Lauritz Carl Constantin Philipsen (1 December 1859 in
Copenhagen
Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...
; died 23 August 1925 Copenhagen) is credited as one of the founders of the
Cinema of Denmark
Denmark has been producing films since 1897 and since the 1980s has maintained a steady stream of product due largely to funding by the state-supported Danish Film Institute. Historically, Danish films have been noted for their realism, religiou ...
.
Biography
Philipsen, a photographer toured Scandinavian nations from 1898 with his
magic lantern
The magic lantern, also known by its Latin name , is an early type of image projector that used pictures—paintings, prints, or photographs—on transparent plates (usually made of glass), one or more lenses, and a light source. Because a si ...
He eventually sold his photography business to enter the emerging world of cinema on a full-time basis.
Philipsen opened Denmark's first viable cinema the 158 seat Kosmorama in 1904 in Copenhagen He opened 26 more Kosmorama Cinemas in Denmark between 1905 and 1906. Though the majority of cinemas seated at most 300-400 people, Philipsen opened the large Palace Cinema seating 2500 and using a 30 piece orchestra in to former site of Copenhagen's Grand Central Railway station
[p. 173 Abel, Richard ''Encyclopedia of Early Cinema'' Taylor & Francis, 2005]
In addition to owning cinemas Philipsen began producing his own films from 1909.
Legacy
His son
Preben Philipsen
Preben Philipsen (18 January 1910 – 21 September 2005) was a Danish film producer. He produced 41 films between 1949 and 1975, and co-founded Constantin Film with Waldfried Barthel ( de) in 1950. He was born in Copenhagen, Denmark to Co ...
(1910–2005) named his
Constantin Film
The Constantin Film AG is a German mini-major film production and distribution company based in Munich. The company, which belongs to Swiss media conglomerate Highlight Communications AG, is a large independent German maker and distributor of pr ...
company after his father.
Notes
External links
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Danish film producers
1859 births
1925 deaths
Burials at the Garrison Cemetery, Copenhagen
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