All articles by Petra Buddrus
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Local films outclass US fare in Scandinavia
Local Scandinavian films are giving the US majors' summer releases a hard run for their money at the box office across a number of Nordic territories. Last week end, America's Sweethearts not only saw itself losing out to Norwegian opener The Greatest Thing, but also had to accept second place ...
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Bittersweet success for The Greatest Thing
After years of commercial disappointment, which earlier this year saw the closure of the studio, Norwegian state-owned production company Norsk Film last week-end found the success it had long been denied with the release of its final film, The Greatest Thing (Den Storste I Verden). Ironically, the costume drama based ...
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Danish comedy laughing all the way to the bank
Danish producer Regner Grasten has proved once again, with the release of Anja & Viktor through BVI, that he runs the most successful Danish production company when it comes to local box office performance. Graesten's Regner Graesten Filmproduction (RGF), established in 1984, produced the musical romantic comedy, a sequel to ...
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Sweden renews company funding policy
The Swedish Film Institute has announced that it is to continue its policy of backing independent producers and production companies rather than individual productions.The scheme was established last year in order to help production companies cover overhead costs while developing new projects. Unlike traditional state backing, where funds are allotted ...
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Hallstrom's confection pleases his local audience
Swedish director Lasse Hallstrom might not have received his Oscar yet, despite two consecutive best picture nominations, but in his home territory he has once again confirmed his box office appeal and status as more than just 'flavour of the month' with the release of Chocolat.Hallstrom, who is based in ...
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Local films have legs, Hannibal has teeth
Norwegian documentary Heftig Og Begeistret, directed by Knut Erik Jensen, continues to hold strong at the local box office, where the box office share of local films is one of the lowest in Europe (5-7%). It has grossed $1,023,922, achieving admissions of 169,464 to March 4, and after 7 weeks ...
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Sweden supports local hits, but The Emperor rules
Local productions dominated the Swedish box office over the last week (ending February 22) with indigenous titles filling four of the top five positions in the territory, although the chart was topped by BVI's The Emperor's New Groove.Opener Festival, a coming-of-age drama about a girl visiting her first pop festival, ...
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Record start for Finnish Rose
Finnish production Rose Of The Rascal (Rentun Ruusu) has become the highest grossing indigenous opener in Finland. The drama, which opened on January 12, grossed $382,496 (FIM2,256,725) on 38 screens on the first weekend and achieved admissions of 50,738.Rose tells the story of Irwin Goodman, Finland's most famous pop and ...
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101 Reykjavik whips up a storm in Norway
Icelandic feature 101 Reykjavik, directed by Baltasar Kormakur, made an impressive entry into the Norwegian box office in fifth place. The film, distributed by SEG, grossed $49,154 from eight screens during its first week on release, easily beating fellow opener Urban Legends: Final Cut, distributed by ECT, which made $33,423 ...
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Help! I'm A Fish sinks competition in Denmark
Danish animation Help! I Am A Fish is currently storming the Danish box office, sinking local competitor Dancer In the Dark. Just two weeks after its release Help! I Am A Fish has achieved admissions of 177,243 and a gross of $915,945 (DKR8,101,536) from 60 screens. In comparison Lars von ...
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Norwegian government axes Norsk Film
In a move widely supported by the local film industry, the Norwegian culture ministry has decided to close state-owned production company Norsk Film and replace it with a new financing body The Norwegian Film Fund (NFF).Norsk Film has suffered a string of box office and critical disappointments over the last ...
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Faithless falters against other local product
While Scandinavian film-makers Lars von Trier and Liv Ullmann received plenty of positive international attention at this year's Cannes Film Festival, both directors have been hit hard by the local, and often much younger, competition at the box office in their respective home territories. The Swedish production Faithless from Norwegian ...
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Dancer In The Dark disappoints in Scandinavia
Dancer In The Dark, this year's Cannes Palme D'Or winner, had a disappointing opening when it was released last weekend (Sept 8) in Scandinavia - the first territory the drama-musical has played to a paying audience. Despite successful preview screenings of $180,223 (dkr1,562,965) in Denmark, mixed reviews are likely to ...
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Moodysson follows up on early promise
Sweden is currently enjoying the release of Together (Tillsammans), the second feature film by the country's most promising director Lukas Moodysson whose Fucking Amal (aka Show Me Love) in 1999 became one of the most successful Scandinavian films ever. Fucking Amal opened in Sweden in November 1998 with 35 prints, ...
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Sandrews strikes gold with Detector
Following the lack of government funding in 1999 and 2000, only a few Norwegian films have been released so far this year. But the August 25 opening of Pal Jackman's Detector has been received enthusiastically by local audiences pulling in a three-day opening weekend gross of $208,939 (NKr1,842,841) from 31 ...
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Iceland's 101 stands tall against Gladiator
The North American summer box office got a reprieve over the five day holiday weekend, as Warner Bros' The Perfect Storm led the pack to an all-time record Independence Day weekend. At Tuesday, total box office for the weekend was estimated at $193m with predictions for the seven days ending ...
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Haugesund to open with Norway's Jesus
Highly-anticipated Norwegian title When I Hit Jesus (Da Jeg Traff Jesus) is to open this year's Haugesund International Film Festival (August 26 - Sep 2). The comedy is produced by one of Norway's most successful film-making teams, Petter Borgli and Thomas Backstroem, whose credits include The Telegrafist, Blessed Are Those ...
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Angels sets Icelandic record
Icelandic director-producer Fridrik Thor Fridriksson's latest offering, Angels Of The Universe, has become Iceland's highest-grossing domestic film, racking up an unprecedented 77,233 admissions when it re-entered the box office chart this week.Previously, Iceland's most successful domestic film was Fridriksson's Devil's Island (Djoeflaeyjan), which attracted a total of 74,830 admissions in ...
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Swedish directing duo deliver third hit
Swedish directing duo Maans Herngren and Hannes Holm flexed their box office muscle once again with their third film, Shit Happens (Det Blir Aldrig Som Man Taenkt Sig). After two weeks, the comedy, about a TV soap actress trying to juggle her family and professional life, has taken $1.2m and ...
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Finland's Restless knocks down Beauty, Joan
Finnish production Restless (Levottomat) has attracted 54,125 admissions in its first week on release, beating American Beauty to the number one slot with a box office gross of $372,337. The impressive opening is the biggest in Finland for a local film since the 1989 release of The Winter War which ...