Danish line-up in Toronto

TORONTO 2011. Danish director Nicolas Winding Refn's highly anticipated "Drive" plus four Danish productions are in the line-up of the world's leading public film festival taking place over the next ten days.

Local audiences won't have to wait until November for "Melancholia"s nationwide US release. On Saturday, 10 September, Lars von Trier's apocalyptic vision which earned Kirsten Dunst an award as Best Actress in Cannes will enjoy its first public screening in North America.

Saturday also sees the screening of "Drive" by Nicolas Winding Refn, a week before the film's US release.

In the Contemporary World Cinema series Martin P. Zandvliet's "A Funny Man" and Ole Christian Madsen's "Superclásico" will be showcased Monday and Tuesday, respectively, and the first screening of Rúnar Rúnarsson's "Volcano" is on Friday the 9th.

Scandinavians film in Toronto

Supporting the Scandinavian films showing at the festival is a joint stand at the downtown industry venue where the Danish Film Institute will be present.

Among the Danish delegate is DFI's new international producer Noemi Ferrer Schwenk who began her appointment on 1 September. Read more

Also travelling to September's hotspot for the international film industry is a large number of Danish directors, actors, producers and sales agents.

From the programme

Learn about the Danish films through programmer Steve Gravestock's notes:

Melancholia

"Brilliantly shot and acted, 'Melancholia' weds the foreboding power of Tarkovsky and early Duras with the majestic surrealism of Matthew Barney, though one instantly recognizes it as a film by von Trier. It may be his most emotionally immediate film since 'Breaking the Waves'."
See new US trailer below

A Funny Man

"Zandvliet directs with the same remarkable sensitivity that distinguished his debut feature 'Applause'. The cast is excellent, most notably Kaas (...) Though Kaas is one of Denmark's biggest stars – his credits include Anders Thomas Jensen's 'The Green Butchers', Lars von Trier's 'The Idiots' and Susanne Bier's 'Brothers' – Passer, in all his pathos, charisma and complexity, may prove to be his defining role."  

Superclásico

"While Madsen's earlier films were about the pain of letting go, 'Superclásico' is more about its possible benefits. It's a fine and funny addition to the oeuvre of one of Denmark's most consistently intriguing filmmakers."

Volcano

"'Volcano' boasts its share of striking imag