DANISH SILENT CINEMA
ALFRED LIND: THE FLYING CIRCUS (DEN FLYVENDE CIRKUS) / THE BEAR TAMER (BJØRNETÆMMEREN)
Alfred Lind (Denmark)
The film company Det Skandinavisk-Russiske Handelshus (The Scandinavian-Russian Trading Company) produced 25 feature films in the period 1911-1913. The company changed its name to Filmfabrikken Danmark in 1913 and produced another 71 feature films until 1919, after which only educational and documentary films were produced up until the company’s liquidation in 1923.
2006 - SPECIAL MENTION
ASTA NIELSEN: THE ABYSS (AFGRUNDEN) / THE BALLET DANCER (BALLETDANSERINDEN) / THE BLACK DREAM (DEN SORTE DRØM) / TOWARDS THE LIGHT (MOD LYSET)
Various Directors (Denmark)
Asta Nielsen is probably the greatest Danish film star. However, she only starred in four Danish films, all of which are on this DVD, from her breathtaking appearance in THE ABYSS (1910) to Holger-Madsen’s moral tale TOWARDS THE LIGHT (1919). Most of Asta Nielsen’s career took place in Germany where she starred in almost seventy films in the period...
AUGUST BLOM: ATLANTIS
August Blom (Denmark)
Based on the novel by Gerhart Hauptmann, Nordisk Film created this “Titanic” film merely a year after the disaster. Danish film scholar Casper Tybjerg states that Hauptmann’s novel proceded the Titanic disaster by four weeks, nearly giving Hauptmann a status as prophet. Later the same year Hauptmann was awarded the Nobel prize in literature.
A.W. SANDBERG: THE GOLDEN CLOWN (KLOVNEN) / THE HILL PARK MYSTERY (NEDBRUDTE NERVER)
A.W. Sandberg (Denmark)
A.W. Sandberg was the leading director at the Nordisk Films Kompagni from 1916 until 1926. He broke with the company due to their lack of support of his financial dispositions in connection with the production of THE GOLDEN CLOWN (KLOVNEN). He finished the film with his own funds. THE GOLDEN CLOWN is one of the best international quality films in Danish...
2005 - SPECIAL MENTION FOR FILM HERITAGE
BENJAMIN CHRISTENSEN: SEALED ORDERS (DET HEMMELIGHEDSFULDE X) / BLIND JUSTICE (HÆVNENS NAT)
Benjamin Christensen (Denmark)
Benjamin Christensen (1879-1959) is probably the most innovative director of Danish silent cinema. He had full control over the creation of his films, not only as a director, but also in many cases by being producer, author and protagonist. This DVD contains his first two films. These first films clearly show Benjamin Christensen’s mastery of cinematic...
CARL TH. DREYER: LEAVES OUT OF THE BOOK OF SATAN (BLADE AF SATANS BOG)
Carl Th. Dreyer (Denmark)
LEAVES OUT OF THE BOOK OF SATAN (1920) is the third film directed by Danish master Carl Theodor Dreyer (THE PRESIDENT, ONCE UPON A TIME, THE PASSION OF JOAN OF ARC) Inspired in part by D.W. Griffith’s INTOLERANCE, the film presents four episodes describing how Satan must walk the Earth and tempt men to evil. The first episode tells the story of...
CARL TH. DREYER: LOVE ONE ANOTHER (ELSKER HVERANDRE) / THE BRIDE OF GLOMDAL (GLOMDALSBRUDEN)
Carl Th. Dreyer (Germany & Norway)
Carl Theodor Dreyer was the uncompromising artist par excellence, a filmmaker whose artistic ambition and perseverance in achieving it, directly affected his output, a rather slim filmography - 14 features in 45 years. Though they had no commercial success upon their initial release, and were the subject of controversy and disagreement among critics, films…
CARL TH. DREYER: ONCE UPON A TIME (DER VAR ENGANG)
Carl Th. Dreyer (Denmark)
This DVD edition is a new restoration of Carl Th. Dreyer’s adaptation of Holger Drachmann’s popular naturalistic play. Despite the loss of approximately half of the moving picture content, the surviving scenes can now be seen in a complete narrative.
CARL TH. DREYER: THE PRESIDENT (PRÆSIDENTEN)
Carl Th. Dreyer (Denmark)
This DVD edition is a restoration of Carl Th. Dreyer’s first feature film as director. Already in his debut we are witnesses to the thematic mainstay of most of his later films: the mother left to her own destiny with her illegitimate child. In this film the man is haunted by guilt, for which he is not allowed to repent.
The source of this restoration, supervised by...
THE END OF THE WORLD / A TRIP TO MARS
August Blom & Holger-Madsen (Denmark)
This DVD contains two action films from the Nordisk Films Company that display the high production value that Nordisk had attained after almost a decade as one of the top five film production companies in the world. This DVD presents both films in recent digital restorations from preservation masters.
In THE END OF THE WORLD (1916) the rumour...
THE FIRST FILM ARCHIVE
(Denmark)
In celebration of the 60th Anniversary of The Danish Film Institute / Archive & Cinematheque the first seventy films donated to the Danish State are published on this DVD.
THE FIRST FILM archive contains a total of seventy films showing Danish events and people of the period...
2005 - SPECIAL MENTION FOR FILM HERITAGE
VALDEMAR PSILANDER: TEMPTATIONS OF A GREAT CITY (VED FÆNGSLETS PORT) / THE GREAT CIRCUS CATASTROPHE (DØDSSPRING TIL HEST FRA CIRKUSKUPLEN) THE CANDLE AND THE MOTH (EVANGELIEMANDENS LIV)
August Blom, Eduard Schneider-Sorenson, Holger-Madsen (Denmark)
Valdemar Psilander (1884-1917) was probably the greatest male star of Danish silent cinema. He died in 1917, only 32 years old. Despite his early death, he nevertheless acted in 83 films during his 6 years with the Nordisk Films Kompagni. The three films on this DVD are not only representative of Valdemar Psilander’s qualities as an actor, but also the production of Nordisk Films Kompagni during the most productive and successful years of Danish cinema.