Giraffe

Anna Sofie Hartmann : 2019

A tunnel will be built to connect Denmark and Germany, the present sets in motion towards the future, change hangs in the air. Dara, an ethnologist, arrives to document the houses tagged for demolition. The young Pole, Lucek, and his colleagues prepare the future construction site. Käthe works on the ferry, steadily moving people, their stories, and goods to and fro. Birte and Leif leave their house that has been passed down for generations. Agnes's life resounds in her diaries, collectibles and the walls of her home, which will soon be demolished. A Danish summer: long days turn into blue nights. People meet and part ways again. Anna Sofie Hartmann's second feature premiered in competition at Locarno Film Festival 2019, and was winner of the FIPRESCI Prize at Vienna International Film Festival 2019.

The Guilty

Gustav Möller : 2018
Den skyldige

Former police officer Asger Holm has been suspended from duty and has been relegated to emergency dispatcher. During his mundane night shift, he receives a strange phone call from a panicked woman. Despite his first surprised reaction, Asger will realise that the woman on the other end of the line has been kidnapped, and then the search will start. Confined to his desk at the emergency services call centre, Asger will have to track down and help the endangered woman with the help of his colleagues across the country. As the clock is ticking and the seconds go by, Asger will not only have to face the escalating events of the crime but also his own personal demons. Gustav Möller's feature debut premiered in competition at Sundance Film Festival 2018 where it won the Audience Award, and had its European premiere at International Film Festival Rotterdam 2018 where it won the Audience Award and Youth Jury Award.

The Purity of Vengeance

Christoffer Boe : 2018
Journal 64

Two workmen make an alarming discovery in an older Copenhagen apartment: hidden behind a false wall are three mummified corpses, sitting around a dining table with one empty seat left. The case quickly ends up on the desk of Detective Superintendent Carl Mørck and his assistant Assad from Department Q, and it is up to them to figure out, who the mummies are as well as who the fourth seat is meant for. Carl and Assad put all effort into tracking the tenant of the apartment and they end up finding clues tracing back to the notorious institution for 'wayward' girls on the island of Sprogø, where extreme neglect and medical experiments in forced sterilisation were a part of everyday life. Even though the horrors of Sprogø are a closed chapter in Danish history, there are now people claiming the experiments have continued to go on up until today. Carl and Assad start a race against time to prevent new murders and attacks from happening. The fourth and final instalment in the Department Q series based on Jussi Adler-Olsen's best-selling novels. Christoffer Boe's feature premiered at CPH PIX 2018.

A Conspiracy of Faith

Hans Petter Moland : 2016
Flaskepost fra P

Siblings Samuel and Magdalena who grew up in a religious community in Denmark suddenly disappear. Meanwhile, at Police Headquarters in Copenhagen, an eight year old message in a bottle turns up containing a cry for help from a boy in captivity. Carl Mørck and his assistant Assad from the department for cold cases, Department Q, discover a connection between the two cases. Finally, as they manage to dig deep into the religious community, they get on the track of a man who has left a long trail of kidnappings and murders in his wake. The film is the third instalment in the Department Q series based on Jussi Adler-Olsen's best-selling novels. Hans Petter Moland's feature had its UK premiere at Edinburgh International Film Festival 2016.

Kollektivet

Thomas Vinterberg : 2016
The Commune

Erik and Anna are an academic couple with a dream. Together with their daughter Freja, they set up a commune in Erik's huge villa in an upmarket district of Copenhagen. With the family at the centre of the story, we are invited into their dream of a real commune. We participate in the house meetings, the dinners and parties. There is friendship, love and togetherness under one roof, until an earth-shattering love affair puts the small community to its greatest test yet. A humorous, delicate but also painful and touching portrait of an entire generation, a gentle yet confrontational declaration of love for a group of idealists and dreamers who have long since awakened to reality. Thomas Vinterberg's feature was winner of the Silver Bear for Best Actress at its international premiere in competition at Berlin International Film Festival 2016.

