The NatFilm Festival, staged annually across 16 cinemas 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 a ...

, in addition to several in

Odense Odense ( , , ) is the third largest city in Denmark (behind Copenhagen and Aarhus) and the largest city on the island of Funen. As of 1 January 2022, the city proper had a population of 180,863 while Odense Municipality had a population of 20 ...

Aalborg Aalborg (, , ) is Denmark's List of cities in Denmark by population, fourth largest town (behind Copenhagen, Aarhus, and Odense) with a population of 119,862 (1 July 2022) in the town proper and an Urban area, urban population of 143,598 (1 July ...

(replaced by

Kolding Kolding () is a Danish seaport located at the head of Kolding Fjord in the Region of Southern Denmark. It is the seat of Kolding Municipality. It is a transportation, commercial, and manufacturing centre, and has numerous industrial companie ...

in 2007) and

Århus Aarhus (, , ; officially spelled Århus from 1948 until 1 January 2011) is the second-largest city in Denmark and the seat of Aarhus Municipality. It is located on the eastern shore of Jutland in the Kattegat sea and approximately northwest ...

, shows the widest programme of films to the largest festival audience in

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. Established in 1990, it rivals the more recently established

Copenhagen International Film Festival Copenhagen International Film Festival (CIFF) was a film festival held annually in Copenhagen, Denmark from 2003 to 2008. The main prize, the Golden Swan, was awarded for Best Film, Best Director, Best Actress, Best Actor, Best Script and Best Cinem ...

which emerged in 2003 in prestige though not directly - NatFilm generally occurs in

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, around the beginning of April, whereas the CIFF is staged in September. Since 2003 NatFilm has steadily attracted a total audience of around 35,000 over its annual ten-day run.19 års NatFilm
(19 years of NatFilm) at NatFilm.dk, retrieved 22 April 2008 The

Copenhagen International Documentary Festival CPH:DOX is the official name for the Copenhagen International Documentary Film Festival, an international documentary film festival established in 2003 and held annually in Copenhagen, Denmark. CPH:DOX has since grown to become one of the larg ...

, or CPH:DOX, is an offspring of the NatFilm festival occurring in November. It usually shares some of its more popular or controversial offerings with NatFilm. The Festival has become an important platform for domestic distributors, who exhibit a range of new films from

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" ...

J-Horror Japanese horror is horror fiction derived from popular culture in Japan, generally noted for its unique thematic and conventional treatment of the horror genre differing from the traditional Western representation of horror. Japanese horror tends ...

to festival-goers to both gauge and encourage their likely popularity and profitability in the Danish and wider Scandinavian market; the Audience Prize, selected from amongst recent productions that have no scheduled distribution in Denmark, guarantees funds for the theatrical release of the winning film. The 19th and last staging of the festival, the 2008 NatFilm Festival, occurred between March 28 and April 6, 2008. From 2009, NatFilm and the CIFF was merged into a single event, CPH PIX, it launched on April 16–26, 2009.

The Festival

The Programme

NatFilm generally presents a wide selection of recent international releases targeting certain regions and genres, a programme of Danish films, and a more general retrospective with some particular tributes. Every year since its conception a particular figure in the industry has been selected for a Special Tribute, in which a retrospective of their work has been shown. To date, NatFilm Festival tributes have comprised the following:NatFilm Festival
at everything2.com, retrieved 22 April 2008

The Awards

Audience Award The bulk of the festival programme consists of titles not scheduled for Danish distribution, and all participating films without a prior distribution deal for Denmark compete for the Audience Prize of 125.000 DKK (c. $20,000) earmarked for national theatrical release. Recent recipients of this award include

Ten Canoes ''Ten Canoes'' is a 2006 Australian drama film directed by Rolf de Heer and Peter Djigirr and starring Crusoe Kurddal. The title of the film arose from discussions between de Heer and David Gulpilil about a photograph of ten canoeists poling a ...

Rolf de Heer Rolf de Heer (born 4 May 1951) is a Dutch Australian film director. De Heer was born in Heemskerk in the Netherlands but migrated to Sydney when he was eight years old.

in 2007 and

All My Friends Are Leaving Brisbane ''All My Friends Are Leaving Brisbane'' is a 2007 Australian romantic comedy film directed by Louise Alston and written by Stephen Vagg. It follows Anthea, a 25-year-old girl who hates her job and has to sit back and watch as all her friends mo ...

Louise Alston Louise Alston is an Australian film director and producer best known for the movies ''All My Friends Are Leaving Brisbane'' and '' Jucy''. Biography Alston was born in Wagga Wagga, and studied at the Australian Film, Television and Radio School ...

in 2008. Natsværmerpris The festival is organised by Natsværmerfonden, an independent foundation established to support young Danish film-makers, and every year a stipend of DKK 25,000 is awarded to one or more individuals considered to have made a valuable contribution to Danish film. Notable prior recipients of this award include

Lars von Trier Lars von Trier (''né'' Trier; 30 April 1956) is a Danish filmmaker, actor, and lyricist. Having garnered a reputation as a highly ambitious, polarizing filmmaker, he has been the subject of several controversies: Cannes, in addition to nominat ...

Thomas Vinterberg Thomas Vinterberg (; born 19 May 1969) is a Danish film director who, along with Lars von Trier, co-founded the Dogme 95 movement in filmmaking, which established rules for simplifying movie production. He is best known for the films ''The Celeb ...

and

Natasha Arthy Natasha Arthy (born 23 May 1969 in Gentofte, Denmark) is a Danish screenwriter, film director and producer, best known for her 2003 Dogme film '' Se til venstre, der er en Svensker'' (USA Title: '' Old, New, Borrowed and Blue''), which receive ...

. Critics Award The Critics Award was introduced in 2004. Each year a panel of three international judges chooses a winner from around ten nominated films, all debut or second features of selected directors. The award is announced at the festival's closing

gala Gala may refer to: Music * ''Gala'' (album), a 1990 album by the English alternative rock band Lush *'' Gala – The Collection'', a 2016 album by Sarah Brightman *GALA Choruses, an association of LGBT choral groups *''Gala'', a 1986 album by T ...

and comes with a stipend of DKK 25,000. Other Awards Other awards and prizes offered intermittently in the festival's history include a '' Danmark Radio Filmland Award'', ''Canal+ Script Award'' and ''Grand Prix''.

International Partners

NatFilm Festival is a member o
European Coordination of Film Festivals
and serves as the official Danish partner of Equinoxe under the presidency of

Jeanne Moreau Jeanne Moreau (; 23 January 1928 – 31 July 2017) was a French actress, singer, screenwriter, director, and socialite. She made her theatrical debut in 1947, and established herself as one of the leading actresses of the Comédie-Française. M ...

References

External links