Top 100 Scandinavian Directors
The best directors from Denmark (34), Sweden (34), Finland (14), Norway (12), Iceland (6) and Faroe Islands. This is in chronological order.
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- Director
- Actor
- Producer
Viggo Larsen was born on 14 August 1880 in Copenhagen, Denmark. He was a director and actor, known for Der Eid des Stephan Huller (1912), The Grey Lady (1909) and Das Kriegslied der Rheinarmee (1914). He died on 6 January 1957 in Copenhagen, Denmark.- Director
- Writer
- Actor
Benjamin Christensen was born on 28 September 1879 in Viborg, Denmark. He was a director and writer, known for Blind Justice (1916), Häxan (1922) and The Devil's Circus (1926). He was married to Karen Winther, Sigrid Stahl and Ellen Arctander. He died on 2 April 1959 in Copenhagen, Denmark.- Director
- Writer
- Actor
Moshe "Mauritz" Stiller, born July 17, 1883, in Helsinki, Finland, was a director, writer and actor. He began his artistic activity in the theatre, as an actor at 16. Mauritz Stiller portrayed 87 roles from 1899-1916 and directed 16 productions 1911-28. Together with Viktor Sjöström ( director, actor, writer) he was recruited in 1912 as director/actor to the Swedish film industry by Charles Magnusson at AB Svenska Biografteatern. Mauritz Stiller's films was instantly successful. During his first year he directed six feature films. "Herr Arnes pengar" (1919), "Erotikon" (1920) and "Gösta Berlings saga" (1923) are three cornerstones of Swedish film production. In "Gösta Berlings saga" Greta Garbo, 18 years old, made her first major role. Greta Garbo and Mauritz Stiller came to be best friends and allies forever. Stiller introduced Garbo to the German audience in 1925, before the two sailed of to the USA to make "The Temptress" for Paramount/Irving Thalberg in 1926. Mauritz Stiller directed 51 feature films and appeared as an actor in seven productions from 1912-1927. At 1:05 am Nov 8, 1928, Mauritz Stiller died in Stockholm, after undergoing numerous surgeries, an abscess of a lung ended a great artist's life.- Writer
- Director
- Editor
The illegitimate son of a Danish farmer and his Swedish housekeeper, Carl Theodor Dreyer was born in Copenhagen on the 3th of February, 1889. He spent his early years in various foster homes before being adopted by the Dreyers at the age of two. Contrary to popular belief (perhaps nourished by the fact that his films often deal with religious themes) Dreyer did not receive a strict Lutheran upbringing, but was raised in a household that embraced modern ideas: in his spare time the adoptive father was an avid photographer, and the Dreyers voted for The Danish Social Democrates. When he was baptized the reasoning was culturally, not religiously motivated. Dreyer's childhood was an unhappy one. He did not feel his adoptive parents' love (especially the mother), and longed for his biological mother, whom he never knew.
After working as a journalist, he entered the film industry, and advanced from reading scripts to directing films himself. In the silent era his output was large, but it quickly diminished with the arrival of the talkie. In his lifetime he was recognized as being a fanatical perfectionist amongst producers, and thus difficult to work with. His career was dogged by problems with the financing of his films, which led to large gaps in his output - and after the critics, too, denounced Vampyr (1932), he returned to journalism in 1932, and became a cinema manager in 1952 - though he still made features up to the mid- 1960s, a few years before his death. His films are typically slow, intense studies of human psychology, usually of people undergoing extreme personal or religious crises. He is now regarded as the greatest director ever to emerge from Denmark.- Director
- Actor
- Writer
Victor Sjöström was born on September 20, 1879, and is the undisputed father of Swedish film, ranking as one of the masters of world cinema. His influence lives on in the work of Ingmar Bergman and all those directors, both Swedish and international, influenced by his work and the works of directors whom he himself influenced.
As a boy Sjöström was close to his mother, who died during childbirth when he was seven years old. Biographers see this truncated relationship as being essential to the evolution of his dramatic trope of strong-willed, independent women in his films. He was masterful at eliciting sensitive performances from actresses, such as that of Lillian Gish in his American classic The Wind (1928).
The teenaged Sjöström loved the theater, but after his education he turned to business, becoming a donut salesman. Fortunately for the future of Swedish cinema, he was a flop as a salesman, and turned to the theater, becoming an actor and then director. The Swedish film company Svenska Bio hired him and fellow stage director Mauritz Stiller to helm pictures, and from 1912-15 he directed 31 films. Only three of them survive (it is estimated that approximately 150,000 films, or 80% of the total silent-era production, has been lost). He directed Ingeborg Holm (1913), considered the first classic of Swedish cinema.
Despite the exigencies of working in an industrial art form, most Svenska Bio films of this period are embarrassments in an artistic sense--turgid melodramas, absurd romances and shaggy dog-style comedies--and there is no reason to think that the director didn't helm his share of such fare. Even taking that into account, Sjöström managed to develop a personal style. The reason he became internationally famous (and wooed by Hollywood) was the richness of his films, which were full of psychological subtleties and natural symbolism that was integrated into the works as a whole. He dealt with such major themes as guilt, redemption and the rapidly evolving place of women in society.
His 1920 film The Phantom Carriage (1921) (a.k.a. "Thy Soul Shall Bear Witness") was an internationally acclaimed masterpiece, and Goldwyn Pictures hired him to direct Name the Man! (1924) (Goldwayn was folded into Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1924, where he worked until shortly after the advent of sound). Sjöström's name was changed to "Victor Seastrom" (a phonetic pronunciation in a country with limited word fonts), and he became a major American director, a pro-to David Lean, who was renowned for balancing artistic expression with a concern for what would play at the box office. His first MGM film was the Lon Chaney melodrama He Who Gets Slapped (1924). It was not only a critical success but a huge hit, getting the new studio off onto a sound footing.
He was highly respected by MGM chief Louis B. Mayer and by production head Irving Thalberg, who shared Sjöström's concerns with art that did not exclude profit. Sjöström became one of the most highly paid directors in Hollywood, reaching his peak at the end of the silent era (when the silent film reached its maturation as an art form) with two collaborations with Lillian Gish: The Scarlet Letter (1926) and "The Wind" (1926), his last masterpiece.
He departed Hollywood for Sweden after A Lady to Love (1930), returning one last time to helm Under the Red Robe (1937) for 20th Century-Fox, and although he made two movies in Sweden in the intervening years, his career as a director basically ended with the sound era. He returned to his first avocation, acting in Swedish films, in the 1930s, '40s and '50s. In his later years he was a mentor to Ingmar Bergman and gave a remarkable performance in Bergman's masterpiece "Wild Strawberries" (1957), for which he won the National Board of Review's Best Actor Award. In his professional life he was a workaholic, and in his private life was reticent about his films and his fame and remained intensely devoted to his wife Edith Erastoff and his family.
Victor Sjöström died on January 3, 1960, at the age of 80.- Producer
- Director
- Writer
T.J. Särkkä was born on 20 November 1890 in Mikkelin mlk., Finland. He was a producer and director, known for 1918 (1957), Me (1961) and Katupeilin takana (1949). He was married to Margarita Särkkä. He died on 9 February 1975 in Helsinki, Finland.- Producer
- Production Manager
- Director
Risto Orko was born on 15 September 1899 in Rauma, Finland. He was a producer and production manager, known for Ne 45000 (1933), Aktivistit (1939) and VMV 6 (1936). He was married to Liisa Orko. He died on 29 September 2001 in Helsinki, Finland.- Director
- Writer
- Actor
He attended the Royal Dramatic Theatre's acting school 1907-1909 and went on to become an actor at the same theatre 1913-1926. His first work for the movies was the script to Wanted - A Film Actress (1917) and the follow-up Thomas Graals bästa barn (1918). He made his directing debut with Bodakungen (1920). During the 1920s he made his first movies based on the Selma Lagerlöf novels. During the following years, his movies became very distinguished and recognizable: often sophisticated comedies in an upper-class environment with a touch of money and aristocracy: Swedenhielms (1935), 0028151 or Sara Learns Manners (1937). During the WWII he is involved in movies about the political situation at the time: Rid i natt! (1942) or 0035801. During these years, he also made his masterpiece, Ordet (1943). He was more or less forced to leave the production company Svensk Filmindustri (SF), whom he had been faithful during his career, in the late 1950s, when they wanted to get rid of everything old and tried.- Director
- Writer
- Actor
Alf Sjöberg was born on 21 June 1903 in Stockholm, Stockholms län, Sweden. He was a director and writer, known for Miss Julie (1951), Ön (1966) and Torment (1944). He died on 16 April 1980 in Stockholm, Stockholms län, Sweden.- Director
- Editor
- Writer
Valentin Vaala (1909-1976) was a prolific and highly successful craftsman of the more commercial Finnish cinema that followed a period of political controversy in the 1930s, and one of war followed by subservience to the USSR in the 1940s.He specialized in sophisticated comedies in the style of Clair or Lubitsch, with happy endings where marriage and inheritance are preserved and family and community duties are paid attention to. He was known for his ability to cast actresses in suitable roles, such as a country girl coming to the city for a career and husband, or an older woman in a melodrama of class conflict and unrequited love. Though these works were not known in the US, several were later exhibited in a series, Baby It's Cold Outside, in the spring of 1998 at New York City's prestigious Museum of Modern Art.- Director
- Writer
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Gösta Werner was born on 15 May 1908 in Östra Wemmenhög, Skåne, Sweden. He was a director and writer, known for The Sacrifice (1946), Den röda fläcken (1996) and Väntande vatten (1965). He was married to Kaj Björkdahl. He died on 23 July 2009 in Stockholm, Sweden.- Writer
- Director
- Producer
Bjarne Henning-Jensen was born on 6 October 1908 in Copenhagen, Denmark. He was a writer and director, known for Ditte, Child of Man (1946), Where Mountains Float (1955) and Those Damned Kids (1947). He was married to Astrid Henning-Jensen. He died on 21 February 1995 in Copenhagen, Denmark.- Director
- Producer
- Actor
Johan Jacobsen was born on 14 March 1912 in Denmark. He was a director and producer, known for Jenny and the Soldier (1947), A Stranger Knocks (1959) and Brevet fra afdøde (1946). He died on 7 July 1972 in Copenhagen, Denmark.- Director
