Discoveries from Denmark World Cinema

An animation by Sara Koppel.

The fragment consists of three scenes from The Old Merchant’s Home. The first scene shows the meeting between a distinguished man (played by Philip Beck), a beautiful young woman, and another man. In the next scene, a train draws up at a platform. A boy is standing in the foreground, looking at the camera. In the last scene, a woman is sitting in a living room, sewing. A man enters and assaults her, but is driven out by someone else, who comes to her rescue. Next, two other people enter the living room. (stumfilm.dk)

The Danish soldiers in Camp Dannevirke were assigned by the United Nations to monitor the ceasefire between the Serbs and the Croats. They were only allowed to use weapons in self-defense. In the summer of 1995, the Croatian Army ceasefire broke. Once there was no longer a ceasefire to monitor, the soldiers were ordered to stay inside their camp and not interfere in the war. It was therefore up to one Danish officer, to make the crucial decision: to give orders to shoot or follow the UN mandate and not intervene.

A comedy about a difficult friendship with the life-weary 55-year-old canteen lady Gunilla and her three interns.

Two brothers spiral into violence and revenge after the younger is beaten by a stranger and his gang in Copenhagen. The older tracks down the perpetrators, leading to escalating conflict and dark consequences.

In 2014, 45 crates of looted antiquities were discovered at Geneva Freeport in a warehouse belonging to disgraced antiquities dealer Robin Symes. They contained tens of thousands of archaeological remnants worth around £7 million. Three of the crates were sent to forensic archaeologists Dr Christos Tsirogiannis and Dr Vinnie Norskov for research. An Excavation documents Tsirogiannis and Norskov’s investigation into a series of vases from the Geneva Freeport crates. Made in the 4th century BC by Apulian artisans, these vases remained buried in tombs for 2500 years before they were clandestinely excavated from their now irrecoverable contexts. The objects’ journeys through the hands of looters, smugglers, restorers and dealers are counterpointed by the hand-painted stories that adorn them. Made for burials, the vases depict scenes from the underworld – forensic and mythological narratives start to intertwine.

In 1998 at Sct. Jørgens Skole in Næstved, the then 14-year-old Heino Hansen wrote a Danish essay that had his class in stitches. The otherwise shy and anonymous Heino became the funniest kid in the class from then on, and Heino Hansen was born! In Heino's first comedy show, you're taken back to the day he realized he was funny.

Two different men search the forest to find the solution to their problems.

The Nokkesens have got themselves into a huge predicament. They’ve forgotten that the Spidsmejers are coming to dinner and expect roast hare. The Nokkesens have no hare to cook, and the game butcher is closed, so the man of the house goes out to find a solution. After a bit of an odyssey, which includes coming across a bunch of mermaids, a fat little dog, and a pretty housekeeper with mischievous eyes, the Spidsmejers luckily get their promised roast hare. (stumfilm.dk)

Becoming Plant follows six dancers who participate in a therapeutic group experiment with psychedelics, while temporarily ‘living’ together on the demilitarised industrial site. While they are subjected to the plant’s consciousness and to each other’s presence, they perform a choreography, aligning their naked bodies with each other and with the architectural ruins. The film serves as a catalyst to discuss wider social and relational issues such as science, spirituality, psychiatry, healing, healthcare and the problems of collective depression and trauma resulting from living in the age of Late Capitalism. Becoming Plant features a specially composed soundtrack by London based electronic musician and visual artist Gaika.

A lyrical short film that explores the stress and expectations of modern society.

When it’s discovered that Fanny, a poor cigar worker, is frequenting the quarters of the manufacturer’s rich son, she’s banished from both home and work. All hope seems to be lost for Fanny, but her luck turns when she’s hired as a cigar roller at a cigar shop – or that’s what she thinks. It quickly transpires that the “cigar shop” is merely a cover for shadier affairs. Together with “Piphans” and other bandits, Fanny has to roll something completely different than cigars. (stumfilm.dk)

Two men hunt through family history for answers that may save a little boy from ending up as knotty as themselves.

A mind-expanding, cosmic sensory bombardment composed of 10,000 still images, linked together by Google’s artificial intelligence.

Joy abounds in the little workers’ home when the three daughters of the family all come home wearing an engagement ring. When the sons-in-law come to visit, one in particular stands out. The merchant Black is wealthy and wears fine clothes, but the labourer family is quite unimpressed by that. They tease him for his airs and graces, eventually prompting him to take his fiancée by the hand and hurry out of the – in his eyes – wretched home. As time goes on, however, it turns out that pride comes before a fall. (stumfilm.dk)

Relive the Danish national football team's magical Euro finals from the summer of 2020 with all the fantastic highlights and deep tragedies.

Erdenchimeg (11) has her mind set on becoming a famous contortionist – a speciality of Mongolian acrobats. Her team at the circus school is invited to become part of a prestigious show on the parliament square. But suddenly Erdenchimeg seems incapable of managing her exercise. The prospect of becoming the ‘odd one out’ on her team is all the more frightening because her dad is imprisoned, her mother is a former drunk, and Erdenchimeg was only admitted to the circus school as an act of good will. Not just her own dreams, but also the dignity of her family is at stake. But in the end she finds her inner strength and pulls through! Part of the "Kids on the Silk Road" documentary project.

An emotional homage to a joyful gay friend who passed away.

Martin Andersen Nexø talks about his writing, about writing novels and explains the background of the main characters in 'Pelle the Conqueror' and 'Your Child'. The film was shot on December 1, 1947 on the initiative of Johs. Øhlenschlæger.

After a failed suicide attempt in his garage, former criminal Henrik ends up at the local gas station. Hers, during a conversation with the annoying tankwoman Gitte, he becomes involved in a robbery started by inexperienced Ronja. However, it does not go as planned and has store consequences for the three involved.

