08/02/2012

"You forgot to ask me whether this will be my last film – but the answer is ’yes’, as usual," said Danish director Nils Malmros (pictured), who has started principal photography for his 11th feature in his home town of Aarhus, which has framed most of films (except Barbara – his career’s only literary adaption, from Jørgen-Frantz Jacobsen’s novel, for which he went as far as the Faroe Islands).

An acknowledged auteur, a high-profile player in Danish cinema for the past four decades, Malmros has for once decided to keep his cards close to his chest: "Based on my own life, my films have dealt with the loss of innocense, the stages of growing up. They have circled about unresolved and unhappy love," he explained.

"Sorrow and Joy will show how to achieve mature and mutual love through the greatest sorrow and joy in life. This may sound pretentious or just too much, but I feel I can vouch for it," added Malmros, who has again liaised with Danish producer Thomas Heinesen, of Nordisk Film Production A/S, for the project.

Heinesen most recent feature, Heartaches (2009), was shot over three years and was a love story of high-school sweethearts, their friendships and families, trials and tribulations, following the young actors – who were mostly amateurs – growing up. The film received 14 nominations for the local Robert awards and cashed in on three.

The schedule for the new €2.9 million production is not too lengthy: ”We will film it this summer, and hopefully another couple of days in winter,” he said. While still completing the casting, he has started with Helle Fagralid and Jakob Cedergren in the leading roles, performing with Ida Dwinger and Nicolas Bro.

Originally, Sorrow and Joy was the working title of his 1992 feature , which was selected for competition in Berlin and earned him five Bodil and six Robert prizes. "Still, it is such a beautiful title, so I don’t mind recycling it," he concluded. Nordisk Film A/S has programmed the Danish release for early 2013.