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"Sometimes what happens and what must never happen are the same thing." This is going to get people talking. The first official trailer has debuted for a Danish film titled Queen of Hearts, which is premiering at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival starting this week. This erotic, intuitive drama is about a woman who jeopardizes both her career and her family when she seduces her teenage stepson and is forced to make an irreversible decision with fatal consequences. Iconic Danish actress Trine Dyrholm stars as Anne, with a cast including Magnus Krepper, Gustav Lindh, Frederikke Dahl Hansen, Diem Camille Gbogou, Mads Wille, Preben Kristensen, and Peter Khouri. I've already heart great things about this, and from the looks of it here, it's a very smart, subversive, complex film that's going to turn some heads. Take a look. Here's the first official trailer (+ poster) for May el-Toukhy's Queen of Hearts, direct...

levelFILM’s Copenhagen, in select theatres and on premium VOD nationwide Dec. 5 Canadian filmmaker Mark Raso bets on his audience in his terrific feature Copenhagen. It’s about an American called William (Game of Thrones Gethin Anthony) pretending to be Canadian while touring Europe. He tends to get into trouble a lot so he believes it adds another layer of fake “nice”. He is one of the most obnoxious male leads in films in a long while, a naturally abrasive, selfish and narcissistic spoiled child, who at 30, can’t reign himself in. When he meets Effy (Frederikke Dahl Hansen) someone he actually cares […]...

A flighty Peter Pan meets his grounded Wendy in Copenhagen, Mark Raso's tender romance about the sliding scale of maturity. William (Gethin Anthony) arrives in the Danish capital already frustrated: Traveling companion Jeremy (Sebastian Armesto) is more focused on pleasing girlfriend Jennifer (Olivia Grant) than accompanying his needy best friend on a tour of European bars and hostels. Left to his own devices, William begins tracking down his grandfather in hopes that it will illuminate a family history of abandonment. He finds an eager guide in Effy (Frederikke Dahl Hansen), who's as calm and perceptive as William is rash and inconsiderate. She's also half his age, a fact that escapes the self-centered 28-year-old for an inordinate amount of time. William is a familiar ...

Exclusive: Level 33 Entertainment has snapped up North American rights to romance-adventure Copenhagen, starring Game of Thrones‘ Gethin Anthony and Danish actress Frederikke Dahl Hansen (Rebounce, You and Me Forever). A limited theatrical run and VOD release has been set for October 3. Mark Raso wrote and directed the film about 28-year-old William (Anthony), who finds himself in Copenhagen while traveling through Europe and links up with local girl Effy (Hansen) on a mission to find his grandfather, only to discover Effy is half his age. Sebastian Armesto, Tamzin Merchant, and Olivia Grant also star in the Slamdance Audience Award winner, produced by Mauro Mueller and Mette Thygesen. Deal was negotiated by Steven C. Beer of Franklin, Weinrib, Rudell & Vassallo, P.C. on behalf of the producers. Raso is repped by Wme and Kaplan/Perrone Entertainment.

The distributor has acquired Us rights to Sean Mullin’s romance starring Martin Starr, Paul Wesley and newcomer Dina Shihabi. Separately, The Film Arcade and Paramount Home Media Distribution have taken Love, Rosie and Level 33 has acquired Copenhagen.

Amira & Sam (pictured) premiered recently at the Seattle International Film festival and takes place in New York and charts the romance between an Army veteran and the niece of his Iraqi translator.

The film marks the feature directorial debut of West Point graduate and Army veteran Mullin of Five By Eight Productions.

Terry Leonard of Strongman and Erich Lochner and Matt Miller of Vanishing Angle produced Amira & Sam. Executive producers are James Ponsoldt, Meg Montagnino-Jarrett and Peter Sobiloff from Hole in One Productions.

Drafthouse plans an early 2015 limited theatrical and digital launch after negotiating the deal with Preferred Content, UTA Independent Film Group and Gray Krauss Stratford Des Rochers.

The Film Arcade and Paramount Home Media Distribution have teamed...

Although it could have become a Nordic take on Blue Is the Warmest Colour, this well-acted Danish social drama deftly shows the blurry overlap of girlish sensuality and lesbian desire

This Scandinavian teen-centric film doesn't have the anarchic effervescence of Lukas Moodysson's We Are the Best!, last week's Scandinavian, teen-centric movie, but this more brooding work also astutely explores the subtle head games and micro-politics of adolescent girls, in this case that of 16-year-olds in suburban Denmark. When the story starts, Laura (Julie Andersen) and Christine (Emilie Kruse) are seemingly inseparable BFFs, but then Laura finds herself irresistibly drawn to new girl Maria (Frederikke Dahl Hansen), a troubled sophisticate with a wild streak. Working with a semi-improvised script, director Kaspar Munk deftly shows the blurry overlap between girlish sensuality, with its experimental kisses and sleepovers, and outright lesbian desire. At one point, it looks like this will turn into...

