C. Claire Thomson

For three decades, state-sponsored short filmmaking educated Danish citizens, promoted Denmark to the world, and shaped the careers of renowned directors like Carl Th. Dreyer. The first book-length study in English of a national corpus of state-sponsored informational film, this book traces how Danish shorts on topics including social welfare, industry, art and architecture were commissioned, funded, produced and reviewed from the inter-war period to the 1960s. Examining the life cycle of a representative selection of films, and discussing their preservation and mediation in the digital age, this book presents a detailed case study of how informational cinema is shaped by, and indeed shapes, its cultural, political and technological contexts.

The first book-length study in English of a national corpus of state-sponsored informational filmFor three decades, state-sponsored short filmmaking educated Danish citizens, promoted Denmark to the world, and shaped the careers of renowned directors like Carl Th. Dreyer. The first book-length study in English of a national corpus of state-sponsored informational film, this book traces how Danish shorts on topics including social welfare, industry, art and architecture were commissioned, funded, produced and reviewed from the inter-war period to the 1960s. Examining the life cycle of a representative selection of films, and discussing their preservation and mediation in the digital age, this book presents a detailed case study of how informational cinema is shaped by, and indeed shapes, its cultural, political and technological contexts. Key featuresCombines close textual analysis of a broad range of films with detailed accounts of their commissioning, production, distribution and reception in Denmark and abroadConsiders a broad range of genres and sub-genres, including industrial process films, public information films, art films, the city symphony, the essay film, and many moreMaps international networks of informational and documentary films in the post-war periodExplores the role of informational film in Danish cultural and political history

Danish filmmaker Thomas Vinterberg's searing film Festen ("The Celebration") was the first film from the Dogme 95 stable. Adhering to Dogme's cinematic purity — no artificial lighting, no superficial action, no credit for the director, and only handheld cameras for equipment — Festen was a commercial and critical success, winning the Jury Prize at Cannes in 1998 and garnering worldwide attention. The film is set at the sixtieth birthday party of Helge, the wealthy patriarch of a large Danish family. The birthday festivities take a turn when Helge's son Christian raises a toast and denounces Helge for having raped and abused him as a child, along with his twin sister, who recently committed suicide. The film explores the escalating consequences of Christian's announcement, from the stunned dinner party's collective denial, to violence, to an unexpected catharsis.

Klaus Rifbjerg's 1958 novel has become a constantly reprinted classic of twentieth-century Danish literature. It is the story of the unequal friendship between two teenagers, Janus and Tore, told from the point of view and in the schoolboy slang of the hero-worshipping Janus. Tore is a gifted student, mature beyond his years, effortlessly able to impress teachers and fellow pupils alike with his knowledge and charm. It is a foregone conclusion that he will fall in love at the school dance with the equally peerless Helle, and she with him; together they are the school's golden couple. It seems they will achieve a perfect union; but there is a snake in Paradise in the form of Helle's mother, fru Junkersen. Janus watches helplessly as the golden dream turns into a nightmare which destroys the two young lives, and he realises his own complicity in perpetuating an unsustainable myth. Rifbjerg has been a central figure in Danish literary life – as novelist, poet, playwright and cultural commentator – for the last sixty years, publishing works at an astonishing rate, around 175 in all. This novel, which was his first, is generally acknowledged to be his masterpiece.

Danish filmmaker Thomas Vinterberg's searing film Festen ("The Celebration") was the first film from the Dogme 95 stable. Adhering to Dogme's cinematic purity — no artificial lighting, no superficial action, no credit for the director, and only handheld cameras for equipment — Festen was a commercial and critical success, winning the Jury Prize at Cannes in 1998 and garnering worldwide attention. The film is set at the sixtieth birthday party of Helge, the wealthy patriarch of a large Danish family. The birthday festivities take a turn when Helge's son Christian raises a toast and denounces Helge for having raped and abused him as a child, along with his twin sister, who recently committed suicide. The film explores the escalating consequences of Christian's announcement, from the stunned dinner party's collective denial, to violence, to an unexpected catharsis.