Danish films at Berlin Kinderfilmfest – and Shooting Star

Niels Arden Oplev's feature film "We Shall Overcome" is selected for Kinderfilmfest at the 56th International Film Festival in Berlin (9-19 February 2006). The short fiction film "Cracks", directed by Aage Rais-Nordentoft and the animation "War and Peas", by Jannik Hastrup are also selected for Kinderfilmfest. The Danish Shooting Star at this year's Berlin festival is Beate Bille.KinderfilmfestIn Niels Arden Oplev's new feature film, "We Shall Overcome", we meet thirteen year-old Frits who has fallen out of favour with his school headmaster. Although the year is 1969, the tyrannical headmaster pays no heed to the ban on corporal punishment. During the summer holidays, Fritz devotes himself to the family's first television, and here discovers the winds of change in the world at large. Inspired by the speeches and dreams of Martin Luther King, Frits finds the courage to take up battle against the authorities."We Shall Overcome", produced by Sisse Graum Jørgensen for Zentropa, is Niels Arden Oplev's third feature film. Oplev's feature film debut, "Portland", was chosen for the Official Competition at Berlin in 1996.The short fiction "Cracks", directed by Aage Rais-Nordentoft and produced by Jacob Oliver Krarup, is about a young girl who lies awake at night unable to sleep. Overhearing her parents argue, she sees a strange crack in the ceiling. She leaves the house, climbs aboard a bus full of children. The next day everything is back to normal. Was it only a dream?The animated short film "War and Peas" is directed by Danish grand master of animation Jannik Hastrup. Produced by Marie Bro for Dansk Tegnefilm, "War and Peas", based on a children's book by Michael Foreman, is about a war between two kings: a lion king and his animal following, who are in need of food after a drought has set in, and a fat king and his people who live with an abundance of food. Shooting StarBeate Bille is the Danish Shooting Star at this year's Berlin festival. The Shooting Star programme, organized by European Film Promotion, promotes young European acting talents and European filmmaking.Beate Bille received her breakthough in Per Fly's "Manslaughter", a role that catapulted her from stage acting to a nationwide celebrity. In this film she plays a disciplined, leftwing activist who involves her lover, played by Jesper Christensen, in saving her skin after a political action. Bille was praised by critics, and since its opening "Manslaughter" has been seen by nearly a tenth of the population. While honoured with the Crown Prince Couple's Arts Award and Nordic Council Award, the film is also nominated in 14 out of 19 categories for the Danish Film Academy Robert Awards, which will be presented 5 February. "Manslaughter" will be screened at the the European Film Market (EFM) Berlin.For further information:DFI Berlin 2006 www.dfi.dk/berlinBerlin International Film Festivalwww.berlinale.deDFI factsheets"We Shall Overcome""Cracks""War and Peas""Manslaughter"Danish Film InstituteLizette Gram Mygind, +45 3374 3506, lizetteg@dfi.dkAnne Marie Kürstein, +45 3374 3609, kurstein@dfi.dkVicki Marie Synnott, +45 3374 3438, vickis@dfi.dk