Bille August

The House of the Spirits

A rancher, his clairvoyant wife and their family face turbulent years in South America.

Les Misérables

In 19th century France, Jean Valjean, a man imprisoned for stealing bread, must flee a relentless policeman named Javert. The pursuit consumes both men's lives, and soon Valjean finds himself in the midst of the student revolutions in France.

The Pact

Aged 63, Karen Blixen is at the pinnacle of her fame and next in line to win the Nobel Prize for literature. It has been 17 years since she gave up her famous farm in Africa, only to return to Denmark with her life in ruins. Devastated by syphilis and having lost the love of her life, she has reinvented herself as a literary sensation. One day, she meets a talented 30-year-old poet whom she promises literary stardom if he in return will obey her unconditionally, even at the cost of him losing everything else in his life.

Smilla's Sense of Snow

Smilla Jaspersen attempts to understand the death of a small boy who falls from the roof of her apartment building. Suspecting wrongdoing, Smilla uncovers a trail of clues leading towards a secretive corporation that has made several mysterious expeditions to Greenland.

The Kiss

A romantic drama set in Denmark in 1913, the story follows Anton, a noble and conscientious young man whose top priority is to complete his training as a cavalry officer. During a training session, he orders his platoon to help Baron von Løvenskjold and finds himself invited to a ball at the castle, where he meets the baron’s beautiful daughter Edith who has been in an accident and ended up in a wheelchair.

The Chinese Widow

It’s 1941 and the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor has destroyed America’s morale. The US President Franklin D. Roosevelt then decides to risk it all by bombing Tokyo and raise more hope for his citizens. After completing its mission, a unit of the US Air Force is forced to make an emergency landing in China. Its commander Jack Turner (Emilie Hirsch) barely survives but gets rescued by Ying (Crystal Liu), a local widow who will stop at nothing to hide him from the Japanese occupant.

Silent Heart

Three generations of a family gather over a weekend. The sisters Sanne and Heidi have accepted their terminally-ill mother’s desire to die before her disease worsens; but, as the weekend progresses, their mother's decision becomes harder and harder to deal with, and old conflicts come to the surface.

Night Train to Lisbon

Raimund Gregorius, having saved a beautiful Portuguese woman from leaping to her death, stumbles upon a mesmerizing book by a Portuguese author, which compels him to suddenly abandon the boring life he has led for years and to embark on an enthralling adventure. In search of the author, Gregorius acts as detective, pulling together pieces of a puzzle that involves political and emotional intrigue and the highest possible stakes. His voyage is one that transcends time and space, delving into the realms of history, medicine and love, all in search of true meaning to his life.

The House of the Spirits

A rancher, his clairvoyant wife and their family face turbulent years in South America.

Les Misérables

In 19th century France, Jean Valjean, a man imprisoned for stealing bread, must flee a relentless policeman named Javert. The pursuit consumes both men's lives, and soon Valjean finds himself in the midst of the student revolutions in France.

The Pact

Aged 63, Karen Blixen is at the pinnacle of her fame and next in line to win the Nobel Prize for literature. It has been 17 years since she gave up her famous farm in Africa, only to return to Denmark with her life in ruins. Devastated by syphilis and having lost the love of her life, she has reinvented herself as a literary sensation. One day, she meets a talented 30-year-old poet whom she promises literary stardom if he in return will obey her unconditionally, even at the cost of him losing everything else in his life.

Smilla's Sense of Snow

Smilla Jaspersen attempts to understand the death of a small boy who falls from the roof of her apartment building. Suspecting wrongdoing, Smilla uncovers a trail of clues leading towards a secretive corporation that has made several mysterious expeditions to Greenland.

The Kiss

A romantic drama set in Denmark in 1913, the story follows Anton, a noble and conscientious young man whose top priority is to complete his training as a cavalry officer. During a training session, he orders his platoon to help Baron von Løvenskjold and finds himself invited to a ball at the castle, where he meets the baron’s beautiful daughter Edith who has been in an accident and ended up in a wheelchair.

The Chinese Widow

It’s 1941 and the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor has destroyed America’s morale. The US President Franklin D. Roosevelt then decides to risk it all by bombing Tokyo and raise more hope for his citizens. After completing its mission, a unit of the US Air Force is forced to make an emergency landing in China. Its commander Jack Turner (Emilie Hirsch) barely survives but gets rescued by Ying (Crystal Liu), a local widow who will stop at nothing to hide him from the Japanese occupant.

Silent Heart

Three generations of a family gather over a weekend. The sisters Sanne and Heidi have accepted their terminally-ill mother’s desire to die before her disease worsens; but, as the weekend progresses, their mother's decision becomes harder and harder to deal with, and old conflicts come to the surface.

Night Train to Lisbon

Raimund Gregorius, having saved a beautiful Portuguese woman from leaping to her death, stumbles upon a mesmerizing book by a Portuguese author, which compels him to suddenly abandon the boring life he has led for years and to embark on an enthralling adventure. In search of the author, Gregorius acts as detective, pulling together pieces of a puzzle that involves political and emotional intrigue and the highest possible stakes. His voyage is one that transcends time and space, delving into the realms of history, medicine and love, all in search of true meaning to his life.

