Dyekjær / prod. Maja Dyekjær for Fago Film / world sales: TBA
- Darling / second feature / dir. Birgitte Stærmose / prod. Marie Gade Denessen for Zentropa / world sales: TrustNordisk
- The Charmer / feature debut / dir. Milad Alami / prod. Stinna Lassen for Good Company Films / world sales: TBA
- The Guilty / feature debut / dir. Gustav Möller / prod. Lina Flint for Nordisk Film / world sales: TBA
- A Horrible Woman / second feature / dir. Christian Tafdrup / prod. Marta Mleczek, Thomas Heinesen for Nordisk Film / world sales: LevelK
Nordic Film Lab Discovery – co-funding talent platform
- War, What If / dir. Puk Grasten / prod. Regner Grasten for Regner Grasten Film Produktion / world sales: LevelK