Discoveries from Denmark World Cinema

Memorable anecdotes about film director Lars von Trier told by people he has worked with on his films.

'Companion AI' is a new technology that allows for the implantation of relationships through a chip. Saga is anti-tech, lonely, and struggles to connect with others, as popular technology creates distance between people. When she reunites with her childhood friend Etta, whom she misses in her life, she sees an opportunity to rekindle a genuine and deep relationship. However, Etta herself has a 'companion,' making it challenging to reestablish their bond. This drives Saga on a journey where she must compromise and turn inward in the pursuit of a genuine relationship.

The first sketch show by Peter Frödin, Martin Brygmann & Hella Joof also knows as "Det brune punktum".

Alex, a young woman bored with modern life, is lured by Bacchus into a colorful and mysterious world to explore her deepest desires.

Stine is eighteen and has finished school. Her parents have are divorced, and the father has a new wife. Stine is not so anxious finding a regular job, She would like to be an actor.

This film analyzes the economic interests underpinning the conflict between Palestinians and Israelis, with a particular focus on the influence of international oil interests in the region. The analysis found here is inspired by the writings of the Palestinian writer and journalist Ghassan Kanafani.

50 % of the world’s population lives in urban areas. By 2050 this will increase to 80%. Life in a mega city is both enchanting and problematic. Today we face peak oil, climate change, loneliness and severe health issues due to our way of life. But why? The Danish architect and professor Jan Gehl has studied human behavior in cities through 40 years. He has documented how modern cities repel human interaction, and argues that we can build cities in a way, which takes human needs for inclusion and intimacy into account.

The old, rich eccentric James Richard dies and leaves his fortune to his son Walther. But when the deceased’s nephew Philip learns that in the event of Walther’s death, he will inherit the entire fortune, a tragic family drama begins to brew. (Stumfilm.dk)

A bear tamer is hired by a traveling circus and soon gets married to a snake charmer. Not long after the wedding, the snake charmer gets involved in a variety show, and to the bear tamer’s horror, one evening he watches how she’s seduced by a rich man who takes her home. Luckily, he has a furry, faithful squire who’s always ready to step in. (Stumfilm.dk)

Three troublemakers, one clumsy maid and the strictest madam in town – everything is as usual at the “Peace and Quiet” boarding house. That is, until the madam of the house grows tired of the maid and authorises her three boarders to find her a replacement while she’s visiting a friend. After a wild night out, the three gentlemen return with three cute girl under their arms. When madam returns home earlier than expected, all three troublemakers come up with the same brilliant cock-and-bull story – that their girl is the new maid. (Stumfilm.dk)

The newly rich Mr. Jourdain dreams of climbing the social ladder in 17th-century Paris. And he makes a fool of himself as he tries to become proficient in philosophy, dance, music, and fencing.

A dark evening, a crime writer Peter Sander, drives through a forest when his car runs out of petrol . A little distance from the road there is a house with lighted windows, and he goes there to borrow a phone. Suddenly he trips over a tree root and sprain one foot . He lags up the forest road . Then there is a shot, a moment after running steps. A beam cuts through the dark. It goes out . The steps moves away. Peter gets up and stomps up to the house . No one responds to his knokking.

Lars Chr. Bentsen is a Master Casting Instructor in the Federation of Fly Fishers, and he is internationally recognized for his skills in teaching fly casting. The film is about fly casting with a single-handed rod. Here in the film, he demonstrates the spey cast, five different presentation casts, how to fish with a shooting head, and we go through examples of casting in different wind directions. We see how Lars adjusts his shooting heads and how you can make loops on a shooting head or fly line yourself. Lars Chr. Bentsen also demonstrates the most common casting mistakes. We then see exactly where the mistake is and how to correct it. This section is valuable for many fly fishermen.

The film could just as well have been called "Where there is room in the heart, there is also room in the house," because it is actually about an old, seasoned people person's solution to the housing problem. He solves it in his own – admittedly unusual – way, but he solves it! Had he been a little more discreet, his invention would never have been discovered – and he could have lived the rest of his life carefree. But this experienced judge of character – whom we call "the Professor" – had one major flaw: his overly big heart for the small and unfortunate members of society in general and the homeless in particular. It is this unfortunate heart that sets the film in motion and accelerates the events.

Clemens has escaped from prison. The first thing he does is seek out his wife Maria. He dreams of the two of them traveling away, but Maria does not want to. In the end, he leaves using his friend's passport.

She loves to ride in the bus and read smart book ... He likes to sit by the water and drink soda ... She loves to write down their thoughts on the fly and be glad that they do not end ... He likes to watch as boats come and invent passengers biography ... She loves ice cream and menthol cigarettes ... And he - horses and storefronts ... She had to roam the streets at night, even if you do not want to ... he loves the city nightlife, which helps him to dream ... and one day ... quite by accident ... They meet ... hE and SHE ...