- Writer
- Actor
Ole Palsbo was born on 13 August 1909 in Copenhagen, Denmark. He was a director and writer, known for Papir og pap er penge værd (1947), Familien Schmidt (1951) and Diskret Ophold (1946). He died on 11 June 1952 in Copenhagen, Denmark.- Cinematographer
- Director
- Producer
Felix Forsman was born on 6 May 1917 in Baku, Russia [now Azerbaijan]. He was a cinematographer and director, known for Valkoiset ruusut (1943), Tulin maailmaan! (1950) and Lapin tuho (1945). He died on 24 October 2005 in Helsinki, Finland.- Director
- Writer
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Arne Mattsson was born on 2 December 1919 in Uppsala, Uppsala län, Sweden. He was a director and writer, known for One Summer of Happiness (1951), För min heta ungdoms skull (1952) and Hemsöborna (1955). He was married to Elsa Prawitz. He died on 28 June 1995 in Sweden.- Cinematographer
- Director
- Producer
Erik Blomberg was born on 18 September 1913 in Helsinki, Finland. He was a cinematographer and director, known for The White Reindeer (1952), Aila, Pohjolan tytär (1951) and Kihlaus (1955). He was married to Maria Karpowicz and Mirjami Kuosmanen. He died on 12 October 1996 in Kuusjoki, Finland.- Director
- Writer
- Cinematographer
Arne Sucksdorff was born on 3 February 1917 in Stockholm, Sweden. He was a director and writer, known for Mitt hem är Copacabana (1965), The Great Adventure (1953) and The Flute and the Arrow (1957). He died on 4 May 2001 in Stockholm, Sweden.- Director
- Writer
- Producer
Erik Balling was one of the most beloved Danish filmmaker in the 20th century. Balling was a director, a producer and a writer. Erik Balling was mostly famous for creating such TV epics as "Matador" and "Huset På Christianshavn" and the film-series of "Olsen banden". Erik Balling was born the 19th of November 1925 in the Danish city of Nyborg, as a son of a priest. In 1946 Balling was hired as an assistant at "Nordisk Film Kompagni" - the world's oldest film production company. His talent was soon recognised, and Balling soon had the opportunity to work as a director. His debut as a director came in 1952, with the film: "Vi arme syndere". Balling soon gained a reputation of having good technical skills, and after that film his talent was widely recognised. In 1957 he became head of "Nordisk Film" - the youngest one ever. Balling was mostly famous for his comedies. In his early days he directed Poeten og Lillemor (1959) and Sommer i Tyrol (1964), which were very popular at the time. In the middle of the 1960s Balling tried to chance his style when it came to comedies. At this time the popular James Bond films circled the globe, Balling's next film was inspired by those films, teaming up with Henning Bahs to make the Jamed Bond spoof "Slå Først Frede" (1965), which became very popular in Denmark - so popular it spawned a sequel Slap af, Frede! (1966). This co-work with Henning Bahs was so fruitful that they made many more movies together. This co-work eventually led to film-series of "Olsen banden", which started with Olsen-banden (1968) - and eventually they made a total of 14 "Olsen banden" film, plus a TV series and a movie version where the characters in "Olsen banden" are children. "Olsen banden" was about a small band of small time criminals, trying to become millionaires. "Olsen banden" were not only very popular in Denmark, but also in East-Germany, Poland, Sweden and Norway - especially in Norway and Sweden, who eventually made their own national versions of "Olsen banden", namely the Norwegian "Olsen banden" and the Swedish "Jönssonligan" - Henning Bahs and Erik Balling also helped the Norwegians and the Swedes to write those. In that late 60s and early 70s Balling made the popular Danish TV series "Huset På Christianshavn", which also became the basis for a movie: "Ballade på Christianshavn (1971)".
In 1970 Balling produced the very popular Danish TV epic "Matador". More than fifty percent of Denmark's population watched "Matador" in those days. "Matador" was about life in a smaller city in Denmark in the 30s and 40s.
Balling was always known for his warm style, when he portrayed humans. Throughout his life, he received many prizes. He was 80 years old when he died the 19th of November 2005.- Writer
- Director
- Actor
Ernst Ingmar Bergman was born July 14, 1918, the son of a priest. The film and T.V. series, The Best Intentions (1992) is biographical and shows the early marriage of his parents. The film Sunday's Children (1992) depicts a bicycle journey with his father. In the miniseries Private Confessions (1996) is the trilogy closed. Here, as in 'Den Goda Viljan' Pernilla August play his mother. Note that all three movies are not always full true biographical stories. He began his career early with a puppet theatre which he, his sister and their friends played with. But he was the manager. Strictly professional he begun writing in 1941. He had written a play called 'Kaspers död' (A.K.A. 'Kaspers Death') which was produced the same year. It became his entrance into the movie business as Stina Bergman (not a close relative), from the company S.F. (Swedish Filmindustry), had seen the play and thought that there must be some dramatic talent in young Ingmar. His first job was to save other more famous writers' poor scripts. Under one of that script-saving works he remembered that he had written a novel about his last year as a student. He took the novel, did the save-poor-script job first, then wrote a screenplay on his own novel. When he went back to S.F., he delivered two scripts rather than one. The script was Torment (1944) and was the fist Bergman screenplay that was put into film (by Alf Sjöberg). It was also in that movie Bergman did his first professional film-director job. Because Alf Sjöberg was busy, Bergman got the order to shoot the last sequence of the film. Ingmar Bergman is the father of Daniel Bergman, director, and Mats Bergman, actor at the Swedish Royal Dramatic Theater. Ingmar Bergman was also C.E.O. of the same theatre between 1963-1966, where he hired almost every professional actor in Sweden. In 1976 he had a famous tax problem. Bergman had trusted other people to advise him on his finances, but it turned out to be very bad advice. Bergman had to leave the country immediately, and so he went to Germany. A few years later he returned to Sweden and made his last theatrical film Fanny and Alexander (1982). In later life he retired from movie directing, but still wrote scripts for film and T.V. and directed plays at the Swedish Royal Dramatic Theatre for many years. He died peacefully in his sleep on July 30, 2007.- Director
- Writer
Carl Fredrik Reuterswärd is known for Swedenborg till salu (1979), Vilken tavla? (1966) and Carl Fredrik Reuterswärd (2003).Director of Buffalo Bill In 27 Forms (1958)- Director
- Cinematographer
- Writer
Jørgen Roos was born on 14 August 1922 in Gilleleje, Denmark. He was a director and cinematographer, known for Ellehammer-filmen (1957), Knud (1966) and De unge gamle (1984). He was married to Noemi Roos and Edith Toft Madsen. He died on 13 September 1998 in Denmark.- Director
- Writer
- Actor
Palle Kjærulff-Schmidt was born on 7 July 1931 in Esbjerg, Denmark. He was a director and writer, known for Tukuma (1984), Sin Alley (1957) and 4 x 4 (1965). He was married to Karen Merete Nielsen. He died on 14 March 2018 in Denmark.- Producer
- Director
- Writer
Jörn Donner grew up in a Swedish-speaking family belonging to the Finnish upper class. Already as a student he had radical leftist ideas displayed in magazines and newspapers. His first novel appeared in 1951 when Donner was only 18 years old. He graduated from the University of Helsinki in 1959. In 1961 Donner moved to Sweden when the daily newspaper "Dagens Nyheter" hired him as a film critic. He returned to his home country in 1967. During his stay in Sweden he also directed his first feature film, "A Sunday in September". He temporarily returned to Sweden in the 1970s to head the Swedish Film Institute. Again, Donner returned to his home country after a while.
Donner is best known for his work as an author. He has written several novels. He was awarded the Finlandia Prize in Literature in 1985 for "Father and Son". During the years he has also written many columns for large news papers in Finland.
After his directorial debut in 1963 Donner continued to work in film, mainly as a producer. He formed his own production company Jörn Donner Productions in 1960. He produced Ingmar Bergman's critically acclaimed "Fanny and Alexander" in 1982 and is thereby the first Finn ever to receive an Academy Award.
Ever since his early years as a student and struggling writer Donner has had an interest in politics. He has been a Member of Parliament in Finland and also an European MP. After successfully supporting Social Democrat Ahtisaari's presidential campaign in 1994 he was appointed Finnish consul to Los Angeles. Donner soon returned back to Finland. In 2003 Donner failed to return to politics when he did not get elected in the Finnish parliamentary election.
After a few years in the small town of Ekenäs, Finland Donner has returned to live in the nation's capital where he works as an independent writer, columinst and film producer.- Writer
- Director
- Additional Crew
Knud Leif Thomsen was born on 2 September 1924 in Ballerup, Denmark. He was a writer and director, known for Jazz All Around (1969), Selvmordsskolen (1964) and Jentespranget (1973). He was married to Judy Gringer. He died on 14 October 2003 in France.- Director
- Writer
- Producer
Henning Carlsen was born on 4 June 1927 in Aalborg, Denmark. He was a director and writer, known for Dilemma (1962), Hunger (1966) and People Meet and Sweet Music Fills the Heart (1967). He was married to Else Heidary and Hjørdis Wirth Jensen. He died on 30 May 2014 in Copenhagen, Denmark.- Actress
- Director
- Writer
Mai Zetterling was born in Sweden in 1925, and lived briefly in Australia while still a child. She's known as a director and actor and trained on the Stockholm repertory stage, she began appearing in war-era films starting in her teens. Following her debut in Lasse Maja (1941), she made quite an impact in the terminally dark Ingmar Bergman-written film Torment (1944) [known as Torment in the US and Frenzy in the UK], who went on to direct her in his Music in Darkness (1948) [Music in Darkness].
The international attention she received from her Bergman association led her to England where she debuted in the title role of Frieda (1947), a war drama co-starring David Farrar, Glynis Johns and Flora Robson. Developing modest sex symbol success, she went on to co-star opposite a number of handsome leading men throughout the post-war years in primarily dramatic works, including Dennis Price in The Bad Lord Byron (1949), Dirk Bogarde in Blackmailed (1951), Herbert Lom in The Ringer (1952), Richard Widmark in A Prize of Gold (1955), Tyrone Power in Seven Days from Now (1957) (which was a variation on Hitchcock's Lifeboat (1944)), John Gregson in Faces in the Dark (1960), William Sylvester in The Devil Inside (1961), and Stanley Baker in The Man Who Finally Died (1963). Along the way she proved just as adaptable and sexy in smart comedy when she came between husband and wife Peter Sellers and Virginia Maskell in Only Two Can Play (1962).
