Emigrant gunslingers and dreaming animals off to Cannes

With no Danish films in the main competition, Denmark still has a chance of impressing the jury at the Cannes Film Festival in May

Quite a few Danes have booked their tickets for southern France from May 14-25 when the Cannes Film Festival is taking place. 

The big shocker is that no Danish film is in the main competition this year as in the three previous years (Only God Forgives, The Hunt, Melancholia) so it's still too early to predict an upcoming Oscar nominee.

READ MORE: Wooing Uncle Oscar: a winning strategy is half the battle

Dreaming animals at Critics’ week
The festival's competition for debutant directors, Semain de la Critique (International Critics' Week), announced this week that Jonas Arnby's horror debut 'Når dyrene drømmer' (When animals dream) will be among the seven feature film contestants. It features Lars Mikkelsen, Sonia Juhl and Sonja Richter in the main roles.

In 2010, Janus Metz won Semain de la Critique with the documentary 'Armadillo' about Danish soldiers in Afghanistan.

Richter also stars in 'The Homesman' directed by Tommy Lee Jones. The film was picked for this year's main section at the film festival and also stars the Dane David Dencik. 

Two emigrant salvations
An upcoming Danish gunslinger western 'The Salvation' was picked for a Midnight Special gala viewing, but outside of the competition. It was directed by Kristian Levring and starring Mads Mikkelsen, the 2012 winner of Best Actor for 'The Hunt'. International stars like Eva Green and Jeffrey Dean Morgan will also be in the film taking place in the central plains of the USA in the 1870's.

The script was written by Anders Thomas Jensen who also wrote the 2011 Oscar winner 'In a better world'. Because it was picked for Cannes, the film will premiere in its home country shortly after it's been viewed at the festival, instead of the original premiere date in October.

New world emigration in the 19th century is also the theme of the Danish/Argentine/American drama 'Jauja' that will compete in Cannes' 'Un Certain Regard' (A particular outlook) section. Danish diva Ghita Nørby and half-Danish Hollywood star Viggo Mortensen play Danish settlers in the windswept Antarctic wilderness of southern Argentina. It will be Mortensen's first Danish speaking role.

Another Swedish/Danish production 'Turist' has also been picked for the same competition and lastly, the two Danish short films 'Void' and 'Sundays' will compete in the section Director's Fortnight.

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