15/11/2013 - After purchases from Scanbox Entertainment and Sandrew Metronome, the Danish major now owns the rights to 700 Danish feature films

Danish major, Nordisk Film, which two years ago purchased 130 Danish classics from Nordic producer-distributor Sandrew Metronome, has purchased another 246 Nordic titles from Scanbox Entertainments for its back catalogue, which now comprises 3,500 features.

The new package includes the original Father of Four series – eight family films directed by Alice O’Fredericks between 1951-1963; after an unsuccessful revival attempt by Ib Mossin in 1971, Scanbox and ASA Film has since 2005 produced six movies about the popular family, directed by Claus Bjerre.

“Part of the deal is that Nordisk will distribute new films in the franchise, including the upcoming Father of Four – The Return of Uncle Sofus, which will be premiered during the winter holiday 2014,” explained managing director Kenneth Wiberg, of Nordisk Film, who was “proud of the agreement, feeling rather humble to control such a large part of the Danish film treasure.”

“We feel a great responsibility to the Danish film heritage, both to restore the prints and make them available to the public, both on TV, video-on-demand and DVD. We are currently working on digitising the whole catalogue, so all the classics will be only a click away,” said Wiberg, adding that Nordisk has now collected most films starring Danish comedian Dirch Passer (1926-1980).

The company is also a productive supplier of new Danish cinema, having recently backed such features as Thomas Vinterberg’s  The Hunt [+see also:
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interview: Thomas Vinterberg
interview: Thomas Vinterberg
film profile], Tobias Lindholm’s A Hijacking [+see also:
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interview: Tobias Lindholm
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trailer
film profile] and Christoffer Boe’s Spies & Glistrup: Sex, Drugs & Taxation. Currently, its production of Mikkel Nørgaard’s The Keeper of Lost Causes [+see also:
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interview: Eugenio Mira
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