Mai abandoned acting in the mid-1960s and courted some controversy when she successfully began sitting in the director's chair. Divorced from Norwegian actor Tutte Lemkow in the early 1950s, she later wed writer David Hughes in 1958, who collaborated with her on a number of her directing ventures, which seemed ahead of their time. Obviously influenced by Bergman, the dark, sexy drama Loving Couples (1964) [Loving Couples] dealt with homosexual themes and featured nudity; Night Games (1966) [Night Games] revolved around sexual decadency and repression; and The Girls (1968) [The Girls], which had an all-star Swedish cast including Bibi Andersson and Harriet Andersson, expounded on women's liberation. She divorced her second husband in 1979. She had two children, Louis and Etienne, from her first marriage.
Toward the end of her life, Mai made a return to film acting and is best remembered at this late stage for her nurturing and resilient grandmother in the film The Witches (1990) wherein she is forced to tangle with a particularly virulent ringleader Anjelica Huston to save her grandson from her coven of hags. Mai died of cancer in 1994.- Director
- Writer
- Editor
Bo Widerberg was born on 8 June 1930 in Malmö, Skåne län, Sweden. He was a director and writer, known for Adalen 31 (1969), All Things Fair (1995) and Joe Hill (1971). He was married to Vanja Nettelbladt and Ann-Mari Björklund. He died on 1 May 1997 in Ängelholm, Skåne län, Sweden.- Writer
- Director
- Actor
Vilgot Sjöman was born on 2 December 1924 in Stockholm, Stockholms län, Sweden. He was a writer and director, known for The Garage (1975), A Handful of Love (1974) and My Sister, My Love (1966). He was married to Lotta Sjöman and Kristina Hasselgren. He died on 9 April 2006 in Stockholm, Stockholms län, Sweden.- Director
- Actor
- Writer
Although trained for the stage in his native Sweden, Alf Kjellin appeared in only a few stage productions before entering films. His work in Torment (1944) resulted in his being noticed by Hollywood, and he made his American film debut in 1949 under the name Christopher Kent. He soon went back to using his real name, and though he made several more Hollywood films, he worked mainly out of Sweden, both as an actor and director. In the early 1960s he finally settled in Hollywood. Although he acted in and directed a few feature films, the main body of his work consisted of directing made-for-TV movies (one of his better ones being the clever psychological thriller The Deadly Dream (1971)) and appearing as a guest star--often as a villain--in TV series.- Director
- Cinematographer
- Editor
Jan Troell was born on 23 July 1931 in Limhamn, Malmö, Skåne län, Sweden. He is a director and cinematographer, known for Here Is Your Life (1966), The Emigrants (1971) and Il capitano (1991). He is married to Agneta Ulfsäter-Troell. They have one child.- Director
- Writer
- Actor
Peter von Bagh was born on 29 August 1943 in Helsinki, Finland. He was a director and writer, known for The Count (1971), 1939 (1993) and Viimeinen kesä (1992). He died on 17 September 2014 in Finland.- Director
- Actor
- Producer
Mikko Niskanen (1929-1990) was a Finnish film director, writer, producer and actor. He started his directing career in 1962 after studying film making in Moscow. His first feature film Pojat (1962) was a proof of his talent and earned him a Jussi Award for directing. During the next 12 months he also directed movies Sissit (1963) - which he won an Jussi Award for directing also - and Hopeaa rajan takaa (1963). All of these three movies were war-themed.
During the next few years he worked for TV, but returned to film industry in 1966 with his film Käpy selän alla (1966). The film became a huge success with 700,000 tickets sold to screenings. The film stays in Finnish film industry as 12th highest grossing Finnish film of the history. It was also sold to several different countries. Niskanen won a Jussi for directing.
His next two films Lapualaismorsian (1967) and Asfalttilampaat (1968) weren't so well received, but earned him a Jussi for directing the first one. In early 1970s he directed The Song of the Blood-Red Flower (1971) which was everything but a success.
He made his comeback with Eight Fatal Shots (1972) which was originally produced for TV. 5-hour movie was eventually cut to a little over two hours for a theatrical release. The film earned him two Jussis; one for directing, another one for best leading role.
Niskanen never had the same success that he had with Kahdeksan surmanluotia (1972). His other films of 1970s didn't turn to box office hits or award winners. In the 1980s he received his sixth and last Jussi for directing for his film Ajolähtö (1982). After it, he directed also two films based on popular novels; Elämän vonkamies (1986) and Lumberjacking (1988) before his death in 1990.- Director
- Writer
- Script and Continuity Department
Anja Breien was born on 12 July 1940 in Oslo, Norway. She is a director and writer, known for Next of Kin (1979), Hustruer (1975) and Papirfuglen (1984).- Actor
- Writer
- Director
Lasse Åberg was born on 5 May 1940 in Hofors, Gävleborgs län, Sweden. He is an actor and writer, known for Den ofrivillige golfaren (1991), Sällskapsresan eller Finns det svenskt kaffe på grisfesten (1980) and The Health Journey (1999). He has been married to Inger since 1965. They have two children.- Actress
- Director
- Writer
Vibeke Løkkeberg was born on 22 January 1945 in Norway. She is an actress and director, known for Åpenbaringen (1977), Kamilla (1981) and Tears of Gaza (2010).- Director
- Writer
- Cinematographer
Bille August was born on 9 November 1948 in Brede, Denmark. He is a director and writer, known for The House of the Spirits (1993), Pelle the Conqueror (1987) and Les Misérables (1998). He is married to Sara-Marie Maltha. He was previously married to Pernilla August, Masja Dessau and Annie Munksgaard.- Director
- Actor
- Writer
Gabriel Axel was born on 18 April 1918 in Århus, Denmark. He was a director and actor, known for Babette's Feast (1987), The Red Mantle (1967) and Christian (1989). He was married to Lucie Axel Moerch. He died on 9 February 2014 in Copenhagen, Denmark.- Director
- Actor
- Writer
Nils Gaup was born on 12 April 1955 in Kautokeino, Norway. He is a director and actor, known for Pathfinder (1987), Head Above Water (1993) and Pathfinder (2007).- Actor
- Additional Crew
- Director
Max von Sydow was born Carl Adolf von Sydow on April 10, 1929 in Lund, Skåne, Sweden, to a middle-class family. He was the son of Baroness Maria Margareta (Rappe), a teacher, and Carl Wilhelm von Sydow, an ethnologist and folklore professor. His surname traces back to his partial German ancestry.
When he was in high school, he and a few fellow students, including Yvonne Lombard, started a theatre club which encouraged his interest in acting. After conscription, he began to study at the Royal Dramatic Theatre's acting school (1948-1951), together with Lars Ekborg, Margaretha Krook and Ingrid Thulin. His first role was as Nils the crofter in Alf Sjöberg's Only a Mother (1949). After graduation, he worked at the city theatres in Norrköping and Malmö.
His work in the movies by Ingmar Bergman (especially The Seventh Seal (1957), including the iconic scenes in which he plays chess with Death) made him well-known internationally, and he started to get offers from abroad. His career abroad began with him playing Jesus in The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965); Hawaii (1966) and The Quiller Memorandum (1966). Since then, his career includes very different kind of characters, like Karl Oskar Nilsson in The Emigrants (1971); Father Lankester Merrin in The Exorcist (1973); Joubert the assassin in Three Days of the Condor (1975), Emperor Ming in Flash Gordon (1980); the villain Ernst Stavro Blofeld in the Never Say Never Again (1983); Liet-Kynes in Dune (1984) the artist Frederick in Hannah and Her Sisters (1986); Lassefar in Pelle the Conqueror (1987), for which he received his first Academy Award nomination; Dr. Peter Ingham in Awakenings (1990); Lamar Burgess in Minority Report (2002) and The Renter in Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close (2011), which earned him his second Academy Award nomination.
He became one of Sweden's most admired and professional actors, and is the only male Swedish actor to receive an Oscar nomination. He was nominated twice: for Pelle the Conqueror (1987) in 1988 and for Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close (2011) in 2012. He received the Guldbagge Award for Best Director in his directing debut, the drama film Ved vejen (1988). In 2016, he joined the sixth season of the HBO series Game of Thrones (2011) as the Three-eyed Raven, which earned him his Primetime Emmy Award nomination.
Max von Sydow died on March 8, 2020, in Provence, France, and was survived by his wife Catherine Brelet and four children. He was 90.- Director
- Writer
- Cinematographer
Katrin Ottarsdóttir was born on 22 May 1957 in Tórshavn, Faroe Islands. She is a director and writer, known for Bye Bye Blue Bird (1999), Ludo (2014) and Atlantic Rhapsody - 52 myndir úr Tórshavn (1990).- Producer
- Writer
- Director
Aki Kaurismäki did a wide variety of jobs including postman, dish-washer and film critic, before forming a production and distribution company, Villealfa (in homage to Jean-Luc Godard's Alphaville (1965)) with his older brother Mika Kaurismäki, also a film-maker. Both Aki and Mika are prolific film-makers, and together have been responsible for one-fifth of the total output of the Finnish film industry since the early 1980s, though Aki's work has found more favour abroad. His films are very short (he says a film should never run longer than 90 minutes, and many of his films are nearer 70), eccentric parodies of various genres (road movies, film noir, rock musicals), populated by lugubrious hard-drinking Finns and set to eclectic soundtracks, typically based around '50s rock'n'roll.
In the 1990s he has made films in Britain (I Hired a Contract Killer (1990)) and France (The Bohemian Life (1992)).- Director
- Writer
- Editor
Lasse Hallström inherited his enthusiasm for film from his father, who was an amateur filmmaker. In high school he made his first short film, which was released on Swedish television. Hallström then began working as a director, cameraman and editor for Swedish television. He also made music videos and worked with the cult band "ABBA", for whom he directed the 1977 film "ABBA: The Movie". He moved from television to film and directed Swedish productions such as "A Lover And His Lass" (1974), "Der Gockel" and "Happy We". By the mid-1980s he had long since established himself in his homeland and made his international breakthrough as an author and director in 1985 with "My Life as a Dog" (1985). In his warm-hearted film, Hallström tells the story of a twelve-year-old boy in the 1950s. Audiences and critics worldwide were thrilled and Hallström received Oscar nominations for Best Director and Best Screenplay.
