Three Danish features
and one documentary film were presented with five awards at the recently
held Chicago International Children's Film Festival.
Katja's
Adventure(Adult Jury 1st Prize, Children's Jury 2nd International Prize -
Live Action)
Already an international
prizewinner at Giffoni, Amsterdam and Lübeck, Katja's Adventure (1999) has
gone on to capture Chicago audiences, receiving the Adult Jury 1st Prize
and the Children's Jury 2nd International Prize. An adventure about a
young girl who rescues a rare falcon chick and by accident takes a
lorry-drive to a faraway foreign town, this film is director Lars
Hesselholdt's second feature. The film is produced by Ulrik Bolt of Angel
Arena, while Nordisk Film handles international sales.
Help! I'm
a Fish (Children's Jury 1st Prize -
Animation)
Reaching a remarkable quarter
million admissions in its three week release in Denmark, the international
animated co-production Help! I'm a Fish, a hair-raising, humorous story
about three children on a dangerous aquatic mission, received the
Children's Jury 1st Prize - Animation. Directed by the duo Stefan
Fjeldmark (Amazon Jack) and Michael Hegner, and produced by A Film,
international sales are handled by PID
Hamburg. Circleen - City
Mice (Adult Jury 1st Prize -
Animation)
Jannik Hastrup, the grand master
of Danish animation has taken his short film cartoon figure, the little
elf Circleen, television heroine for thousands of Danish children, and
made her the star of two of his recent feature films. Directed by Hastrup
and produced by his company Dansk Tegnefilm Kompagni who also handle
international sales, Circleen - City Mice was awarded the Adult Jury
1st Prize - Animation.
My African
Diary (Adult Jury 1st Prize -
Documentary)
Jon Bang Carlsen, recipient of
the prestigious Roos Prize 2000 at Aarhus Festival of Festivals for his
entire work and the Nordic Panorama 1st Prize in 1999 for Addicted to
Solitude, was awarded the Adult Jury 1st Prize. This documentary follows
9-year-old Hjalmar and his brother who encounter racism while living for a
time in South Africa. Written, directed, photographed and produced by
Carlsen himself, international sales are handled by TV
2/Danmark.