16/04/2009

Denmark’s biggest ever film festival, CPH: PIX, will open its doors today in Copenhagen with the screening of Richard Curtis’ The Boat that Rocked [+see also:
trailer
film profile]. A total of 185 feature films will screen until April 26.

CPH:PIX is the result of a merger between the Copenhagen International Film Festival and NatFilm Festival. Under the aegis of festival director Jacob Neiiendam and head of programming Niels Lind Larsen, the new event focuses on the newest films, ideas and talent from around the world.

A new award has also been created, the New Talent Grand Prix, dedicated to first-time filmmakers. Twelve films are competing for the handsome cash award of €50,000, including Norway’s North [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Rune Denstad Langlo
film profile] Romania’s Katalin Varga [+see also:
film review
trailer
Interview Peter Strickland - Director …
film profile], Sweden’s Guidance [+see also:
trailer
film profile], Germany’s Without You I’m Nothing [+see also:
trailer
film profile], Denmark’s The Blessing and the UK’s Moon [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile].

Of the festival’s 26 sections, Pix Specials offers ten films aimed at a wider audiences, such as Ole Bornedal’s Deliver Us from Evil [+see also:
trailer
film profile], Clint Eastwood’s Gran Torino and Nicolas Winding Refn’s Bronson [+see also:
trailer
film profile]. Other sections include Belgium Boom, New French Cinema, New German Cinema, New Danish Talent and European Voices, the largest individual series of 53 screenings.

Twenty films on the programme will compete for the Politiken’s Audience Award, whose DKK125,000 prize goes towards local theatrical distribution and marketing costs.

April 23 will be dedicated to Talent Development. Danish guest speakers will include producers Peter Aalbæk Jensen, Meta Foldager and Regner Grasten, scriptwriter Rasmus Heisterberg and director Manyar Parwani.