The members of the "New York Film Critics Circle" named the production "Best Foreign Film." Hallström then brought the successful Astrid Lindgren stories "We Children from Bullerbü" (1986) and "News from Us Children from Bullerbü" (1986) to the screen. In 1991 he worked with Holly Hunter and Richard Dreyfuss on his first American film, "A Charming Disgust." This was followed in 1993 by the hit film "Gilbert Grape - Somewhere in Iowa", for which Hallström was director and producer. The film starred Johnny Depp, Juliette Lewis and the young Leonardo DiCaprio, who received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his role as a disabled boy. Hallström himself was nominated for an Oscar for Best Director for Gilbert Grape: Somewhere in Iowa. In 1994 he married the actress Lena Olin; together they became parents of two children.
After the failure of "The Power of Love" (1995) with Julia Roberts, Lasse Hallström returned to his strengths and delivered the drama "God's Work and the Devil's Contribution" in 1999. The critics were once again full of praise and Hallström was pleased to receive another Oscar nomination. The subtle comedy "Chocolat" (2000) with Juliette Binoche, Judy Dench and Johnny Depp was his next work, which was nominated for five "Oscars" in 2001. In 2002, Hallström's tragicomedy "Ship Reports" was released in German cinemas. With "An Untamed Life" from 2005, he brought a drama to cinemas that not only shined with its plot, but also with excellent actors such as Robert Redford, Morgan Freeman and Jennifer Lopez. Hallström settled privately in the USA and Sweden. In 2018 he directed the American fantasy film "The Nutcracker and the Four Realms".- Producer
- Director
- Writer
Born in 15 March 1959 as Renny Lauri Mauritz Harjola, he is the most successful Finnish film director in the history of Hollywood.
Harlin started his career in film business in the beginning of 1980s when he was directing commercials and company films for companies like Shell. Later he worked as a buyer for Finnish film distributor and met Finnish Markus Selin in Los Angeles. They became friends and started writing a screenplay called "Arctic Heat". The project started fast and soon they had Chuck Norris signed on leading role for the film. But with money problems shooting schedule didn't hold and Norris left the project, but Selin and Harlin got Mike Norris for the leading role. They wrote new script, Born American (1986), and got financial help from USA. In the year 1986 Born American (1986) was finished and the most expensive Finnish film ever opened in USA in over 1,000 theaters and reached no 9.
The film wasn't successful in Finland, where it was banned. Harlin moved to Los Angeles and got a job from Halloween (1978) producer Irwin Yablans who offered him script of "Prison" to film. Film was made with low budget and distributed with only 42 copies. In the same year 1988 he got a job from New Line Cinema to direct A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (1988) after meeting producer Robert Shaye numerous times, who at the first didn't want Harlin to direct the film. It became the highest-grossing film in the series, though its budget was seven times greater than the original "A Nightmare on Elm Street" film.
20th Century Fox wanted Harlin to direct the Andrew Dice Clay rock'n roll comedy The Adventures of Ford Fairlane (1990) and also a sequel to Die Hard (1988). Harlin made the both, but only Die Hard 2 (1990) was commercially successful, with over 239 million dollar worldwide gross. Next he directed Cliffhanger (1993) with Sylvester Stallone which made $255 million worldwide and was nominated for 3 Oscar's. Before Cliffhanger (1993) Harlin was hired to direct "Alien³" but he left the project because of creative differences.
His next film Cutthroat Island (1995) was a pirate film made with $100 million budget. Unfortunately it came out without good promotion and flopped badly. It made only $10 million in USA and for a time became the biggest flop in Hollywood history. But for Harlin, it wasn't a total loss.
The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996) was a critical success, but was a box office flop, grossing only $30 million domestically with a $65 million budget.
In year 1998, Warner Bros. wanted a summer blockbuster for the year 1999 and Renny Harlin was the right name to direct. Deep Blue Sea (1999) came to theaters after costing 60 million dollars to film and made $160 million worldwide. The film never hit the top spot in the USA but still grossed $73 millions in the USA alone.
Harlin was hired to direct Exorcist: The Beginning (2004) after John Frankenheimer left the job and died shortly after it, and Paul Schrader was fired. Producers knew that Harlin could made a blockbuster even with the weak script, and so he did. With $50 million budget the film opened in number 1 and grossed $80 million worldwide.
Probably most liked Harlin's film Mindhunters (2004) was released in 2004 after years post-production. It was released in USA in 2005 in over 1,000 theaters but it only reached 10th place. In 9 weeks it grossed only $4 million dollars.
The Covenant (2006) was released in 2006. With non-famous (but attractive) actors, the film hit the top in its opening weekend and became a successful film. With a $20 million budget, it grossed $37 million worldwide and DVD sale brought $20 million more.- Director
- Writer
- Actor
Ilkka Järvi-Laturi was born on 28 November 1961. He was a director and writer, known for Darkness in Tallinn (1993), Kotia päin (1989) and Kiss, His First. He died on 5 March 2023 in Padasjoki, Finland.- Writer
- Director
- Producer
Morten Arnfred was born on 2 August 1945 in Copenhagen, Denmark. He is a writer and director, known for Land of Plenty (1983), Johnny Larsen (1979) and Hotellet (2000).- Director
- Cinematographer
- Editor
Gunvor Eleonora Grundel Nelson, born in Stockholm, Sweden, is director, cinematographer and editor of avant-garde film. She studied at Konstfack, University College of Arts, Crafts & Design and after moving to California, USA, art and art history. Gunvor met her future husband Robert Nelson at California School of Fine Arts. The Nelson couple was a vital part of the new film culture that grew up in the San Francisco area and they played a significant role in the film cooperative Canyon Cinema, one of America's oldest and most respected. Gunvor Nelson made her first two films along with Dorothy Wiley. Wiley was married to artist William T. Wiley, made movies with Robert Nelson. Gunvor Nelson and Dorothy Wiley's debut "Schmeerguntz" (1966) is a humorous and grotesque feminist classics where young mother's everyday contrasted with the American ideal of women. Gunvor Nelson's filmmaking is uncompromising and she represents a unique voice in the experimental film. Self denotes she her films as "personal films". A common feature is the strong link to her own life and her own experiences. The early films based on a young woman's world of experience, and culminates in "My Name Is Oona" (1969), an expressive portrait of her daughter, and the "Moon Pool "(1973), an existential-expressive underwater journey, circling around the own body. Gunvor Nelson was engaged as film teacher at the San Francisco Art Institute from 1970 to 1992. She returned to Sweden in December 1992. Gunvor Nelson has so far directed a large number of short, documentary and feature films.- Additional Crew
- Director
- Animation Department
Jonas Odell specializes in making films mixing live action and various mixed media animation techniques. He has also scripted, co-scripted and written the music to a number of productions. In some of his more recent short films he has explored a mix of documentary, staged and animated elements.
Jonas was one of the founders of the Stockholm based animation studio "FilmTecknarna" and has made short films as well as commissioned work and commercials through the studio and later as a freelancing director.
His short film " Never Like The First Time! " was awarded with the Golden Bear for best short film in the Berlin Film Festival 2006. His short "Lies" was awarded as Best international short at the Sundance film festival 2009. Three of his short films have also been awarded the "Guldbagge", the Swedish movie award. Jonas Odell has also directed music videos for artists such as The Rolling Stones, Goldfrapp, U2 and Franz Ferdinand. For the latter he received an award for breakthrough video of the year at the MTV Music Awards 2004 as well as a Grammy nomination. He has directed commercials for a number of international clients including BMW, Volvo, McDonalds, IKEA and Google.- Animation Department
- Director
- Producer
Stig Bergqvist was born on 28 April 1962 in Stockholm, Sweden. He is a director and producer, known for Revolver (1994), Exit (1990) and Dagen bräcks (1986).- Animation Department
- Director
- Composer
Martti Ekstrand was born in 1963. He is a director and composer, known for Exit (1990), Revolver (1994) and Livet Från den Mörka Sidan: Animerade Filmer För orädda Vuxna (2004).- Director
- Animation Department
- Producer
Lars Ohlson was born in 1962. He is a director and producer, known for Revolver (1994), Exit (1990) and Livet Från den Mörka Sidan: Animerade Filmer För orädda Vuxna (2004).- Writer
- Director
- Producer
Erik Skjoldbjærg was born on 14 December 1964 in Tromsø, Norway. He is a writer and director, known for Okkupert (2015), Insomnia (1997) and Nokas (2010).- Director
- Writer
- Producer
Roy Arne Lennart Andersson is a Swedish film director, best known for his distinctive style of absurdist humor and melancholic depictions of human life. His personal style is characterized by long takes, and stiff caricaturing of Swedish culture and grotesque. Over his career Andersson earned prizes from the Cannes Film Festival, Berlin International Film Festival and Venice International Film Festival.
Andersson spent much of his professional life working on advertisement spots, directing over 400 commercials and two short films; directing six feature-length films in six decades. He made his feature film debut with A Swedish Love Story (1970) followed by Giliap (1975). Anderson received the Cannes Film Festival Jury Prize for Songs from the Second Floor (2000). His film A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence (2014) won the Venice International Film Festival's Golden Lion. He other notable films include You, the Living (2007), and About Endlessness (2019).- Actress
- Director
- Writer
Liv Ullmann's father was a Norwegian engineer who used to work abroad, so as a child she lived in Tokyo, Canada, New York and Oslo. In the mid-1950s she made her stage debut and in 1957 made her film debut. She really became successful, however, when she began to work for Swedish director Ingmar Bergman in such films as Persona (1966), The Passion of Anna (1969) and Face to Face (1976). She also had a successful film career away from Bergman (The Abdication (1974), Dangerous Moves (1984).- Producer
- Writer
- Director
Baltasar Kormákur is an actor, producer and director whose work spans theater, movies and television. Born in Reykjavik, Iceland, he graduated as an actor from Iceland's National Academy of Fine Arts in 1990. He was immediately signed on by the National Theatre of Iceland, where he worked as one of the leading young performing artists until 1997. During the last two years of his assignment, he also directed several ambitious works, after having produced and directed highly popular, independent stage productions alongside his projects with the National Theatre. In 2000, he wrote, directed, acted in and produced the feature film "101 Reykjavik," which became an international hit and earned the Discovery Award at the Toronto International Film Festival. Subsequently, Variety selected him as one of the "10 Directors to Watch," along with Alejandro González Iñárritu, Lukas Moodysson, Christopher Nolan and other newcomers at the time.
