Danish premieres in San Sebastián

Three Danish feature films and one short film are part of the line-up at the Sebastián Film Festival (16-24 September), one of Europe's most prominent film festivals after Cannes, Berlin and Venice.

Katrine Brock's feature film debut 'The Great Silence' will be world premiering in the New Directors competition. The film's domestic release is set for 12 January.

Frelle Petersen's drama 'Forever' will be running in Competition, celebratíng its international premiere at the festival. The Danish premiere was in July.

Finally, Hlynur Pálmason's historical drama 'Godland' and his short film 'Nest' are screening in the Zabaltegi-Tabakalera section, which embraces innovative films regardless of format. 'Godland' world premiered at the Cannes Festival in Un Certain Regard and has been selected for Telluride and Toronto.

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Debut feature 'The Great Silence' to San Sebastián

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'Forever' selected for San Sebastián Competition

Competition for new technology

The Zinemaldia Startup Challenge is the festival's competition for entrepreneurs and startups that present innovative projects and technologies for the audiovisual field.

The Danish company Copenhagen Industries participates with the project 'Violette', an alternative to real weapons in film productions. Founders Søren Haraldsted and Daniel Karpantschof have since 2017 been working on their dummy which behaves like a real firearm, but is nevertheless completely safe.

Members of the Official Jury

Tea Lindeburg, who last year received the award as best director for her debut film 'As in Heaven', joins the Official Jury together with Hlynur Pálmason.

In addition, producer Katrin Pors from Snowglobe participates in the jury of the Europe-Latin America Co-Production Forum.

Danish films and filmmakers in San Sebastián 2022

New Directors

• The Great Silence by Katrine Brocks, who has written the script with Marianne Lentz. Produced by Pernille Tornøe for Monolit Film. World premiere.

Official Selection

• Forever written and directed by Frelle Petersen. Produced by Jonas Bagger for Zentropa. International premiere.

Zabaltegi-Tabakalera

• Godland written and directed by Hlynur Pálmason. Produced by Katrin Pors, Eva Jakobsen and Mikkel Jersin for Snowglobe.
• Nest (short film) written and directed by Hlynur Pálmason. Produced by Katrin Pors, Eva Jakobsen and Mikkel Jersin for Snowglobe.

Zinemaldia Startup Challenge

• Violette presented by Copenhagen Industries and founders Søren Haraldsted and Daniel Karpantschof.

Jury members

• Tea Lindeburg / Official Jury
• Hlynur Pálmason / Official Jury
• Katrin Pors / Europe-Latin America Co-Production Forum

The Great Silence

Katrine Brocks, 2023

29-year-old Alma lives a quiet life in a Catholic convent in present day Denmark and is preparing to take her perpetual vows as a nun, when her brother Erik arrives unexpectedly after many years apart. Erik, a recovering alcoholic, wants his share of the inheritance from their late father. However, his presence quickly unearths a much deeper deceit between them – a terrible accident from their past, that Alma has desperately tried to suppress.

Forever

Frelle Petersen, 2022

When married couple Egon and Maren lose their adult son, their family, which includes their daughter Line, is paralyzed with grief. As it turns out, Egon and Maren have very different ways of coping with grief and find themselves slowly slipping apart. Meanwhile, Line takes it upon herself to help her parents to the best of her ability and fill the void caused by their loss.

Godland

Hlynur Pálmason, 2022

In the late 19th century, a young Danish priest travels to a remote part of Iceland to build a church and photograph its people. But the deeper he goes into the unforgiving landscape, the more he strays from his purpose, the mission and morality.

Nest

Hlynur Pálmason, 2022

A story of siblings building a tree house together over the course of a year. We experience the beauty and brutality of the seasons, as we follow them through their struggles and moments of joy.