21/08/2008

In a surprisingly early announcement, representatives of the Danish film industry have already voted in favour of submitting Niels Arden Oplev’s Worlds Apart [+see also:
trailer
film profile] as this year’s Danish entry for an Academy Award nomination in the Best Foreign Language Film Category.

Based on a true story, the youth drama tells the story of a 17-year-old girl raised in a Jehovah's Witness community who must choose between her family and her new love, a non-believer. The film produced by Nordisk Film is this year’s second biggest local hit in Denmark, with over 315,000 admissions since February.

Worlds Apart, which had its international premiere at the Berlin Generation 14+ section, was recently sold by TrustNordisk to IFC Entertainment in the US.

Nordisk’s Head of Production, Kim Magnusson, has great expectations for the movie in the US. “We have had a lot of positive reactions to the movie, at the Tribeca Film Festival and in a review in Variety, so I am convinced that the controversial subject will concern a large audience in USA just as it did in Denmark,” he said.

Having a US distributor is often crucial to having the right marketing campaign and weight with the members of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Science. Denmark has twice won the coveted Oscar statuette – in 1988 for Babette’s Feast and in 1989 for Pelle the Conqueror. Last year’s Danish contender was Susanne Bier’s After the Wedding [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Sisse Graum Jørgensen
interview: Susanne Bier
film profile].

The Oscars nominations will be announced on January 22, 2009 and the Hollywood ceremony will take place on February 22.