Soon after, Kormákur started Blueeyes Productions and since then has maintained his focus on feature film writing, producing, and directing. His films "The Sea," "A Little Trip To Heaven," "Jar City" and "White Night Wedding" have all been very successful in Iceland, and won numerous international awards. Kormákur's "The Deep," which eerily captures the tragic real-life story of the lone survivor of a capsized fishing boat off the frigid Icelandic coast, premiered at the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival and went on to become Iceland's Oscar nominee and was shortlisted for the foreign language Academy Award. It opened in Iceland on September 21, 2012 and took in over 50% of the country's box office receipts that weekend and earned a record number of Edda Awards, 11 in all, including Best Film of the Year, Best Director and Best Actor in a Leading Role.
Kormákur has also directed features in the United States, including "Inhale," an independent film produced by the LA based 26 Films, starring Dermot Mulroney, Diane Kruger and Sam Shepard and "Contraband," starring Mark Wahlberg, Ben Foster, and Kate Beckinsale, which took first place at the US box office during its opening weekend, early January 2012. Universal Pictures released "Contraband," which was a remake of Oskar Johansson's "Reykjavik Rotterdam," that starred Kormákur and he produced with Agnes Johansen through his Blueeyes Productions, along with Working Title Films.
Kormákur's next film was the thriller "2 Guns," starring Denzel Washington and Mark Wahlberg, which Universal Pictures will release in August 2013. Other projects include the HBO pilot "The Missionary," a spy thriller he will direct and Mark Wahlberg, Steve Levinson and Malcolm Gladwell will produce; "Everest," the cautionary tale and real life adventure on the mountain in 1996 when eight climbers died in the span of two days, due to a series of horrific mishaps and bad decisions. Working Title Films and Emmett/Furla Productions will produce "Everest" with Kormákur. Also, "Viking," a big budget action adventure set in the world of the famed Norse warriors, which will film in Iceland. Kormákur optioned Iceland's beloved, Nobel Prize-winning book Independent People to develop as a feature film and will produce the American remake of "Jar City" along with CEO of Lava Bear Films, David Linde. He is also producing the Icelandic drama "Rocketman," which acclaimed Icelandic filmmaker Dagur Kari is directing.- Director
- Writer
- Cinematographer
Eija-Liisa Ahtila is a contemporary visual artist and filmmaker. She experiments with narrative storytelling in her films and cinematic installations. In her earlier works she has dealt with the unsettling human dramas at the center of personal relationships, dealing e.g. with teenage sexuality, family relations, mental disintegration and death. Her later works, however, deal with more profound and basic artistic questions where she investigates the processes of perception and attribution of meaning, at times in the light of a larger cultural and existential thematic like colonialism, faith and posthumanism.
Eija-Liisa Ahtila studied at the University of California, Los Angeles, at the London College of Printing and at the University of Helsinki. Her work has been exhibited in solo shows at: Guggenheim, Bilbao; Oi Futura, Rio de Janeiro; Albright Knox Art Gallery; The Israel Museum; Serlachius Museum, Finland; Lehmbruck Museum, Germany; Kiasma, Finland; Moderna Museet, Stockholm; DHC/Art Foundation for Contemporary Art, Montreal; Jeu de Paume Paris; K21 Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Dusseldorf; The Museum of Modern Art, New York; Parasol Unit, London; Museo d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Bolzano, Italy; Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas; Dundee Contemporary Arts, Dundee, Scotland; Kunsthalle Zurich; Tate Modern, London.
Awards 2013, Main Prize, Art Lab category, Festival Internazionale del Cinema d'Arte, Milan, Italy. (work: The Annunciation) 2012, Arte Award for Best European Film, International Short Film Festival Oberhausen, Germany. (work: The Annunciation) 2009, Title of Academician of Art, presented by the President of Finland, Helsinki, Finland. 2008, The Prince Eugen Medal for outstanding artistic achievement, Stockholm, Sweden. 2006, Artes Mundi, Wales International Visual Arts Prize, Cardiff, UK. 2005, Pro Finlandia Medal, Order of the Lion of Finland, Helsinki, Finland. 2002, Great Prize Fiction, Vila do Conde International Short Film Festival, Portugal. (Work: Love is a Treasure) 2002, Best Fiction Prize, Kettupäivät Film Festival, Helsinki, Finland. (Work: Love is a Treasure) 2002, Quality Production Award, National Council for Audiovisual Arts, Helsinki, Finland. 2000, The Vincent van Gogh Bi-annual Award for Contemporary Art in Europe, Maastricht, The Netherlands. 2000, Coutts Contemporary Art Foundation Award, Zurich, Switzerland. 2000, Best Nordic Short Film, Nordisk Panorama, Bergen, Norway. (Work: Consolation Service) 2000, Main Prize, National Competition, Tampere International Short Film Festival, Finland. (Work: Consolation Service) 2000, Quality Production Award, National Council for Audiovisual Arts, Helsinki, Finland. 1999, Honorary Mention, 48th Venice Biennale, Italy. (Work: Consolation Service) 1999, Quality Production Award, National Council for Audiovisual Arts, Helsinki, Finland. 1998, Edstrand Art Prize, Malmö, Sweden. 1998, International Competition Film Award, Viper International Festival for Film and New Media, Basel, Switzerland. (Work: Today) 1998, Bonn Videonale, WDR Prize for female artist, Bonn, Germany. (Work: Today) 1997, Jury's Honorary Mention, International Short Film Festival Oberhausen, Germany. (Work: Today) 1997, National Competition, Main Prize, Tampere International Short Film Festival, Finland. (Work: Today) 1997, AVEK -award for important achievements in the field of audio-visual culture, Helsinki, Finland. 1997, International Competition Film Award, Viper International Festival for Film and New Media, Basel, Switzerland. (Work: If 6 was 9) 1993, Quality Production Award, National Council for Audiovisual Arts, Helsinki, Finland. 1990, Young Artist of the Year Award, Tampere, Finland.- Director
- Writer
- Camera and Electrical Department
Lukas Moodysson was born on 17 January 1969 in Malmö, Skåne län, Sweden. He is a director and writer, known for Show Me Love (1998), Lilya 4-Ever (2002) and Together (2000). He has been married to Coco Moodysson since 1994. They have three children.- Writer
- Director
- Producer
Probably the most ambitious and visually distinctive filmmaker to emerge from Denmark since Carl Theodor Dreyer over 60 years earlier, Lars von Trier studied film at the Danish Film School and attracted international attention with his very first feature, The Element of Crime (1984). A highly distinctive blend of film noir and German Expressionism with stylistic nods to Dreyer, Andrei Tarkovsky and Orson Welles, its combination of yellow-tinted monochrome cinematography (pierced by shafts of blue light) and doom-haunted atmosphere made it an unforgettable visual experience. His subsequent features Epidemic (1987) and Europa (1991) have been equally ambitious both thematically and visually, though his international fame is most likely to be based on The Kingdom (1994), a TV soap opera blending hospital drama, ghost story and Twin Peaks (1990)-style surrealism that was so successful in Denmark that it was released internationally as a 280-minute theatrical feature.- Director
- Writer
- Actor
Per Fly was accepted to the Danish Film School in 1989. He completed his education in 1993 with the graduation film Room 17. In the following years Per Fly directed, among other films, the short films Sofaholdet (1994), Calling Katherine (1994) and The Little Knight (1997). In 1998, he directed the short film Liftarflickan and three episodes of the television show TAXI for Danish Radio.
In 2001 Per Fly won a Bodil and a Robert award for Best Director, and both the Audience Award and the Best Director award from Nordische Film Days 2000 in Lübeck. The awards were given for Fly's debut feature film, The Bench (2000), which was the first in Per Fly's trilogy about the lower, middle and upper class in Denmark.
The sequel, Inheritance (2003) about the Danish upper class, was the most attended film in Danish cinemas in 2003 and won a total of seven Robert awards in 2004, including Best Film, Best Director and The Audience Award. Inheritance also received several major international awards, including the award for best screenplay at the Flaiano International Film Festival in Italy and San Sebastian International Film Festival in Spain.
Per Fly won the award for Best Director once more at the Robert Awards, with the last film of the trilogy, Manslaughter (2005), and a Bodil for Best Film and the Nordic Council Film Prize.
In 2005, Per Fly received the Crown Prince and Crown Princess' Culture Prize for the trilogy. In this context the Crown Prince stated that: "The trilogy is some of the most powerful films in Danish film history".
In 2007 Per Fly made the TV series Performances in six episodes for the TV network DR. Sonja Richter won the award for Best Actress at the 47th Monte Carlo TV Festival.
In January 2010 Per Fly released his latest film The Woman who Dreamed of a Man.- Writer
- Director
- Additional Crew
Christoffer Boe was born on 7 May 1974 in Rungsted Kyst, Denmark. He is a writer and director, known for Reconstruction (2003), Beast (2011) and Sex, Drugs & Taxation (2013).- Director
- Producer
- Writer
Though Academy Award®, Golden Globe Award and Emmy Award winning writer and director Susanne Bier's work often plays out against a wide-reaching global backdrop, its focus is intimate, carefully exploring the explosive emotions and complexities of familial bonds. This unique combination is part of the formula that has made her Denmark's leading female filmmaker and a powerhouse worldwide.
Bier's 2010 film In a Better World won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 2011, as well as an Italian Golden Globe Award® for Best European Film and Best Director at the European Film Awards. She previously helmed the multi-award-winning After the Wedding (2006), which was also an Academy Award® nominee for Best Foreign Language Film, and was remade as an English-language film in 2019 starring Julianne Moore, Michelle Williams, and Billy Crudup.
Bier won an Emmy Award in 2016 for directing the six-part AMC mini-series The Night Manager, based on the 1993 novel of the same name by John le Carré, with stars Tom Hiddleston, Hugh Laurie, and Olivia Colman all winning Golden Globes for their work.
Bier followed this with the 2018 Netflix film Bird Box, starring Sandra Bullock, which went on to become the most-watched film in Netflix history. In 2020, she directed the six-part HBO series The Undoing, starring Nicole Kidman and Hugh Grant, the network's first original series to grow its audience each week.