Amina's Letters

Jacob Bitsch : 2016
Aminas breve

When 21-year-old Janus is released from a secure psychiatric hospital, he has only one thing in mind – to find a girl named Amina. She means everything to him and her letters gave Janus faith and consolation while in hospital, but they suddenly stopped coming. Janus fears that Amina has come to grief and embarks on an investigation that leads him through the city's shadowy streets to find her. His journey takes him into a paranoid and violent world, where anyone who knows her seems to have something to hide. He becomes increasingly convinced that Amina is living in a violent marriage, from which he must save her. He becomes so obsessed by the notion of Amina's tragic fate, that only when it is too late does he realise that the person who needs saving is himself. Jacob Bitsch's second feature is based on Jonas T Bengtsson's award-winning debut novel.

Land of Mine

Martin Zandvliet : 2015
Under sandet

Taking place in May 1945, only a few days after the end of the war, the story of a group of German prisoners of war who were brought to Denmark and forced to disarm the two million land mines that had been scattered along the west coast by the German occupying forces. In charge of the enfeebled young men performing the dangerous task is Sergeant Carl Leopold Rasmussen. Like so many of his fellow Danes, he has a deep hatred for the Germans after having suffered five years of hardships during the occupation. He takes his anger out on the prisoners, until one day a tragic incident makes him change his view of the enemy, even if it may be too late. A little-known chapter of German-Danish post-war history, having been kept out of sight, conveniently forgotten, repressed. A film about revenge and forgiveness. About a group of young men forced to do penance on behalf of an entire nation. Martin Zandvliet's feature premiered in competition in the Platform section at Toronto International Film Festival 2015, and had its European premiere in competition at Filmfest Hamburg 2015.

Rosita

Frederikke Aspöck : 2015

Johannes lives together with his father, the middle-aged widower Ulrik in a small fishing town in the northern part of Denmark. They live a quiet routine life, each minding their separate jobs in the fishing industry. Ulrik misses the love and tenderness of a woman and arranges for the young, beautiful, Filipino Rosita to come to Denmark – just as many other men in the town have done before him. Johannes is reluctantly drawn into this as Ulrik's translator. However, over the following weeks Johannes and Rosita become more and more attracted to each other which forces Johannes to takе responsibility for his dreams and his future. Frederikke Aspöck's second feature was winner of the Silver George for best director at its international premiere in competition at Moscow International Film Festival 2015.

Steppeulven

Ole Christian Madsen : 2014
Itsi Bitsi

In the early 1960s, wannabe writer Eik meets fellow free spirit Iben whilst protesting American imperialism. Bonding over their love of literature, the boundary-smashing music of the period, and, not least, the pleasures of consciousness-altering drugs, the couple soon decamps from sleepy, bourgeois Copenhagen for the European continent and, eventually, Marrakesh, Baghdad, Nepal, and the deserts of Afghanistan. Struggling to write his novel, Eik desperately tries to hold on to Iben who refuses to commit herself to anything, let alone one man only. Deciding that the only way to win Iben's love is to start a band, Eik founds Steppeulvene (named after the Hermann Hesse novel, Steppenwolf) and enjoys near-instant success. The group makes Eik a celebrity, and Denmark's official spokesperson for the counter-culture – but it's uncertain whether his success will bring him what he most wants. A story based on true events about the desperate love of two young people who share an all-consuming passion for each other, a passion they attempt to relinquish but which never relinquishes them. An epic, continent-crossing counter-cultural romance based on events that led to the founding of the short-lived but massively influential Danish rock band Steppeulvene. Ole Christian Madsen's feature premiered at Toronto International Film Festival 2014, and screened at İstanbul Film Festival 2015.

I dine hænder

Samanou Acheche Sahlstrøm : 2015
In Your Arms

When Maria meets Niels for the first time, he comes across as an angry and unsympathetic young man. Maria is a young and caring nurse who wants to break free. Niels is an incurable patient who wants to travel to Switzerland for euthanasia. But in order to get there, he needs a volunteer escort. Maria doesn't sympathise with Niels's wish, on the contrary, but in him she finds something that she has been missing from her life. Together they embark on an intense journey that will bring them closer to each other but also closer to their dreams. Samanou Acheche Sahlstrøm's feature debut was winner of the Dragon Award for Best Nordic Film and the FIPRESCI Award when it premiered in competition at Göteborg International Film Festival 2015.

