25/09/2006

Susanne Bier’s new drama After the Wedding [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Sisse Graum Jørgensen
interview: Susanne Bier
film profile] has been chosen by a committee of representatives of the Danish film industry and Danish Film Institute as the country’s entry for this year’s Academy Awards candidates for Best Foreign Language Film. The second most popular Danish film of the year (391,444 admissions) is also short-listed for the European Film Awards and for the Nordic Council Film Prize.

Bier’s third successful collaboration with Anders Thomas Jensen tells the story of Jacob Petersen (Mads Mikkelsen), a man who has dedicated his life to helping street children in India. When the orphanage he heads is threatened with closure, he is promised a $4m donation from a Danish businessman provided he return to Denmark and take part in the wedding of the businessman’s daughter.

The film was produced for €3m by Sisse Graum Jorgensen for Zentropa Entertainment, in co-production with After The Wedding Ltd/Sigma Films III in the UK. International distributors who have acquired the film from Trust Film Sales include Teodora Films (Italy), Rosebud (Greece) and Equation (France).

Denmark has already won two Oscars for Best Foreign Language Film: in 1987 for Gabriel Axel’s Babette’s Feast and in 1988 for Bille August’s Pelle the Conqueror. This year’s Oscars nominations will be announced on January 23 and the ceremony in Hollywood will take place on February 25.