Prior to this, Bier co-wrote and directed the romantic comedy The One and Only (1999), which won Best Film at the Danish Robert Awards and was the most watched domestic film in Denmark in 20 years, with one-fifth of the country's population having seen it at the cinema.
In 2002, she directed Open Hearts, shot in accordance with the Dogme '95 filmmaking aesthetic. The film won numerous awards, including the Audience Award at the Robert Festival (Danish Academy Award) and the International Film Critics' Award at the Toronto International Film Festival. Bier followed this with Brothers (2004), which won, among others, the Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival.
In 2007, Bier directed the award-winning Things We Lost in the Fire, starring Halle Berry and Benicio Del Toro, her first English-language film.
In 2012, Bier made her triumphant return to the genre with the 2013 winner of the European Film Award for Best Comedy, Love Is All You Need, starring Pierce Brosnan and Trine Dyrholm. In 2014, Bier directed A Second Chance, starring Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival.
Most recently, Susanne Bier directed the Showtime limited series The First Lady, starring Viola Davis, Michelle Pfieffer, and Gillian Anderson.- Director
- Producer
- Cinematographer
Erik Poppe (born 24 June 1960) is a Norwegian film director, screenwriter and former cinematographer.
Poppe is regarded as one of Europe's most experienced and compelling directors recognized for his work with actors and impeccably well crafted multi-pronged narratives. His movies are often built around strong ensemble casts, sharp writing, impressive camera work and an uncanny knack for rhythm and music in the editing. During the last decade Poppe has become one of the most frequently awarded film directors from Scandinavia.
Erik Poppe grew up in Portugal and Norway. He started his career as a photographer for the newspaper Verdens Gang and Reuters, covering domestic news as well as international conflicts. He was awarded by the Norwegian press association and World Press Photo during 1980's. Being hospitalized after an assignment in Colombia he decided to prepare leaving journalism and study filmmaking.
He graduated as a cinematographer at DI - University College of Film, Radio, Television and Theatre in Stockholm, Sweden in 1991. He have conducted several artistic and directorial research programs between 2001 and 2010. In 2015 Poppe concluded a PhD as a research fellow at the Norwegian Artistic Research Programme and as an Associated Professor at HIL, Lillehammer University College/The Norwegian Film School. "The Subjective Objective" is an exploration on how to achieve increased emotionally outcome by the use of a highly personalized and strictly subjectively point of view in conscious narrative film. Is it possible to achieve a stronger identification, empathy and a greater involvement for the spectator by applying a strict enforcement of the subjective point of view? -A point of view who never allows the filmmaker to show for the spectator more than the film's protagonist are seeing or experiencing at any time. The project developed various measures for an increased empathy with the narrative's protagonist and discuss further elements to be considered for a stronger subjectivity. The key artistic work made as part of the research was the feature movie A Thousand Times Good Night, a dramatization of his experiences as a conflict photographer in DRC Congo and Afghanistan.
Erik Poppe worked as Director of Photography on several features, as well as EGGS (1995) by Bent Hamer. He was awarded with the Kodak Award at the Moscow International Film Festival and won the Cinematographer of the year award in Norway. At the same time he announced his end of work as Director of Photography.
TROUBLED WATER (2008, aka: deUSYNLIGE) is the third part of his multi-awarded Oslo Trilogy, after his directorial debut with SCHPAAA (1998, aka Bunch Of Five) and HAWAII-OSLO (2004). Working on the research for Schpaaa; a terrifying look at multi-racial youth gangs in Norway and shot in the style of a documentary, he discovered realities he wanted to adapt into two more movies. Hawaii-Oslo tells a story about a number of people whose fates intertwine, sometimes by accident, during the hottest day of the year in downtown Oslo. Troubled Water is a story about a young man released from prison after serving a sentence for an alleged murder of a child. All of the movies are shoot in the area of Groenland and Grunerloekka in downtown Oslo. "The place where we live so close to each other, and know so little about each other."
1000 TIMES GOOD NIGHT (2013, aka: A Thousand Times Good Night, Tusen Ganger God Natt) was Poppe's first English-language movie. The film is partly an autobiographical story based on Poppe experiences as a conflict photographer. Poppe switched the lead roles around making the french actress Juliette Binoche as his his proxy, and King of Throne's Nikolaj Coster-Waldau playing the character based on Poppe's wife. A standing ovation greeted Montreal's world premiere of the film, which went on to earn the jury's Special Grand Prix.
THE KING'S CHOICE (2016) is based on the true the story about the three dramatic days in April of 1940, when the King of Norway is presented with the monstrous ultimatum from the Germans: surrender or die. With German Air Force and soldiers hunting them down, the royal family is forced to flee from the capital. After three days of desperately trying to evade the Germans, King Haakon makes his final decision, one that may cost him, his family and many Norwegians their lives. The film made records when it opened in Norway by late September 2016 and became the #1 box office hit of the year. The film was Norway's official entry in the best foreign language film category for the 2017 Oscars and received being short listed.
Per Fugelli (1943-2017) was a Norwegian doctor, a professor of social medicine and a forceful voice in the public sphere. Fugelli spent his life addressing questions of freedom and respect, campaigning for rights of the less fortunate.
Fugelli was diagnosed with cancer in 2009. In 2015 he said no to further treatment and allowed his close friend, director Erik Poppe to follow him as far as possible on this journey. The result is I DIE (Siste resept) a film about life and how to live it to the very end.
In June 2017 it was announced that Erik Poppe had worked for a year on developing a feature film about the 2011 terrorist attack on Utøya outside Oslo, Norway. The film, entitled U, begins 12 minutes before the first shot on Utøya as we meet Kaja (18), her little sister, and their friends at summer camp. When the shooting begins panic spreads, and over the next 72 minutes we follow Kaja in her escape - minute by minute. She becomes separated from her little sister, and in the search for her she finds other youngsters with different strategies for survival. Some make it, others do not. U July 22 (Utøya 22.juli) is a fictional account of events which will tell the story from the young people's perspective, based on a series of in-depth interviews conducted with survivors from Utøya. Some of them was on set behind the camera while filming took place in September 2017 to help give the narrative credibility. The film was Berlin's most confrontational and controversial offering during the International Film Festival in Berlin. Filmed in a single continuous take, the narrative is filtered through the real-time experience of one young woman, played vividly by newcomer Andrea Berntzen. It follows her over two hours, as she tries to survive amid the chaos and terror. The film was a runner up for the Golden Bear in the categories for best film, best female actress and best direction.
Poppe is probably the only director in Norway who have showed the ability to hit both the critics as well as the audience, taking high admissions in domestic release. His Oslo Trilogy as well as A Thousand Times Good Night and The Kings Choice has been sold to territories worldwide.
Erik Poppe was also the key director for "Brigaden" (The Brigade) in 2002. A 26 episodes TV-drama for NRK (The Norwegian Broadcating Corp.). Brigaden received the Norwegian "Amanda" Price for the Best TV-drama in 2003.
Erik Poppe is the only director to have received the Norwegian National Film Critics' Award three times. Hawaii, Oslo in 2005, Troubled Water in 2009 and for A Thousand Times Good Nigh in 2014 - all movies were also voted as last year's Best Feature. When he received the price for best film in 2014 at The Amanda, he became historical by being the only director to have been nominated for all his movies (five movies) in the categories best film or/ and best director at the Norwegian national award The Amanda (the Norwegian Oscar).
Poppe has participated in key festivals, and received prizes such as the Berlinale -Panorama (Schpaaa), The Vesuvio Prize at Napoli International Film Festival, Norwegian entries for best foreign language movie at Oscars, Festroia in Portugal for Best Directing, Silver Dolphin in Festroia, Nordic Ministerie Councils Award for The Best Nordic Feature, ecumenical awards and several other prizes. Troubled Water made history at the Hamptons International Film Festival in 2008 by being the first feature ever to win both the festival's Golden Starfish for Best Narrative Feature and the Audience Award. In October 2016 Poppe received the Special Golden Angel, a life time achievement award for his work as Outstanding European Film Artist at the international Film Festival TOFIFEST in Poland.
Erik Poppe is co-owner of Paradox Film and the Paradox Group. A series of companies producing features.
On his career as a photojournalist: "All the actions I undertook back then were driven by the urge to draw attention to the horrors of war. I wanted for my pictures to grab you by the throat, when eating breakfast on a Saturday morning."
On working with feature movies: "You need to be honest, because this way your audience will be able to identify with the topic and the hero. My role, as an artist, is to prepare a text with open questions and hide the fact that I have an answer key. Questions will provoke audience to discuss the film and seek new perspectives. The film is supposed to make a difference, and maybe offer a therapeutic effect."- Producer
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Mika Kaurismäki was born on 21 September 1955 in Orimattila, Finland. He is a producer and director, known for Kolme viisasta miestä (2008), Zombie ja Kummitusjuna (1991) and Helsinki Napoli All Night Long (1987). He is married to Cenira Dias Kaurismäki.- Writer
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Mikael Håfström was born on 1 July 1960 in Lund, Skåne län, Sweden. He is a writer and director, known for Evil (2003), 1408 (2007) and The Rite (2011).- Producer
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Daniel Alfredson was born on 23 May 1959 in Stockholm, Stockholms län, Sweden. He is a producer and director, known for The Girl Who Played with Fire (2009), The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest (2009) and Varg (2008). He is married to Stina. They have three children.- Writer
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Writer/director Lone Scherfig graduated from The National Film School of Denmark in 1984. Her first feature film, THE BIRTHDAY TRIP (1990), was selected for Panorama in Berlin, the New Directors section at MOMA in New York and won the Grand Jury Prix in Rouen. Her next film, ON OUR OWN (1998), received the Grand Prix in Montreal and the Cinekid Prize in Amsterdam. Scherfig then wrote and directed ITALIAN FOR BEGINNERS (2000; the Danish 'Dogma' #5), which was a huge audience hit and won her the Silver Bear and the international film critics' award FIPRESCI at the 2001 Berlinale, plus numerous other awards around the world.
