17/02/2014 - Pilou Asbæk to star in April 9, a historical drama following the Danish part of Operation Weserübung

On 9 April 1940, on the way to conquer Norway and secure iron-ore shipping activities at Narvik as part of Operation Weserübung, Nazi Germany launched an attack on Denmark by land, sea and air at 4:15 am. A total of 40,000 German troops were deployed, and the campaign was over after six hours – the shortest in history.

The 75th anniversary of this event next year will be marked by the premiere of April 9 [+see also:
trailer
film profile], a new film following the only actual fighting during the invasion, which took place in Southern Jutland, where 16 Danish soldiers were killed and 23 wounded, before the government and King Christian X officially capitulated.

The “intense character drama focusing on the young men caught in the game of high politics” will be based on interviews with the few surviving veterans and scripted by award-winning Danish writer-director Tobias Lindholm, who most recently directed Hijacking [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Tobias Lindholm
film profile] and co-wrote Thomas Vinterberg’s Oscar-nominated The Hunt [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Thomas Vinterberg
interview: Thomas Vinterberg
film profile].

According to Denmark’s Ekko, Danish actor Pilou Asbæk will star in the film – the first Danish feature by Roni Ezra, whose US low-budget debut, Everything’s Gonna Be Pink, is due to be released shortly. April 9 will be produced by René Ezra and Thomas Radoor for Nordisk Film Production.

Previously, Norwegian director Erik Poppe announced that he would shoot The King’s Choice, a historical drama set after Nazi Germany’s invasion of Norway in 1940. This German campaign was also launched on 9 April, but Norway and King Haakon VII resisted for 62 days before surrendering – longer than any other country except the Soviet Union. The depiction of “the real events which turned a brave man into the people’s king” is scripted by Jan Trygve Røyneland and Harald Rosenløw Eeg, and will be produced by Finn Gjerdrum and Stein B Kvae for Paradox.