The Slamdance Film Festival tends to be overshadowed and thus overlooked by its larger concurrent counterpart, which is a shame due to the quality independent programming that takes place on the two screens at Treasure Mountain Inn in Park City.

This year was no exception, with writer/director Mark Raso leading the charge with the artistic storytelling of coming of age with his Slamdance Audience award-winning narrative feature, Copenhagen.

At first glance one might think this story transcends locale, but Raso's unique twists affirm the selection of Denmark's capital for the setting. The colorful facades of the 17th-century buildings and deep canals of the Nyhavn district serve as the background of a lushly told story of young love and personal redemption for its main characters, Will (Gethin Anthony) and Effy (Frederikke Dahl Hansen).

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Many filmmakers got their start on the independent film circuit.

So who will follow the greats such as Christopher Nolan (“The Dark Knight Rises”), Oren Peli (“Paranormal Activity”), Marc Forster (“World War Z”) and Jared Hess (“Napoleon Dynamite”)?

The Slamdance Film Festival announced their lineup for the Narrative and Documentary Feature Film Competition after receiving over 5,000 submissions this year.

All of the competing films are directorial debuts with less than $1 million and without Us distribution. The films include 11 world premieres, 4 North American premieres and one Us premiere.

The 2014 Slamdance Film Festival will take place January 17-23in Park City, Utah at the Treasure Mountain Inn, 255 Main Street.

Here’s the lineup:

Narrative Features Program

Copenhagen – Director & Screenwriter: Mark Raso

(USA, Canada, Denmark) World Premiere

A charming scoundrel visiting the city of his father’s birth, William is drawn to his impromptu guide Effy – wise, spontaneous, and half his age.

Cast: Gethin Anthony,...

Top brass at the upcoming 20th Slamdance Film Festival have revealed their narrative feature and documentary line-up, one day before the first programme announcements are due from Park City neighbour Sundance.

There are 10 narrative and eight documentary films including 11 world premieres, four North American and one Us.

Festival organisers sorted through more than 5,000 submissions to find the 18 titles, all of which are feature directorial debuts budgeted at under $1m and without Us distribution.

Jury awards are presented to feature films in both categories and all films are eligible for the Spirit Of Slamdance Award judged by the film-makers themselves. The festival also presents Audience Awards.

“The 2014 Feature Competition bristles with raw talent and innovative filmmaking,” said Slamdance president and co-founder Peter Baxter. “As an organisation run by film-makers for film-makers, we couldn’t imagine a truer way of representing the first 20 years and beginning our next.”

The 2014 Slamdance Film Festival will run concurrently with the Sundance Film Festival...

Festival will take titles on tour to Edinbugh and Glasgow.

The Nordic Film Festival is returning to London for its second edition (Nov 25-Dec 4), focussing on films from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden.

The 15-title strong programme will include five UK premieres and two London premieres. The line-up comprises family and youth dramas, crime thrillers, documentaries, animation, experimental film and shorts.

The festival will open with the UK premiere of Marcus Fjellstrom’s short noir animation series, Odboy and Erordog Suite, with live soundtrack performed by Swedish quartet The Pearls Before Swine Experience.

Other UK premieres include Rune Denstad Langlo’s Chasing the Wind; documentary My Stuff with a Q&A with director Petri Luukkainen; and documentary Finnish Blood, Swedish Heart with a Q&A with director Mika Ronkainen.

Other highlights include Pirjo Honkasalo’s Concrete Night and closing film You and Me Forever by director Kaspar Munk. The latter screening will be attended by lead...

Kirsten Dunst in Lars von Trier's apocalyptic drama Melancholia The Danish Film Critics Association's Bodil Pris winners will be announced on March 3. Danske film / Best Danish Film En familie / A Family, Pernille Fischer Christensen SuperClásico, Ole Christian Madsen Frit fald / Rebounce, Heidi Maria Faisst Melancholia, Lars von Trier Dirch / A Funny Man, Martin P. Zandvliet Amerikanske film / Best American Film Drive, Nicolas Winding Refn Winter's Bone, Debra Granik Black Swan, Darren Aronofsky True Grit, Ethan Coen, Joel Coen The Tree of Life, Terrence Malick Ikke-amerikanske film / Best Non-American Foreign Film Another Year, Mike Leigh Nader og Simin – en separation / A Separation, Asghar Farhadi Om guder og mænd / Of Gods and Men, Xavier Beauvois Oslo, 31. august, Joachim Trier Kongens store tale / The King's Speech, Tom Hooper Dokumentarfilm / Best Documentary Testamentet, Christian Sønderby Ambassadøren, Mads Brügger Svend, Anne Regitze Wivel ½ Revolution, Karim El Hakim and Omar Shargawi Præsidenten, Christoffer Guldbrandsen Mandlig...