A man is being haunted by a masked stranger. The only language used in the movie comes from three (inter) title cards and a few sentences of sermon-like talk in Danish. Some of the talk is modified citations from the bible and similar sources.

Young, inexperienced members of the Dutch Boarder Patrol undergo an intensive training on escorting refused asylum seekers to their homeland.

Two Raging Grannies is a touching and thought-provoking documentary that challenges the idea that we must continue to shop, consume, amass, and keep the economy growing.

About the traditional celebration at Christmas. It is a safety valve, a cleansing bath that gives strength and zest for life well into the new year. "People meet" – and masks fall around the lavishly laid tables, where the director and the workers drink together. Local democracy works – and long-standing marriages falter! However, very few Christmas parties reach the same heights as the one enjoyed by the staff at Simonsens Bijouteri Fabrik.

Described as a “bloody and insane” take on the Shakespeare play.

Sensitive 12-year-old Alf is the low man on his class' totem pole, and he's sick of it. Forming a secret, Machiavellian alliance with another student who also has grown weary of being bullied, he hatches a plan to throw a wrench into the well-oiled gears of the school social order. Everything seems to go according to plan, until Alf discovers that turning the tables on his tormentors has its own dire consequences.

11 years old Brian is an imaginative boy who is dealing with the loss of his grandfather by constructing a fantastic series of rituals...

Like all other fairy tales, this one begins with: Once upon a time. Once upon a time, there were two friends, one was an actor in Copenhagen, the other in Oslo. The one in Copenhagen was called Osvald, and one day he was very angry. He stood in front of his director and told him what he thought of him in general and the tasks he was given at his theater in particular. So Osvald left. By a twist of fate, something similar happened in Oslo. Einar felt that his director did not take him into consideration, so he also left. Now the two meet in Copenhagen, and they experience an adventurous evening together, spiced with several well-known revue numbers.

Emmalou works as a waitress on a cruise ship filled with lonely people. She mourns the loss of her boyfriend who died in an accident the previous year. One day, a small boy disguised in a blue costume boards the ship

A mother's love is put to the test when her 13-year-old son changes into someone she can no longer recognize. Will she accept the stranger he has become, or fight to reclaim the boy she once knew?

FRAGMENT | Karl of Riise must say goodbye to his beloved Rigmor when he’s summoned by King Valdemar. He must take a message of reinforcements to the oppressed warriors in Estonia. Shortly after his arrival, Karl is captured by the pagan enemies, and King Valdemar quickly sets off with his best men to free his countryman. (Stumfilm.dk)

Using the mother’s life and constant flight as the main thread, the film shows us a deeply religious, Jewish girl, born in the Ukraine in 1902, who died an atheist and communist in Copenhagen in 1985.

During a production of "Hamlet", the withdrawn lead actor and the girl playing Ophelia, who has just escaped a life of drugs and prostitution, spark an unlikely and low-key romance.

A festive crime comedy about a confused innkeeper who involuntarily finds himself becoming entangled in a larger crime-affair where the villains have stolen and smuggled a precious diamond baked in a cake ...

Poul Løwe is young, charming and rich - and his secretary Gretel is the same, except for the rich - and none of them are mutual blind to each other's characteristics, making it difficult for them to concentrate on the typewriter. There's just one difficult and embarrassing problem: Poul is married!

The adaptation of Helle Stangerup's psychological horror, telling the story of a married couple who raises wolfes, in order for the husband to study the creatures. They hire Ellinor for additional help, but soon they wonder if she guards supernatural secrets.

A short documentary about a man named Martin who lives on what used to be the Danish King’s meadow garden but is now the city of Copenhagen’s largest rubbish tip.

The artistic cyclist Gaumont, his girlfriend Baptista, and their partner Rosa arrive in town with their travelling circus. Rosa is secretly in love with Gaumont, and to her great delight, she gets the opportunity to travel alone with him when Baptista gets injured and is bedridden. The two of them grow closer in secret, but the clown Pierre, who has set his sights on Baptista, gossips about the lovebirds for his own gain, thus igniting a fatal thirst for revenge in the betrayed. Stumfilm.dk

Our bandit story takes place in the good old days, when strife, war, and lawlessness were the order of the day—a time quite unlike our own. In Rold Forest, the daring robber chief Justi roams, stealing from the rich to help the poor. His right-hand men are Reinald, who is more interested in the cash rewards, and the cunning minstrel Ole Hopsasa, whose greatest joy is to quench his ever-burning thirst and sing a cheerful song.

Two rival young men both desire the merchant's pretty daughter, a bad young man robs the merchant's safe and blames it on "mother-in-law's dream", a worldly-wise grandmother directs the battle of love from her living room, and a couple of silly railway workers spread song and joy.

