17/08/2007

Summer has been good for cinema admissions in the Nordic territories - thanks to US blockbusters. But new Danish and Swedish films are back in this week's Top 10 and eight new European films (including one Norwegian and one Swedish) are opening today.

In Denmark, the horror film Room 205 by first-time director Martin Barnewitz picked up 17,000 admissions for a third place at the box office last weekend, just after Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix [+see also:
trailer
film profile] in second place and The Simpsons Movie at number one. The film was produced by Nordisk, which is also handling domestic and international distribution.

The Danish animated film A Tale of Two Mozzies (Cykelmyggen og Dansemyggen), produced by Tegnefilm, is number nine with 101,273 admissions.

New European films opening today include This is England [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (Camera Film) and Je ne suis pas là pour être aimé [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (Øst For Paradis).

In Finland, US summer blockbusters have boosted admissions that had been falling until mid-June. July alone saw a 7% increase year on year. One European film is opening today: Emanuele Crialese's Golden Door [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Alexandre Mallet-Guy
interview: Charlotte Gainsbourg
interview: Emanuele Crialese
interview: Emanuele Crialese
interview: Fabrizio Mosca
film profile] (Cinema Mondo).

In Iceland, the UK film Becoming Jane [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Julian Jarrold took seventh place at last weekend's box office, garnering 709 filmgoers from a single-platform release, the second best screen average after the top performer Transformers.

In Norway, July admissions climbed by 35,7% because of a "combination of US blockbusters, a rainy summer and people that have become much more urban," according to Lene Løken, head of Film & Kino.

No European film is in the Top 10 but two titles are opening today. 5 Lies, released by Scanbox on 27 prints, is the first feature film directed by Norway's Lars Daniel Krutzkoff Jacobsen, famous at home for having introduced trash movies.

"The film tells the story of five people who try to do something with their lives," explains producer Anders Tangen (Viafilm). "Things aren't going so well but in the end they are all honest about what they want". For the director, 5 Lies is about the process of reaching one's goal in life. "It's about hope", he says.

Also opening today is the French award-winner Lady Chatterley [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] (Arthaus).

In Sweden, Ciao Bella by first-time director Mani Maserrat-Agah is fifth in the Top 10. The teenage romance based on a script by Jens Jonsson is handled by Sandrew Metronome.

Opening today on 40 screens for Nordisk is the Swedish thriller Irene Huss-tatuerad Torso by Martin Asphaug produced by Illusion Film with Yellow Bird, also shot as a six-episode TV series for European broadcasters.

Other openers include The Secret Life of Words [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Isabel Coixet
film profile] (Folkets Bio ) and This is England (NonStop Entertainment).