01/02/2008

Denmark had a good 2007 according to the latest figures released by the Danish Film Institute, with local films passing the magical three million admissions mark and a 27% market share, against 25% in 2006.

This puts Denmark among the “European super league”, with only France scoring higher numbers but with ten times the yearly output of local productions. On average, Danish films scored twice as much as Hollywood movies (130,000 admissions against 64,000 for US films).

The wide range of domestic films targeting different audiences had extremely positive results, as shown by the top five Danish titles of 2007: Niels Nørløv’s family film Anja & Viktor-Flaming Love [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (346,845 admissions), Erik Clausen’s comedy-drama Temporary Release [+see also:
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film profile] (309,193), Martin Schmidt’s family film The Golden Horns [+see also:
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film profile] (258,298), Ole Bornedal’s thriller Just Another Love Story [+see also:
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film profile] (235,801) and Peter Schønau Fog’s acclaimed directorial debut The Art of Crying [+see also:
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film profile] (228,303).

As usual, children and youth films continued to prove highly successful with local audiences, and as many as seven targeting that age group were among the 15 biggest local titles of the year, including two with sophisticated special effects: Nikolaj Arcel’s Island of Lost Souls [+see also:
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film profile] (194,419 admissions) and Bornedal’s The Substitute [+see also:
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film profile] (180,419).

However, general admissions were down by 3.5% from 2006 to 12.1m, likely due to the lack of tent pole US films compared to 2006. Only two non-Danish, non-US films made it into the top 20: the UK blockbusters Mr Bean’s Holiday [+see also:
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film profile] (178,168 admissions) and Casino Royale [+see also:
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film profile] (174,691), although both were co-financed by US majors.

In 2008, as many as 25 new Danish films will be launched, including the latest works by Niels Arden Oplev (Worlds Apart) and Søren Kragh-Jacobsen (What No One Knows), both selected at the Berlinale 2008. One of the biggest Danish productions of the year will be Ole Christian Madsen’s WW2 drama Flame & Citron, starring Mads Mikkelsen.