Danish Film Industry

One of the greatest export of Denmark, after beer of course, is movies ... surprisingly!

Denmark is a tiny country with a solid film industry which produces brilliant and internationally acclaimed movies. The danish film industry easily spawns new talents in acting, directing and related technical roles.

Apparently the cinema tradition goes way back to the early 1900s when: "Despite the small size of its native market and its relatively limited resources, Denmark reigned supreme for several years (1909-14) as Europe's most prosperous film center. Its films rivaled those of Hollywood, for popularity on the screens of Paris, London, Berlin and New York." Efraim Katz, Film Encyclopedia, 1998, Collins

In the 1970s the cinema drifted towards more sexually oriented pictures and around the same time, the Danske Filminstitut (DFI) was created.

Since the 1980s the Danish filmmaking is essentially subsidized, funded and controlled by the state. Also around the same time one of their most successful and controversial star, Lars von Trier, came out of school and began making movies.

At the end of the 1980s Denmark won two Academy Awards and got one more nomination for Best Foreign Film: in 1987 the Oscar went to Babettes Gæstebud (Babette's Feast) by Gabriel Axel and in 1988 the Oscar went to Pelle Erobreren (Pelle the Conqueror) by Bille August, while in 1989 Dansen med Regitze (Memories of a Marriage) received a nomination.

In the 1990s the Danish industry made international news again with a small group of directors which formed the Dogme 95 movement (Lars von Trier, Kristian Levring, Søren Kragh-Jacobs and Thomas Vinterberg).

By the end of the 1990s Lars von Trier dominated the scene not only in Denmark, but all over the world with its second trilogy, the Golden Heart Trilogy, which includes Breaking the Waves, The Idiots, and Dancer in the Dark. They were very well received internationally, collecting a series of accolades and awards.

The beginning of the 2000s witnessed the rise of a new director star, Per Fly. His trilogy The Bench (Bænken), Inheritance (Arven) and Manslaughter (Drabet) is a fine and sad portrait of danish society.

The mid 2000s launched into stardom a new drama director, Susanne Bier, which had previously faced notoriety for a successful comedy. Her movies Brothers (Brødre), After the Wedding (Efter Brylluppet) got national and international acclaim, accolades and nominations.

Susanne Bier together with Lars von Trier is currently the most successful and exported author in Danish Industry. This allows us to say that today one of the greatest export of Denmark after beer is in fact Bier.

Film awards in Denmark
Bodil Awards and Robert Awards.

Danish film production houses
Nordisk Film, the oldest continuously operating film studio in the world.
Zentropa, co-founded by Lars von Trier
Nimbus Film

Danish people in movie history
Niels Arden Oplev, director
Bille August, director
Gabriel Axel, director
Susanne Bier, director
Per Fly, director
Henrik Ruben Genz, director
Mikael Salomon, director and cinematographer
Lone Scherfig, director
Lars von Trier, director
Thomas Vinterberg, director
Nicolas Winding Refn, director

Martin Brygmann, actor
Lars Brygmann, actor
Jesper Christensen, actor

Bodil Ipsen, actress

Bodil Kjer, actress

Nikolaj Lie Kaas, actor

Mads Mikkelsen, actor

Connie Nielsen, actress

Ghita Nørby, actress
Ulrich Thomsen, actor

Links
Det Danske Filminstitut - Danish Film Institute