Sorg og glæde

Nils Malmros : 2013
Sorrow and Joy

Winter, 1984. Filmmaker Johannes returns home from a lecture one evening, only to face a catastrophe. That same afternoon, his wife Signe, a schoolteacher, has killed their 9-month-old daughter Maria. Not out of spite or hate, but a sense of despair and loneliness and psychosis. Johannes doesn't judge her, he knows that Signe is vulnerable. He is forced to stay composed and, even more, try to protect her against a legal system which may pass a heavy sentence on her. He believes that it happened through no fault of her own. If anyone is guilty, it is he himself and his focus on his film career. He tries to get to grips with all the ways he has failed Signe without ever meaning any harm. A series of flashbacks linked with conversations between Johannes and a psychiatrist begin to reveal the key to understanding the tragedy. Nils Malmros's feature premiered at Aarhus Filmfestival 2013, and received the Robert Award for Best Actress 2014.

Limbo

Anna Sofie Hartmann : 2014

It is autumn. In the small Danish port of Nakskov the chimneys of the sugar factory smoke tirelessly. Giant windmill wings lie abandoned on the outskirts of town. The last year of high school lies before Sara and her friends. They talk about the future, about the wish to leave for a bigger city. Karen, a young Faroese, has just moved to the island to work as a teacher at the local high school. In the class discussions arise: What is femininity? What is masculinity? What is art? Who sees us and in what way? Who and what makes us who we are? Sara is fascinated by her new teacher; her friends find Karen strange – "perhaps a bit too feminist". A bond develops between Sara and Karen amidst projections, quiet expectations and daily life all around. Courage leads to disappointment and when an unexpected event occurs, Karen is left on her own. An acutely observed quiet drama, emphasising the periphery as much as the centre of the story. Anna Sofie Hartmann's feature debut premiered in competition at San Sebastián International Film Festival 2014.

The Absent One

Mikkel Nørgaard : 2014
Fasandræberne

In 1994 two young twins are found brutally murdered in a summer cottage. A number of clues point in the direction of a group of young upper-class students from a nearby boarding school, but the case is closed as a local outsider pleads guilty and is convicted for the murders. When the case ends up on the desk of Carl Mørck of Copenhagen Police's Department Q, twenty years later, he soon realises that something is terribly wrong. As Mørck and Assad start investigating the case, they are led on to an old emergency call from a desperate girl who seems to know the secrets of the murders. Soon they are plunged into an intense search for the girl, Kimmie, who has been missing since the murders happened. But Mørck and Assad are not the only ones trying to track her down as the girl's testimonial is of great danger to a group of influential men at the top of society who will do all they can to keep her silent. Mikkel Nørgaard's feature, the second Department Q thriller, premiered at Fantastic Fest 2014.

When Animals Dream

Jonas Alexander Arnby : 2014
Når dyrene drømmer

Sixteen-year-old Marie is an outsider in the small coastal community where she has grown up. The townspeople live in fear of her and not least her mother who is suffering from a mysterious illness, is on medication and confined to a wheelchair. Her father, the local grocer, tries to make life as normal as possible for the small family. On the surface, everything seems fine, and yet, Marie cannot help feeling that he is hiding something about her mother's illness. At the same time, she senses that something strange is happening to her body, that she is losing control of herself. When she discovers long hair growing on her chest and back she begins searching for answers concerning her family's hidden past. Something that will have great consequences for herself and her family, and the choices she has to make. Jonas Alexander Arnby's feature debut premiered at Semaine de la Critique du Festival de Cannes 2014.

Four Letters Apart

Erlend E Mo : 2013
Children in the Age of ADHD

A film about three children at odds with themselves and the world around them, at a time when more and more are being diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Victor is seven. He hates ADHD, believing it's something to do with his club feet. Martine is quick to become withdrawn, and struggles with uncontrollable rage when things do not go her way. For the most part, Marino keeps to himself, but easily becomes aggressive. Victor, Martine and Marino are in a special class in a normal school in Denmark. The class teachers and the children's parents decide to take part in an alternative treatment project focusing on the individual child's challenges and possibilities, rather than relying on medical diagnosis and medication. The film follows the whole process, and shows how the children make great strides over the course of a year, as the adults around them start to see each individual child in a new light. Erlend E Mo's documentary was winner of the Peter Wintonick Audience Award at Thessaloniki Documentary Festival 2014.

