Film Festivals of Denmark

Overview of Danish Film Industry

---

Denmark has a rich Cinematic Tradition that dates back to the early 20th century. The Danish Film Industry has produced Influential Danish Filmmakers, Actors, and Film Professionals that have garnered acclaim at major Film Festivals worldwide. The industry is characterized by its commitment to storytelling, Innovative Filmmaking Techniques, and a strong emphasis on social issues.

Denmark has institutions that offer film education, contributing to the development of skilled professionals in the Film Industry of Denmark. The National Film School of Denmark (Den Danske Filmskole) is a key institution providing comprehensive education in various aspects of filmmaking, including film directing, screenwriting, cinematography, film editing, and film production. It plays a crucial role in nurturing new talent and fostering creativity within the industry.

The Danish film industry receives support from various government initiatives and funding bodies. The Danish Film Institute (Det Danske Filminstitut) is a major player in this regard. It provides financial support for film production, film distribution, and film promotion. Additionally, it is responsible for preserving and promoting Danish Film Heritage.

Danish Filmmakers:

Denmark has produced Internationally Acclaimed Filmmakers such as Lars von Trier, Thomas Vinterberg, and Susanne Bier. These film directors are known for their distinct storytelling styles and have received awards at prestigious film festivals like Cannes and The Academy Awards. Their work has helped bring Danish Cinemato the forefront of the Global Film Industry.

 

International Collaborations:

Denmark actively participates in International Film Collaborations, co-productions, and film festivals. The country's filmmakers often engage in co-productions with other European countries, enhancing cultural exchange and expanding the reach of Danish cinema.

 

Challenges and Opportunities:

While the Danish film industry has enjoyed success, it also faces challenges such as competition from Hollywood Productions and the need for continuous innovation to keep pace with evolving audience tastes. However, Denmark's small but robust film industry allows for flexibility and experimentation, providing opportunities for Emerging Filmmakers of Denmark to make their mark.

Denmark's Film industry is characterized by its commitment to artistic expression, social relevance, and a strong tradition of storytelling. With a blend of government support, film education, and international collaborations, Danish cinema continues to make a significant impact on the global stage.

Film Festivals of Denmark

---

Denmark hosts several film festivals that showcase both Danish and International Cinema. The Copenhagen International Documentary Festival (CPH:DOX) and the Odense International Film Festival are notable events that attract Filmmakers, Film Industry Professionals and Cinephiles from around the world. These festivals contribute to the exposure and recognition of Danish Films on the Global Stage.

Odense International Film Festival

Odense International Film Festival is the most popular Short Film Festival of Denmark. OIFF always offer a varied and experimenting film program garnered with thought-provoking off-screen experiences, debates, workshops, concerts and much more. Every year in August, Film Enthusiasts from all over the world have the opportunity of catching an exceptional selection of Danish and International Short Films in Odense that would otherwise never reach the big screen.

OIFF is Denmark's International, Academy Award-Qualifying Short Film Festival, and with its launch in 1975, it is also Denmark’s Oldest Film Festival. OIFF is an alternative film festival born with passion and creativity.  A spirit that the festival has maintained and nurtured always. The festival is designed to screen unusual short films of high quality with an original and imaginative sense of creativeness as found in the works of Hans Christian Andersen, the world-famous writer of Fairy-Tales, who was born in Odense in 1805.

OIFF supports and celebrates the Short Film Genre without compromise but at the same time Odense International Film Festival is a festival for the audience, and every year they experience a massive support from the locals in Odense. Hundreds sign up as volunteers, and even more visit their festival for the high-quality experience they deliver. OIFF works all year round to support Danish film culture, and to offer and develop diverse Film Experiences for people to enjoy.

In 2013 OIFF was acknowledged as Denmark’s First Oscar Qualifying Film Festival. This meant the winners from main Competition and from Danish Film Competition can reach straight to the pre-jury of the Academy Awards in Hollywood. As of 2015, OIFF has been given another Oscar Qualifying Category, which means the winner of the Animation Competition will also be in the running for an Oscar Nomination.

 

Copenhagen International Documentary Festival

CPH: DOX, Copenhagen International Documentary Film Festival was founded in 2003 and is one of the Biggest Documentary Film Festivals in the world. CPH:DOX has a special focus on art, science and society. CPH:DOX, the official name for the Copenhagen International Documentary Film Festival, is an International Documentary Film Festival held annually in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Supported by the Film Community of Denmark, CPH: DOX now attracts more than 100,000 admissions a year. The festival runs a strong film industry platform with the co-production and film financing CPH: Film Forum, CPH: Film Market, and the Talent Development Program CPH: Lab

CPH:DOX takes place annually in November. The festival is one of the leading in Europe, and works with an expanded concept of film documentary that crosses cultural, political and artistic Geographical Boundaries by letting visual art, performance and music get into the World of Cinema. The mission of the festival is to present challenging and critical works of Documentary Cinema and other arts in an original and intelligent context.

