07/06/2010

Five years after the launch of Swedish website Ingmar Bergman Face to Face dedicated to the memory of its most celebrated filmmaker, Denmark has taken a similar initiative with its own film legend, Carl Theodor Dreyer.

The new website was created by the Danish Film Institute, with financial support from the Velux Foundation. It reunited original material – stills, posters, film clips, scripts and personal letters – originating mainly from donations from Dreyer's estate in 1975.

Dreyer directed 14 features and eight shorts. His debut came in 1918 at Nordisk Film with The President, followed by Leaves Out of the Book of Satan. He continued his career in Sweden, Germany, Norway and France, where he directed his masterpiece The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928) and his last silent film, Vampyr (1932). His other major works include Day of Wrath (1943), The Word (1955) and Gertrud (1964).

Dreyer's works remain in high demand at festivals around the world. In 2010 alone, his films were shown in Berlin, Munich and Seoul, and this fall The Passion of Joan of Arc will screen at Toronto as part of the festival’s Essential 100 Films sidebar.