24/06/2009

With his directorial debut Applause [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Martin Pieter Zandvliet
film profile], Denmark’s Martin Pieter Zandvliet will be vying for a Crystal Globe at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (July 3-11), a trophy won last year by his fellow countryman Henrik Ruben Genz (Terribly Happy [+see also:
trailer
film profile]).

A former film editing student at the European Film College, Zandvlie won a Robert Award from the Danish Film Academy in 2002 for Angels of Brooklyn, co-directed with Camilla Hjelm Knudsen. Inspired by John Cassavettes, Zandvlie wrote Applause with star actress Paprika Steen in mind.

It tells the story of famed stage diva Thea, a former alcoholic, who struggle to regain a foothold in life as well as custody of her two sons. Steen, Zandvlie and producer Mikaels Rieks (Koncern Film) will attend the film’s world premiere in Karlovy Vary on July 4.

Applause was produced as part of the Danish Film Institute’s low-budget innovative scheme New Danish Screen. The Danish release is scheduled for September 25 and world sales are handled by TrustNordisk.

To maintain the traditionally strong presence of Nordic films, Karlovy Vary will screen half a dozen new Nordic titles for its 44th edition. Lars von Trier’s Cannes entry Antichrist [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Lars von Trier
film profile] will be presented in the Open Eyes section, Jan Troell’s Everlasting Moments [+see also:
trailer
film profile] and Baltasar Kormákur’s White Night Wedding [+see also:
trailer
film profile] in the Horizon sidebar, Dome Karukoski’s Forbidden Fruit [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] in Another View, and Tommy Wirkola’s horror spoof Dead Snow [+see also:
trailer
film profile] in Midnight Screenings.