Danish films in the dumper

After a banner year in 2013, crowds stayed away from homegrown films during the first part of 2014

The first half of 2014 has been something of a disaster for the Danish film industry. During the first seven months, the 13 Danish films released drew only 1,493,468 cinemagoers, for a 23.3 percent share of the domestic market share. In 2013, Danish films drew over 4 million into theatres for a market share of nearly 30 percent.

Only 4 films have delivered even satisfactory results.

' Klassefesten 2: Begravelsen', played to over 600,000 viewers, the family film ' Far til fire – Onkel Sofus vender tilbage', drew just shy of 300,000, while Pernille Fischer Christensen’s much hyped 'En du elsker' was seen by nearly 170,000 people. The film ' Kartellet' rounded out the list of films that brought people in with 127,000 tickets sold.

Sonia Suhl’s critically-acclaimed debut performance in the werewolf film 'Når dyrene drømmer' was seen by just 3,499 people.

Too arty
Kim Pedersen, head of the film association Danske Biografer said that the problem was with how the films were promoted.

“I think that it is mainly due to a poor launching of the films,” Petersen told Ekstra Bladet. “Too much focus was put on the fact that 'Når dyrene drømmer' and the western 'The Salvation' had been selected for the Cannes Film Festival. That brands them as art films in the minds of the public.”

Pedersen said that both films would have drawn bigger crowds if the public knew more about what type of film would be seeing.

Pedersen also wants the Danish Film (DFI) Institute to launch a website that focuses exclusively on Danish films.

“It should be a user-friendly, interactive website with trailers, interviews and much more”, he said.

READ MORE: Genocide film back in the hunt for an Oscar

The year’s biggest failure so far has been the Simon Staho film 'Miracle', which was seen by 742 people, even though it had Danish stars Ulrich Thomsen and Sonja Richter in its cast. The film received 8.6 million kroner in public money from DFI.

'Når dyrene drømmer', the Cannes-nominated werewolf film that drew 3,499 cinemagoers received over 10 million kroner from DFI.

TOP STORIES

  • Chinese wind turbine companies sign pact to end race-to-the-bottom price war

    Chinese wind turbine companies sign pact to end race-to-the-bottom price war

    China’s 12 leading wind turbine makers have signed a pact to end a domestic price war that has seen turbines sold at below cost price in a race to corner the market and which has compromised quality and earnings in the sector.

  • Watch Novo Nordisk’s billion-kroner musical TV ad for Wegovy

    Watch Novo Nordisk’s billion-kroner musical TV ad for Wegovy

    Novo Nordisk’s TV commercial for the slimming drug Wegovy has been shown roughly 32,000 times and reached 8.8 billion US viewers since June.

  • Retention is the new attraction

    Retention is the new attraction

    Many people every year choose to move to Denmark and Denmark in turn spends a lot of money to attract and retain this international talent. Are they staying though? If they leave, do they go home or elsewhere? Looking at raw figures, we can see that Denmark is gradually becoming more international but not everyone is staying. 

  • Defence Minister: Great international interest in Danish military technology

    Defence Minister: Great international interest in Danish military technology

    Denmark’s Defence Minister Troels Lund Poulsen attended the Association of the Unites States Army’s annual expo in Washington DC from 14 to 16 October, together with some 20 Danish leading defence companies, where he says Danish drone technology attracted significant attention.

  • Doctors request opioids in smaller packs as over-prescription wakes abuse concerns

    Doctors request opioids in smaller packs as over-prescription wakes abuse concerns

    Doctors, pharmacies and politicians have voiced concern that the pharmaceutical industry’s inability to supply opioid prescriptions in smaller packets, and the resulting over-prescription of addictive morphine pills, could spur levels of opioid abuse in Denmark.

  • Housing in Copenhagen – it runs in the family

    Housing in Copenhagen – it runs in the family

    Residents of cooperative housing associations in Copenhagen and in Frederiksberg distribute vacant housing to their own family members to a large extent. More than one in six residents have either parents, siblings, adult children or other close family living in the same cooperative housing association.

Connect club

Connect Club is your gateway to a vibrant programme of events and an international community in Denmark.

Sign up here

Career

  • Come and join us at Citizens Days!

    Come and join us at Citizens Days!

    On Friday 27 and Saturday 28 of September, The Copenhagen Post will be at International Citizen Days in Øksnehallen on Vesterbro, Copenhagen. Admission is free and thousands of internationals are expected to attend

  • Diversifying the Nordics: How a Nigerian economist became a beacon for inclusivity in Scandinavia

    Diversifying the Nordics: How a Nigerian economist became a beacon for inclusivity in Scandinavia

    Chisom Udeze, the founder of Diversify – a global organization that works at the intersection of inclusion, democracy, freedom, climate sustainability, justice, and belonging – shares how struggling to find a community in Norway motivated her to build a Nordic-wide professional network. We also hear from Dr. Poornima Luthra, Associate Professor at CBS, about how to address bias in the workplace.

  • Lolland Municipality launches support package for accompanying spouses

    Lolland Municipality launches support package for accompanying spouses

    Lolland Municipality, home to Denmark’s largest infrastructure project – the Fehmarnbelt tunnel connection to Germany – has launched a new jobseeker support package for the accompanying partners of international employees in the area. The job-to-partner package offers free tailored sessions on finding a job and starting a personal business.

Want to advertise your job with CPH Post?

Contact us

Jobs