Joanna is a singer who performs in a bar six nights a week, inside a hotel where she lives a few floors below. Her voice guides us through the spaces and her work routine, all the while the film continuously interrupts itself, reminding the viewer of its own construction and of film as material.

Our eyes don't lie: they're windows to the soul. Incognito explores the reality of repressed sexuality and boxed self-love in the present-day world.

A cute little frog lands right in the middle of another frog family’s dinner. At first, the family is charmed by the adorable newcomer, but soon he begins to turn their lives upside-down. How can a frog so little be so badly behaved?

Shovelling snow in Greenland’s capital is a big of everyday winter life. For some of Nuuk’s residents it’s a frustrating, endless task, but for others it’s an artform.

A film poem built on rhythmic reflex movements in water and correspondingly realistic but freely processed water sounds.

Experimental ballet film with choreography by Eske Holm.

“30 Years of Nordisk Film” celebrates the thirtieth anniversary of Nordisk Film, featuring clips of the company’s major films from its first three decades. The first part consists of reportage films depicting important historical events such as the inauguration of King Frederik VIII in 1906 and Ellehammer’s first flight that same year. The rest of the film is a cavalcade of the greatest moments in Danish silent film history featuring the biggest stars of the time. (stumfilm.dk)

A little man builds a house on a giant floating head. The man and the head develop a friendship, talk about their days and try to figure out what to do with their lives.

A surreal look on the western world's view on immigration.

The story of the young twins Miki and Vanja, who live with their foster father Kim. Kim works as a police officer and he proudly brags to the twins about his authoritative ways to take care of protesters - but the twins do not think highly of Kim. When Kim is not around, the twins escape to their parallel fantasy world, in this world they overpower Kim, but as he suspects what they are doing, the boundaries between fantasy and reality becomes blurred.

This is Denmark. This is Denmark’s most sold car. This house’s worth has doubled over the last 3 years. A measuring tape and some hedges. So begins Max Kestner’s story on Denmark. With an even-keeled narrative, this film takes us on a kaleidoscope tour around Denmark— from an editorial meeting at a magazine, to dictation in an Elementary school; from singing in a kindergarten, to a family planning their vacation; from a meeting with Pia Kjærsgaard, to a real estate agent in front of a newly sold house and a Danish landscape seen from above. These everyday situations tell universal stories about us. These are contemporary stories. This is Denmark’s world. With speed we shift through each story from up close to far away. This film is a mix of studio recordings with Denmark as its setting. This story is linear with a system of coordinates and a range of colors on repeat. Pseudo-scientific scenes are instruments that make it possible to isolate and compare objects and people.

In 2008, archaeologists found over 1,000 bodies in a large mass grave under a discotheque in Copenhagen. For many years there have been rumors that the area is haunted, and clairvoyants have detected strange and aggressive energies. But is it just superstition? And is it connected to the mass of bodies that have been found?

Kasper, 14, plays soccer with his friend Jon, the goalkeeper. Jon loses the ball and causes the team to lose. The captain and the other team members demand a new goalkeeper. Kasper is unsure what is most important: friendship or winning?

Two brothers hunting find a young girl in the forest. She is covered in blood and scared out of her wits. Time will tell what happened and who is behind it, because she herself remembers nothing.

When filmmaker Signe Barvil Stæhr was just five years old, her mother died unexpectedly in the middle of the night. Signe remembers only very little from that time in the late 1980s, and her father doesn't like to talk about it. In order to fill in the many gaps, she contacts the several nannies who helped out in their household the following years. It turns out that they all remember things in their own way. 'The Nannies' is a performative documentary with plenty of creative energy driving a deeply personal project. The stories of the past are conjured up through tasteful reconstructions of life in the suburbs.

A white deck chair, a large fan, a bonsai, combs of mother-of-pearl, a decapitated head carved out of wood, long hat pins to pierce its eyes and tongue and for adorning the hair, a red dressing gown, a white silk nightdress. Through the justification of the biblical story of Judith, the performance explores the theme of violence and vulnerability, plunging into an ocean of luminous and murderous eroticism.

Two young progressive people live together in the early 1960s. Their lives revolve around political activities, anti-nuclear actions, love, travel, music, drugs and poetry. And other issues of importance. That they believe in. But in spite of all these motions and movements they drift apart. And their story ends badly. One of the two, Eik Skaløe, the first beat poet singer in Danish, committed suicide in India 1968. The other, Iben Nagel Rasmussen, an Odin Teatret actress since 1966, reflects on her life today and, through the characters of her shows, compares it with visions and the events of that time.

Tom is living in a world where he doesn’t feel that he belongs, torn between staying or searching for a better place. On his last day, Tom decides to give all of his plants away to the ones he loves, without knowing that they already have a secret plan for him.

The billionaire Hogan Ford, a modern day Prometheus, is driven to rebellion and revolt against the almighty Creator by his bitter experiences of life.

Hjalmar leads a double life; during the day, he is a clerk at his father’s bank while at night, he leads a notorious gang known as “Heldet” (Fortune) to pay for his prodigious womanising and gambling. When “Heldet” knocks over his own bank, Hjalmar distracts the guard while the rest of the gang cleans out the vault, then he calls the police to allay any suspicion. But master detective Gorki is on the case, and Hjalmar might not have been as careful as he thinks. (stumfilm.dk)

Renovating the apartment was meant to be a dream come true, yet unforeseen problems heighten his anxieties to breaking point.

This film was shot at a factory. A factory making shirts in the town of Herning i Jutland, decorated by Paul Gadegaard. Formerly art was confined to churches and palaces. Today man is in focus - his working place. Paul Gadegaard has been able to accomplish this pioneer work thanks to art experiments carried on since the beginning of this century.