Scherfig's first English-language feature, WILBUR WANTS TO KILL HIMSELF (2002), toured the festival circuit and brought home awards from e.g. France, the US and Japan. Her next production, AN EDUCATION (2009), won the Audience Award at Sundance and was nominated for three Oscars and eight BAFTAs. Scherfig has since directed three British films, i.e. ONE DAY (2011), THE RIOT CLUB (2014) and THEIR FINEST (2016) which premiered at TIFF in 2016 and screened in Sundance and London as the Mayor's gala. In 2019, Lone Scherfig's The Kindness of Strangers opened and was in competition at Berlin International Film Festival.
In between features Scherfig has directed a range of TV-series, including TAXA (1997), QUIET WATERS (1999), BETTER TIMES (2004) and, most recently, THE ASTRONAUT WIVES CLUB (2015; conceptualised by Scherfig).- Director
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Niels Arden Oplev was born on 26 March 1961 in Denmark. He is a director and producer, known for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2009), Drømmen (2006) and Held for Ransom (2019).- Director
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Tomas Alfredson was born on 1 April 1965 in Lidingö, Stockholms län, Sweden. He is a director, known for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011), Let the Right One In (2008) and The Snowman (2017). He is married to Charlotte Alfredson. They have one child. He was previously married to Cissi Elwin.- Director
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With Sidste omgang (1993) (Last Round), his graduation short from The National Film School of Denmark, Thomas Vinterberg got an early taste of critical success. He received the Jury's and Producers' Awards at the International Student Film Fest in Munich and won the 1st Prize at the Tel Aviv Film Fest. Popular success followed with his breakthrough short fiction film, Drengen der gik baglæns (1995), about a boy, who - after the death of his brother - discovers he can turn back time by walking backwards. This poetic short film was followed the reckless and fast-paced thriller, The Biggest Heroes (1996).
Vinterberg is one of the founding "brothers" of dogme95, a set of rules dedicated to reintroducing the element of risk in filmmaking. The Celebration (1998) was not only his first Dogme95 project it was also his first international success. With this movie he "penetrated a layer of evil and abomination [he'd] never been to before" (according to an interview by Bo Green Jensen for Weekend Avisen). The story revolves around Family patriarch Helge Klingenfeldt Hansen, celebrating his 60th birthday. In a speech the eldest son addresses his father, supposedly to honor him, only to reveal the father's darkest secret. Among other international prizes, Vinterberg received the Prix du Jury of the Cannes International Film Festival.
His feature, It's All About Love (2003), is a departure from the dogme95 project. It is the story of John (Joaquin Phoenix) and Elena (Claire Danes), whose marriage has fallen apart. Their troubled relationship is reflected in their surroundings as Vinterberg attempts to create a parallel between the chaos of the world and the chaos inside the characters.
Back in his homeland, Thomas Vinterberg nevertheless sticks to the English language. His Dear Wendy (2005), written by Lars von Trier, is a fierce attack against America's obsession with weapons. In 2007, Vinterberg returns to Danish with When a Man Comes Home (2007) whose subject (a singer comes home to the town he left behind) is appropriate to the circumstances. Vinterberg strikes hard with his next two works, Submarino (2010), the gloomy story of two brothers who try to cope with their depressing everyday lives and The Hunt (2012), the shocking tale of a man who falls prey to a madding crowd. It was no surprise to anyone that his next project was a new adaptation of a Thomas Hardy novel with Far from the Madding Crowd (2015).- Director
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Göran Hugo Olsson was born on 20 September 1965 in Lund, Skåne län, Sweden. He is a director and producer, known for The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975 (2011), Concerning Violence (2014) and Independent Lens (1999).- Director
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Joachim Trier is a Norwegian writer and director. He is known for Reprise (2006), Oslo, August 31st (2011), Louder Than Bombs (2015) and Thelma (2017).
Trier also directed three short films, Pietà (2000), Still (2001) and Procter (2002).
His father, Jacob Trier, was the sound technician of The Pinchcliffe Grand Prix, a notable film produced in Norway in 1975.
Louder Than Bombs was his first English-language film.
Thelma was selected as the Norwegian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 90th Academy Awards.- Director
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Mads Matthiesen was born on 9 October 1976 in Copenhagen, Denmark. He is a director and writer, known for Teddy Bear (2012), Dennis (2007) and Cathrine (2008).- Writer
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Tobias Lindholm was born on 5 July 1977 in Næstved, Denmark. He is a writer and director, known for Another Round (2020), The Hunt (2012) and A Hijacking (2012).- Writer
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- Script and Continuity Department
Nikolaj Arcel was born on 25 August 1972 in Copenhagen, Denmark. He is a writer and director, known for A Royal Affair (2012), Kongekabale (2004) and The Promised Land (2023).- Actor
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Malik Bendjelloul, born in Sweden, performed in Swedish TV-series "Ebba och Didrik" as a child in the nineties and later in life studied Journalism and media-production at the Linnaeus University of Kalmar. He has produced several musical documentaries for Swedish Television (SVT) where he also worked as a reporter on the show "Kobra" until he resigned to travel the world. During these travels Malik Bendjelloul first came in contact with the story which was to develop into "Searching for Sugarman" somewhere in South America.- Director
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Joachim Rønning is a film director and writer from Sandefjord, Norway - a small coastal town south of Oslo. He spent his teenage years making short films and shooting commercials for local businesses. In 1995 Rønning began directing professionally with his childhood friend, Espen Sandberg. Working under the name of Roenberg, their extensive and award-winning commercial work in Scandinavia led to major international commissions.
Roenberg established themselves in the American commercial film market with spots for Capital One, Labatt's and especially with the USA Today Superbowl 2001 Viewer's Poll-winning spot "Rex" for Budweiser.
In 2006, Rønning and Sandberg directed their feature film debut, BANDIDAS, starring Penélope Cruz and Salma Hayek, and written and produced by legendary French filmmaker Luc Besson. When asked how it was to be debuting with such big stars and budget, Rønning explained: "It was my first movie and I remember feeling so lucky to be working with these amazing actors. Looking back now I realize I had no clue what I was doing. It was truly the best film school I could ever dream of. Probably the most expensive too."
In December 2008, Rønning's second feature, MAX MANUS, premiered. The critically acclaimed WWII drama tells the true story of infamous Norwegian saboteur and war hero; Max Manus, and his battle to overcome his inner demons. MAX MANUS soared to become the highest grossing Norwegian movie of all time.
KON-TIKI became the director's next epos. The true story about legendary explorer Thor Heyerdahl and his epic crossing of the Pacific on a balsa wood raft, KON-TIKI became historical when it in 2013, as the first Norwegian film ever, was nominated for both a Golden Globe and an Academy Award in the best foreign language category.
The success of KON-TIKI led to Rønning directing the latest installment in the PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN franchise starring Johnny Depp. Filmed on location in Australia, POTC: Dead Men Tell No Tales went on to earn 800 million dollars at the box office - making it one of the top 10 grossing movies of 2017.
Rønning's next movie MALEFICENT: Mistress of Evil starring Angelina Jolie and Michelle Pfeiffer for Disney, premiered in the fall of 2019 to become the third highest October release of all time, and eventually grossing half a billion dollars worldwide.
In 2022, Rønning began filming YOUNG WOMAN AND THE SEA, starring Daisy Ridley. The film tells the true story about New York native, Trudy Ederle, who in 1926 became the first woman to swim the English Channel - changing the world of women's sports forever.
Rønning is currently in pre-production on TRON: ARES for Disney starring Jared Leto, planning a fall 2023 start date.
Joachim Rønning lives in Los Angeles and London with his wife, Amanda Hearst. He has three children.- Director
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Espen Sandberg was born on 17 June 1971 in Sandefjord, Norway. He is a director and producer, known for Kon-Tiki (2012), Max Manus: Man of War (2008) and Troll (2022).- Writer
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Writer, director, and producer Nicolas Winding Refn was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, in 1970, to Anders Refn, a film director and editor, and Vibeke Winding (née Tuxen), a cinematographer. Just before he turned 11, in 1981, he moved to New York with his parents, where he lived out his teen years. New York quickly became his city and soon began to shape Nicolas' future.
At seventeen, Nicolas moved back to his native Copenhagen to complete his high-school Education. After graduation, he swiftly flew back to New York, where he attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. However, this education was cut short when Nicolas threw a desk at a classroom wall and was expelled from the Academy. Consequently, he applied to the Danish Film School and was readily accepted. This education too was to be short-lived, though, as one month prior to the start of the semester, Nicolas dropped out.
A short film Nicolas had written, directed, and starred in was aired on an obscure cable TV channel and lead to the offer of a life-time. Nicolas was spotted and offered 3.2 million kroners to turn the short into a feature. At only twenty-four, Nicolas had written and directed the extremely violent and uncompromising Pusher (1996), which became a cult phenomenon and won Nicolas instant international critical acclaim. The success of his debut spurred him to push the boundaries of his creative filmmaking further, which resulted in the close-to-the-edge and intricately gritty Bleeder (1999). Highly stylized and focused on introverted reactions to outward situations, this film was a marking point for the shaping of Nicolas's future career. The movie was selected for the 1999 Venice International Film Festival as well as winning the prestigious FIPRESCI Prize in Sarajevo.
Nicolas's fourth feature, the much-anticipated Fear X (2003) was also his first foray into English-language movies. Starring the award-winning actor John Turturro, "Fear X" made its world premiere at the Sundance Film festival. However, Fear X divided critics and it flopped, which made Nicolas Winding Refn broke and in debt.
Having to provide for his family and paying his debt, he returned to Denmark to revisit "Pusher." Refn was reluctant to revisit his past success but decided that he could both make commercially viable and artistically pleasing films. In just two years he managed to write, direct and produce the two sequels. Pusher II (2004) and Pusher III (2005) sealed the box and success of the internationally renowned "Pusher" trilogy. In 2005, the Toronto Film Festival held a "Pusher" retrospective showing all three features cementing its worldwide phenomenon.
In 2006 Nicolas embarked on a second English-language (and first digital) feature called Valhalla Rising (2009), which was inspired by a story his mother read to him at the age of five about a father and son who embark on a trip to the moon. Not recalling the ending of this story has been a long time fascination of Nicolas's with the unknown. During the pre-production on "Valhalla Rising," his long time collaborator and friend, Rupert Preston, urged him into accepting an offer to write and direct Bronson (2008), an ultra-violent, surreal, and escapist film following the real-life landmarks and self-entrapment of Charles Bronson, Britain's most notorious criminal. Before its cinematic release, "Bronson" was making waves inside and outside the film industry. The 2009 Sundance Film Festival selected the blistering film for its World Cinema Dramatic Competition and it soon became the talk of the festival. With such a prestigious premiere, "Bronson" went on to be selected for other major international film festivals and reap strong box-office rewards. But, even with such a buzz surrounding the film, no one could predict how the British press would bite at "Bronson's" bit. The content was close to the knuckle, the subject matter controversial, but Nicolas's take on this was even more inspired leading him to be labeled by the British media as the next great European auteur.
