email print share on Facebook share on Twitter share on LinkedIn share on reddit pin on Pinterest

INSTITUTIONS Denmark

Change of direction at the DFI

by 

Two key executives will leave the Danish Film Institute (DFI) in the next six months: CEO Henning Camre will end his eight years as head of the DFI on July 1 while Vinca Wiedemann, artistic director and the driving force behind New Danish Screen (NDS), will look for new opportunities starting September 1, 2007.

Camre’s imminent departure, announced last week in Danish daily Jyllands-Posten, came as no surprise to the local industry. His contract was already due to expire earlier this year but was extended by six months to allow for the implementation of the new film law for 2007-2010.

(The article continues below - Commercial information)

Morten Hessendahl, chairman of the DFI board, told the Danish newspaper: “The success of Danish films is the result of several elements, but the key instrument has been Henning Camre, and this goes back to his time at the Danish Film School”.

Camre was indeed head of the Danish Film School in the mid 1980s before taking the same position at London’s National Film and Television School in 1992. He then joined the DFI as its new CEO in 1998.

Camre was moreover the instigator of the European Think Tank on European Film and Film Policy, launched in Berlin in 2006. He will probably continue heading the Think Tank, which has received core funding and support from the Danish government.

For her part, Wiedemann was also a key person behind the success of NDS (see interview), the low budget film initiative from the DFI that has spawned critically awarded films such as A Soap [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Lars Bredo Rahbek
interview: Pernille Fischer Christensen
film profile
]
, Princess [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
and Offscreen [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
.

NDS has received a 50% budget increase from the government for the next four years and will now support not only feature films and short fiction but also documentaries and digital films.

(The article continues below - Commercial information)

Did you enjoy reading this article? Please subscribe to our newsletter to receive more stories like this directly in your inbox.

Privacy Policy