On the darkest night of the year, when Satan is allowed free reign to walk the earth, a motley crew of Satanists kidnap a sharp tongued southern waitress to be a given up as the Dark One's bride and mortal host of the antichrist. But when her rowdy redneck friends botch up the ritual in a violent rescue attempt, all power of hell is inadvertently transferred into the most unlikely of hosts: a sacrificed chicken! Now, the Satanists and Rednecks battle one another as an evil most fowl threatens to swallow their souls and transform them into a demonic army of the walking dead! Who will survive the terror of Zombeak!?

In 1943, where everything was prohibited, and the Nazi grip on the Danish population tightened, more and more growing resistance to the occupation quite naturally in the Danish population. In Aarhus break 2 young men, Holger Mikkelsen (Ole Lemmeke) and Leo (Per Morberg) into a company who sympathize with the Germans, and burn repairer. It had been a close thing, but when, however, to reach safety before occupying forces emerge.

The decline of a young self-destructive woman on her path to liberation, as she is confronted with her past.

Amalie is walking along the Copenhagen canal when a woman falls into the water. She jumps in and tries to save the woman, but ends up drowning herself. When Amalie wakes up in the hospital, she finds out that the other woman is dead and that the authorities believe she is the one who died. Now begins a long and tough battle against the bureaucracy of the Danish social system. It all ends with Amalie deciding to commit one crazy crime after another, culminating in an attempt to steal the crown jewels...

Et comedy show til nørden i os alle! I sit nye show, Science Faction, tager Thomas udgangspunkt i sin evige interesse for underlige facts; “Jeg har altid haft den regel, at jeg ikke står på scenen og påstår noget er sandt, hvis det ikke er tilfældet,” siger Thomas Hartmann. “Dette bliver, i det nye show, mere aktuelt end nogensinde.” Science Faction bliver som vi kender det fra Hartmann - klassisk, verbal stand-up comedy!

Author and art critic Martin Berg and his charming wife, Karin, live a happy family life surrounded by their children and in-laws. Ever since he got married, Berg has wanted to write a book about the female figures in Botticelli's art, but the practical demands of everyday life have gotten in the way. There is a constant coming and going of young people in the house. It is the young people who keep him fresh of mind, and he is always ready to help young people, but the question is whether Berg sometimes goes too far in his efforts to help?

Olaf Ussing is the old chamberlain who lives in the castle with his three unmarried daughters – Malene Schwartz, Lone Hertz and Mimi Heinrich. On the neighbouring estate lives Poul Reichhardt, a wealthy bachelor with a butler – festively played by Ole Monty. A couple of dubious suitors for the lovely young ladies are Preben Neergaard and Preben Mahrt – and a former admirer is Henning Palner.

Everyone is afraid of something. Also Father. He suffers from a terrible case of fear of heights. And for him to not decline a new job opportunity, located on the 27th floor, which could save the family from moving across the country, the family decides to travel to Norway to cure his phobia. But it will soon be clear that Father's phobia isn't the only obstacle standing in their way.

A family is on the brink of dissolution. The parents relationship has run awry for many years and their two little girls are suffering as a result of their bitter arguments. It is as if a miracle is needed in order to save the marriage. The miracle occurs when a violent event takes place in the girls' lives forcing the parents to stick together and be there for the kids. The couple's love blossoms anew but what about the girls, how are they coping?

Comedy show featuring Danish stand-up comedian Mick Øgendahl.

Jørgen von Hejden is very distinguished, but poor. He is something of a fortune hunter. He dreams of getting rich quick. But his skills are not up to the radio quiz show, so he sticks to gambling, roulette, and dice games. When he marries the beautiful and wealthy Marianne, he also gambles. He has married her for her money! But Marianne is not only wealthy, she is also strong-willed. She inherited this trait from her father, shipowner John Christensen.

The ballet pupil Camilla Favier makes for a quick success and falls for the author Jean Mayol. She discovers a love letter to him from a rich married woman and is devastated. In revenge she reveals the secret love story for the cuckolded husband and his guests at a big party. Later she finds a new love message from the wayward wife and brings it to the husband, who gets furious, grabs a pistol and incites the climax of the story.

"What does the hangman think about when he goes home at night from work?" ​ The Hangman at Home is an animated film exploring themes surrounding acknowledgement and the awkward intimacy of humanness. Told in five interwoven stories; each situation presents a person, or persons in a delicate moment: fragile, playful, terrified, contemplated, confused, curious… We are all very much alike in these moments - alerting us to question our own responsibility and responses. Inspired by Carl Sandburg’s chilling poem of the same name.

The director’s diary told in still images of a dramatic period in which he becomes first a father and then almost loses the love of his life when his girlfriend – filmmaker Lea Glob – goes into a coma after giving birth.