With such critical acclaim, Nicolas's reputation as a producer, writer and director was solidly reaffirmed. Nicolas and his wife Liv Corfixen were the subjects of an acclaimed documentary, Gambler (2006), which premiered at the Rotterdam International Film Festival in 2005. In addition, Nicolas already received two lifetime-achievement awards (one from the Taipei International Film festival in 2006 and the second from the Valencia International Film Festival in 2007), and it was the winner of the Emerging Master Award from the Philadelphia International Film Festival 2005.- Born in 1967. Herngren is a TV, film and commercials director, writer, producer and actor. His breakthrough came in the hit television-series Smash, and his on screen characters Papi Raul, Dan Bäckman and Tim Hibbins have all become cult icons. Herngren runs his own production company FLX, established in early 2007, which represents the talents of directors Johan Rheborg, Tova Magnusson and Måns Herngren, among others. Herngren has worked in the business for over 30 years and was earlier been represented by production companies Efti and Tre Vänner. Herngren was selected world's 5th best commercial director by The Gunn Report.
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Morten Tyldum was born on 19 May 1967 in Bergen, Norway. He is a director and producer, known for Headhunters (2011), The Imitation Game (2014) and Passengers (2016).- Director
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Hans Petter Moland was born on 17 October 1955 in Oslo, Norway. He is a director and writer, known for In Order of Disappearance (2014), Aberdeen (2000) and Out Stealing Horses (2019). He is married to Maria Sødahl. They have three children. He was previously married to Elizabeth Pacini.- Director
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Grímur Hákonarson was born in 1977 in Iceland. He is a director and writer, known for Rams (2015), Bræðrabylta (2007) and A Pure Heart (2012).- Director
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Dagur Kári was born on 12 December 1973 in Paris, France. He is a director and writer, known for Voksne mennesker (2005), Nói albinói (2003) and The Good Heart (2009).- Writer
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Amanda Kernell was born on 9 September 1986 in Umeå, Västerbottens län, Sweden. She is a writer and director, known for Sami Blood (2016), Charter (2020) and Northern Great Mountain (2015).- Director
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Ruben Östlund was born on 13 April 1974 in Styrsö, Västra Götalands län, Sweden. He is a director and editor, known for Triangle of Sadness (2022), Force Majeure (2014) and The Square (2017). He was previously married to Andrea Östlund.- Writer
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Tommy Wirkola was born on 6 December 1979 in Alta, Norway. He is a writer and director, known for Dead Snow 2: Red vs. Dead (2014), What Happened to Monday (2017) and Dead Snow (2009).- Director
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Gustav Möller was born in 1988 in Göteborg, Sweden. He is a director and writer, known for The Guilty (2018), The Guilty (2021) and Sons (2024).- Director
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May el-Toukhy was born on 17 August 1977 in Charlottenlund, Denmark. She is a director and writer, known for The Crown (2016), Queen of Hearts (2019) and Long Story Short (2015).- Writer
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Anders Thomas Jensen was born on 6th April 1972 in Frederiksværk on Sjælland in Denmark to Carl Benny Jensen and Kirsten Jensen (born Sørensen). He attended the high school in Frederiksværk from 1988 to 1991. In 1990 while still in high school, he wrote and directed 10 år på bagen - 3 år i skyggen (1990) (TV).
He made his film debut in 1996 with the short films Café Hector (1996), Davids bog (1996), Hvileløse hjerte (1996) and the Academy Award nominated Ernst & Lyset (1996), which he also directed. The following year Jensen wrote and directed Wolfgang (1997), which also earned an Academy Award nomination for best short film. He also made a rare appearance in front of the camera in Royal Blues (1997). Baby Doom (1998) and Albert (1998), both released in 1998, were the first feature films with screenplay co-written by Jensen.
After being nominated two previous years Jensen finally won in 1999 an Oscar for best short film with Election Night (1998). He followed it with writing the screenplay for two successful films in 1999, Mifune (1999) and In China They Eat Dogs (1999). Jensen was nominated for a Robert for the both films, but neither won. Mifune, directed by Søren Kragh-Jacobsen was the third dogme film. I Kina spiser de hunde (In China They Eat Dogs), directed by Lasse Spang Olsen and starring Kim Bodnia, was the first of typical Jensen screenplays with an original mixture of humour and action. The formula was very effective and the film was a huge hit in Denmark. In a way it created a new genre, Danish action comedies, as it spawned several imitations as well as a prequel three years later. In 2000 Jensen co-wrote the screenplay for Dykkerne (2000) and The King Is Alive (2000), the fourth dogme-film which is a story about a group of people who decides to stage Shakespeare's King Lear in the desert.
After having written screenplays for films in various genres, in 2000 he also his feature film debut as a director with Flickering Lights (2000). Blinkende lygter (Flickering Lights) tells the story of four small time crooks from Copenhagen who steal 4,000,000 DKR from a gangster boss. Unfortunately their escape route won't take them further than the countryside before the car breaks down. That leads them to renovate an old guesthouse while tring to lay low. With Denmark's best talents Søren Pilmark, Ulrich Thomsen, Mads Mikkelsen, Nikolaj Lie Kaas and Iben Hjejle, it was a huge blockbuster hit in Denmark and also gained interest abroad. Blinkende lygter also gained a Bodil nomination for the best picture of the year, a Robert nomination for best screenplay and won the audience award at the Robert festival. By now already an established name on the Danish movie scene he wrote the screenplays to Count Axel (2001), made an uncredited contribution to Fukssvansen (2001), Lone Scherfig's Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself (2002) and Susanne Bier's celebrated Open Hearts (2002) highlighted by strong performances from Mads Mikkelsen, Nikolaj Lie Kaas and Paprika Steen. The screenplay of Elsker dig for evigt (Open Hearts) also showed a completely different side of him. In 2002 he also wrote the screenplay for Lasse Spang Olsen's Gamle mænd i nye biler (2002), the prequel to In China They East Dogs. Jensen received his fourth Robert nomination for the screenplay of Gamle mænd i nye biler (Old Men In New Cars).
Jensen then wrote and directed The Green Butchers (2003). With outstanding performances by Nikolaj Lie Kaas and Mads Mikkelsen, Jensen contributed yet another characteristic story of two butchers with very unorthodox methods. This time Jensen was for De Grønne slagtere (The Green Butchers) nominated for both screenplay and direction at the Robert Festival. He also wrote the screenplays for Søren Kragh-Jacobsen's Skagerrak (2003) and Rembrandt (2002). Skagerrak tells the story of Danish Marie (Iben Hjejle) who finds happiness when she least expects it as she is offered to be a surrogate mother in Northern Scotland. Rembrandt on the other hand continues the adventures of Danish small time crooks, as they by mistake steal a painting by Rembrandt which causes them more problems that they ask for. In 2004 Jensen wrote the screenplay for Susanne Bier's Brothers (2004). Brødre (Brothers), starring Connie Nielsen, Ulrich Thomsen and Nikolaj Lie Kaas is a story of two brothers whose lives alter in many ways when one is sent to war in Afghanistan and the other one takes his place in the brother's family. For Brothers Jensen finally won a Robert for best screenplay. In February 2005 premiered Solkongen (2005), directed by Tomas Villum Jensen, and followed by Adam's Apples (2005) in April 2005. Jensen's third directorial effort Adams æbler is written and directed by himself and stars once again Mads Mikkelsen, Nikolaj Lie Kaas and Ulrich Thomsen. His next contribution will be After the Wedding (2006) (After the Wedding), which will be directed by Susanne Bier and with Mads Mikkelsen and Rolf Lassgård in leading roles. Efter brylluppet is due to be released in March 2006.- Director
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Jóhann Jóhannsson was born on 19 September 1969 in Reykjavík, Iceland. He was a composer and writer, known for Last and First Men (2020), The Theory of Everything (2014) and Sicario (2015). He died on 9 February 2018 in Berlin, Germany.- Director
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Juho Kuosmanen was born in 1979 in Kokkola, Finland. He is a director and writer, known for Compartment Number 6 (2021), The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Maki (2016) and The Painting Sellers (2010).- Director
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- Camera and Electrical Department
John Andreas started out making short films on Super8, going on to win a national film-competition when 15 years old. That propelled him into following his passion for films and visual storytelling.
Before attending film school, John Andreas worked his way up in the camera-department, including working as assistant camera for 2 times Oscar-winning Swedish cinematographer-legend; Sven Nykvist, ASC. With Sven's recommendation-letter he got into the MFA program at American Film Institute (AFI), graduating in 1998.
Continuing his work as Director of Photography on many award winning features, including «Headhunters» (Morten Tyldum, 2011) and «King of Devil's Island» (Marius Holst, 2010) - John Andreas eventually transitioned to the directors chair. After first shooting the first episodes, then directing the season finale of Netflix-success «Occupied» (2015), his feature film directing debut came with «The Quake» (2018).- Camera and Electrical Department
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Valdimar Jóhannsson was born in 1978 in Iceland. He is a director, known for Lamb (2021), Oblivion (2013) and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016).- Director
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Jonas Poher Rasmussen was born on 19 May 1981 in Kalundborg, Denmark. He is a director and writer, known for Flee (2021), Searching for Bill (2012) and What He Did (2015).- Director
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Teemu Nikki is known for Euthanizer (2017), The Blind Man Who Did Not Want to See Titanic (2021) and All Inclusive (2019).- Director
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Tarik Saleh was born on 28 January 1972 in Stockholm, Stockholms län, Sweden. He is a director and producer, known for The Nile Hilton Incident (2017), Cairo Conspiracy (2022) and Metropia (2009).- Director
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Hlynur Pálmason was born on 30 September 1984 in Hornafjörður, Iceland. He is a director and writer, known for A White, White Day (2019), Godland (2022) and Winter Brothers (2017).