CPH:DOX is devoted to supporting Independent and Innovative films and to present Contemporary Non-fiction, Art cinema, and Experimental Film.The festival has been recognized for its sharp and daring program profile with a special focus on exploring the hybrid field between documentary practice and various type of staging sometimes to controversial effect, as when Harmony Korine won the CPH:DOX Award in 2009 for his film Trash Humpers.

Besides its seven International Competitions, the festival also presents Parallel Curated and Guest Curated sections. In recent years eminent artists and filmmakers such as   Harmony Korine, Animal Collective, Nan Goldin, Douglas Gordon, Ben Rivers & Ben Russell, Ai Weiwei, The Yes Men, Olafur Eliasson and Naomi Klein & Avi Lewis have curated film programs exclusively for CPH:DOX. Parallel to this, the festival has been presenting retrospective programs with others like Phillippe Grandrieux, Nathalie Djurberg, Vincent Moon, Charles Atlas, and James Benning.

The festival hosts seminars, debates, and events as well as the curated concert series Audio: Visuals where Bands and Artists such as Animal Collective, The Knife, John Maus, Nan Goldin & Genesis P-Orridge, Patti Smith, Beach House have been performing to original work created for the occasion by visual artists. CPH: DOX also presents several other initiatives parallel to the festival itself. The industry platform CPH: Forum with the attached CPH: Market for buyers and programmers is a Financing and Co-production forum as well as a networking facility that takes place for three days during the festival. In 2011 ART:FILM branch was launched with the aim to facilitate the development and actual Production of Artists' films. Feature length format. CPH:DOX runs the five-day CPH: Conference as well as the experimental educational course DOX:Academy for students both of which take place during the festival. In 2009, the festival launched the International Talent Development and Film Production workshop CPH:LAB (formerly known as DOX:LAB) where around 20 filmmakers are invited each year to develop and direct a film in teams of two. CPH: LAB has been a great success with film premiering and winning prizes at film festivals such as Venice, the Berlinale, Rotterdam, and elsewhere.

 

Nat Film Festival

NatFilm is the biggest film festival in Denmark with some 40,000 admissions and boasts veteran Swedish actress Harriet Andersson as its cover star. The opening gala will also see the festival present its annual Natsvaermer Award, a US$3,700 (DKR25.000) prize for a young talent in Danish film.

The non-competitive NatFilm Festival's program this year includes an extensive series of films from the Middle East as well as a series from India, South Korea, Japan and Thailand including popular festival titles like Devdas, Tale of A Naughty Girl, Mon-Rak Transistor, Blissfully Yours, Volcano High, Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance and Takeshi Kitano's Dolls.

The Nat Film Festival takes place at night. Once a year, the major cities and towns of Denmark (and recently, a couple of cities in nearby southern Sweden, too) host a Nationwide Film Festival. Starting in the evening and continuing through the night for several consecutive nights. Usually, the festivals feature screenings of both major Motion pictures (often as sneak previews ahead of premiere dates), more Obscure Films, and numerous packages of short films. The festival organizers generally make an effort to provide a broad spectrum of Motion Picture styles and forms. NatFilm Festival is the biggest International film event in Denmark. Every single cinema in Copenhagen participated in the festival, which also screened parts of the program in three other cities in Denmark: Odense, Aalborg and Aarhus.

 

Annual Copenhagen Film Festival

The Annual Copenhagen Film Festival aims to bring Independent Cinema to the foreground while supporting Emerging Filmmakers from all walks of life. Taking place over 2 days since 2017 in the beloved Husets Biograf, ACFF has become a yearly meeting point for Cinephiles, Filmmakers and industry professionals. Attracting a young audience of Copenhageners and foreigners this Festival is sold-out every year. Films run the Gamut of Genres from Fiction Films and Documentaries to Music Videos and Animated movies. ACFF welcome all filmmakers whether experienced or beginners to show us their artwork and become part of our Diverse Screening Program.