Forbrydelsen

Søren Sveistrup : 2007
The Killing

Sarah Lund is looking forward to her last day as a detective with the Copenhagen police department. She is supposed to move to Sweden with her fiancé, but everything changes when a nineteen-year-old girl, Nanna Birk Larsen, is found raped and brutally murdered. Along with detective Jan Meyer, Sarah is forced to be a head of the extended investigation, as it soon becomes clear that Lund and Meyer are chasing a very intelligent and dangerous murderer. Local politician Troels Hartmann is in the middle of a hard election campaign to become the new mayor of Copenhagen when suddenly, evidence links the city hall to the murder. At the same time, the girl's family and friends struggle to cope with their loss. Over the course of twenty days, suspect upon suspect is sought out as violence and political pressures cast their shadows over the hunt for the killer.

Someone You Love

Pernille Fischer Christensen : 2014
En du elsker

Danish musician Thomas Jacob has made an international name for himself as a singer and songwriter. He lives for his music. After years of absence he returns to his native land to record a new album with his long-standing producer, Molly Moe. His assistant, Kate, who helps him with everything, has rented a large house where he proposes to hide himself away. But his daughter Julie, with whom he has never had much contact, and her eleven-year-old son, Noa, whom Thomas has never met, put an end to this idea. Julie, a single mother, is admitted to a rehabilitation clinic and Thomas is obliged to have Noa to stay. Slowly a relationship develops between grandfather and grandson. But then calamity strikes and Thomas must make a decision which will change his life – and not just his. Pernille Fischer Christensen's fourth feature describes the transformation of a successful musician but disagreeable egocentric into somebody who is prepared to take on responsibility for himself and others. Her film premiered at Berlin International Film Festival 2014.

The Keeper of Lost Causes

Mikkel Nørgaard : 2013
Kvinden i buret

Following a failed operation, chief detective Carl Mørck is transferred to the new Department Q, a section for old, terminated cases. It consists only of himself and his new assistant Assad and they are given orders to merely read and sort through the cases. Their first assignment is a five-year-old unsolved case concerning the mystery of politician Merete Lynggaard's disappearance. According to police reports she committed suicide by jumping off a ferry on a trip with her younger brain-damaged brother. Mørck finds indications that she didn't, and with Assad starts a search for her. Their inquiry brings them to the institution where her mentally disabled brother lives – he cannot talk, but after Assad's efforts he gives them the lead that first sends them to a lake in Sweden, then to the real assailant, but when it happens, they have both been suspended by their chief inspector. Their journey will take them deep into the undercurrent of abuse and malice that lurks beneath the polished surface of Scandinavia. The film premiered at Locarno Film Festival 2013.

Viceværten

Katrine Wiedemann : 2012
A Caretaker's Tale

Per is a 52-year-old caretaker at a bleak modern housing project. A harsh and bitter man who leads a life without much joy. His wife just left him, he has a son in prison, back pain and two pathetic male friends whom he bosses around. One day he discovers a beautiful young woman lying naked in the corner of an empty apartment, wrapped in a curtain. She can't talk or walk, but she will have sex with Per, so for him, she is almost like a gift from above. What makes us go beyond ourselves and do what we otherwise wouldn't do? Only love can do that. This is the story of a real bastard who is healed when he meets love. Love has to take a form that makes him open up, without his realising. As a creature that only reflects Per, the girl comes into his life and slowly breaks down his armour, putting him in touch with his soft underbelly whilst also making him vulnerable and defenceless. She is a different kind of saving angel. Her innocence awakens something new in Per and so his transformation and growth begins. A poignant, wildly different and offbeat love story, not without a healthy dose of pitch-black humour. Describing herself as the least feminist director in Scandinavia, Katrine Wiedemann's controversial and provocative tale, her second feature, premiered at San Sebastián International Film Festival 2012.

The Hunt

Thomas Vinterberg : 2012
Jagten

Following a tough divorce, 40-year-old Lucas has a new girlfriend, a new job and is in the process of reestablishing his relationship with his teenage son, Marcus. But things go awry. Not a lot. Just a passing remark. A random lie. And as the snow falls and the Christmas lights are lit, the lie spreads like an invisible virus. The shock and mistrust gets out of hand, and the small community suddenly finds itself in a collective state of hysteria, while Lucas fights a lonely fight for his life and dignity. The film won the award for Best Actor at Festival de Cannes 2012.