The Annual Copenhagen Film Festival is organized by HFP, a pioneer organization that runs Film Festivals and other events showcasing and championing ideas of diversity. Through their global series of Film Festivals that spread over 13 countries, they open the Path to Voices with a compelling story to share. Main mission is to honor Independent Cinema and establish a Network of Artists eager to join forces and spread their work across all nations. HFP runs 25 film Festivals worldwide.

ACFF is an Annual Film Festival hosted in order to promote and highlight filmmakers and individuals that have contributed to the global effort of making the world a more entertaining and competitive environment for filmmaking.

The Event usually is separated into 2 screening slots per day. Putting humans in the epicenter, each screening slot explores different and new aspects of human dilemmas, Gender and Sex issues and personal relationships through stories people can all identify with.

 

BUSTER - Copenhagen International Film Festival for Children and Youth

BUSTER - Copenhagen International Film Festival for Children and Youth - opens its doors for two weeks of Ambitious and Entertaining films from across the world. BUSTER Film Festival welcomes its audience to an excellent platform for the Danish and International Filmmakers.

The festival presents a great selection of new exciting, innovative, challenging, and Entertaining Films for Children and Youth from all over the world. The festival prides itself in challenging the conventional way of thinking film for a Younger Audience and presents a strong and interesting program. It offers a wide variety of opportunities with loads of movies such as animations, comedies and topics from the real world. Besides Fantastic Films for children and youth, the festival offers exciting workshops and events for both schools and families.

This is Denmark's largest film festival for children and youth, BUSTER directs its attention towards both schools and families. A range of well over 130 feature films, shorts and documentaries are each year selected to be part of BUSTER Film Festival for Children and Youth. More than 300 events are planned to take place during BUSTER's mere 17 days festival ranging from Film Screenings in Cinemas and other cultural institutions to workshops and Q&A's with Directors and Actors visiting the festival. 36.000 children, young people, their parents, or teachers participated in the 2013 edition of BUSTER.

BUSTER primarily show films that young audience would not have the opportunity to experience in Danish Cinemas, because the films very rarely achieve Theatrical Distribution in Denmark. But every year BUSTER also unveils some of the exciting upcoming Film Premieres. BUSTER Copenhagen International Film Festival for Children and Youth was founded in 2000. Its aim is to develop children and young people's creative and critical awareness of Film and Media.

Besides the screenings there are forum for Film Industry Professionals, Film Educators and others with an interest in Children’s Film. BUSTER Medialab is the festival's major latest effort. The move opens BUSTER doors to the expanding media landscape, particularly Digital Media. School workshops with competent teachers in particular computer game design 2D and 3D film animation, digital film stories, movies on mobile and online game universes are offered. Participants are able to explore the history or learn English through quizzes, games and chat in a virtual universe that is used by more than 1 million children worldwide above.

Mix Copenhagen LGBTQ+ Film Festival

MIX COPENHAGEN LGBTQIA+ Film Festival started in 1986 and is now the leading LGBTQIA+ Film Festival in the Nordics. They show the best in Contemporary LGBTQ+ Cinema that push and challenge societal notions and conceptions of gender and sexuality. Our focus is not only to bring the Best Queer Cinema to Copenhagen, but also to provide a platform for community. MIX COPENHAGEN LGBTI+ Film Festival is one of the oldest in the world

Founded in 1986, MIX COPENHAGEN is for a Diverse Audience. With their films they seek to represent all sexualities and genders. The screenings appeal to all film lovers and everyone else interested in cinema with a queer twist. They showcase Movies that Inspire, make you think, entertain and keeps the party going. They show movies from all around the world and they have cooperated with ShanghaiPRIDE.

Since 1986, MIX Copenhagen has screened films that seek to question and explore sexualities, affect the Contemporary Gender Debate and reflect a diverse and colorful world. They select films that have the potential to affect personal and societal expectations and work towards increasing the visibility of LGBTI+ Stories in Film and media. They are one of the world's Oldest Annual LGBT film festivals and each year more than 12,000 people attend screenings and events. MIX COPENHAGEN is the Oldest Annual Returning Film Festival in Denmark.

From 1986-2010 the festival was known as CGLFF – Copenhagen Gay & Lesbian Film Festival. In 2011 the name was changed to MIX COPENHAGEN. The festival is attended by more than 12.000 people each year, and national and international distributors within TV, film and various productions are invited. International Juries award the Lili Statuette to the Best in Competition within Feature, Short and Documentary films. MIX COPENHAGEN is a non-profit organization driven by a dedicated team of volunteers. Mission is to present films that bend genders, break sexual boundaries, stir up gender politics and reflect diversity.