Hemåt i natten

Harri is one of Sweden's many Finnish immigrant-workers. While in Sweden, the illiterate Harri marries and has a child. After accidentally killing a man in a fight, he flees back across the border to Finland and begins to pick up the pieces of his life, but soon, the police come looking for him.

Christiania

Freetown Christiania, also known as Christiania, is an intentional community and commune of about 850 to 1,000 residents, covering 7.7 hectares (19 acres) in the borough of Christianshavn in the Danish capital city of Copenhagen. Christiania has been a source of controversy since its creation in a squatted military area in 1971. Its cannabis trade was tolerated by authorities until 2004. Since then, relations between Christiania and Danish authorities have been strained.

A Fortunate Man

A gifted engineer flees his austere roots to pursue wealth and success among Copenhagen's elite. As he rises through the ranks of society, the pride propelling him threatens to be his ruin.

Marie Kroyer

Marie Krøyer is hailed as “the most beautiful woman in Europe” and leads a happy marriage life with her husband the great Danish painter P.S. Krøyer and an adorable daughter. However, not everything in her world is as perfect as it seems, and Marie’s life is crumbling as her dreams of a beloved wife, good mother and successful artist are unfulfilled. After hospitalizing her mentally ill husband Marie leaves for vacation, and in search for peace and comfort she finds herself falling in love with the young composer Hugo Alfven. Once again, internationally acclaimed Bille August exhibits the weaknesses of human beings in comparison to the ruthless nature. The grandeur scenery of deserted Scandinavian oceans speaks in volumes for the protagonists living in silence despite their lives being full of pains.

Return to Sender

While fighting for a woman who sits on death row, a lawyer happens upon new information which brings into question the motives of a man associated with her client

May

An everyday story about a young girl from the countryside and the people she meets when she moves to the big city to train as a hairdresser.

The Best Intentions

In this film about Ingmar Bergman's parents, Henrik Bergman is studying for the priesthood and trying to make ends meet when he encounters the lovely, affluent Anna. Despite their social differences, Henrik and Anna fall in love, wed and move to the country. They lead a quiet life as Henrik works as a priest, but it isn't long before the simple people and plain surroundings make Anna long for a more lavish lifestyle, which causes marital stress.

Pelle the Conqueror

In the late 19th century, two Swedish emigrants, Lasse Karlsson and his son Pelle, arrive on the Danish island of Bornholm hoping to find work on a farm and save enough money to travel to the United States of America.

Lifting the Veil: Behind the Scenes of Ehrengard

Queen Margrethe II of Denmark and director Bille August showcase their meticulous attention to the sets and costumes of the "Ehrengard" film adaptation.

Ehrengard: The Art of Seduction

When a self-appointed expert on love tries to teach a timid prince the art of seduction, the plan backfires, leading to scandal — and unexpected romance.

To Each His Own Cinema

Commissioned to mark the 60th anniversary of the Cannes Film Festival, "To Each His Own Cinema" brought together 33 of the world's pre-eminent filmmakers to produce short pieces exploring the multifarious facets of cinema and their perspective on the state of their chosen artform in the early 21st century.

Goodbye Bafana

The true story of a white South African racist whose life was profoundly altered by the black prisoner he guarded for twenty years. The prisoner's name was Nelson Mandela.

Kärleken

Johannes Salminen, a philosophy teacher an Finnish emigrant, struggles with life, love and existence, as he is forced to chose between his established life with wife Lena and son Markku, and the passion he find with student Li.

55 Steps

The inspiring true story of Eleanor Riese, a mental illness patient herself, who brings a class action suit to give competent mental patients the right to have a say in their medication while they're in a hospital, and Colette Hughes, the lawyer appointed to her case.

In My Life

A young man finds love and settles down, but when his young wife spirals into depression they both have decisions to make.

Zappa

Denmark, 1961. Bjørn, a middle-class boy in his early teens, wants to be accepted by Steen, a bullying peer of his with wealthy but freezingly cold parents. Bjørn's other good friend is Mulle, a cheerful and more childish working-class boy. All three seem friends at first, but gradually Steen starts pushing Mulle away while pulling the impressionable Bjørn with him towards more and more violence.

The Count of Monte Cristo

Young sailor Edmond Dantès is wrongfully imprisoned, escapes, finds treasure, and reinvents himself as the wealthy Count of Monte Cristo to exact revenge on those who betrayed him.

Klovn

Klovn is a Danish sitcom, which first aired on the Danish TV channel TV2 Zulu. It focuses on the life of the main character Frank and Casper. The show builds its comedy around quiet everyday situations, social awkwardness, uncomfortable silences and general faux pas. Klovn usually gets compared to the American sitcom Curb Your Enthusiasm by Larry David. It’s also shot handheld, in a pseudo-realistic style. Some have also mistakenly compared the theme to Curb Your Enthusiasm’s, despite it being a direct reference to Jacques Tati’s Mr. Hulot movies. The poster for the first film can be seen in Casper and Frank’s offices throughout the series. Klovn initially ran 6 seasons on TV2 Zulu from 2005-2009 and was renewed with an additional 3 seasons that aired from 2018-2022.

The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles

At the dawn of the 20th century, Indiana Jones discovered the world. From globetrotting family expeditions as a 9-year-old to the battlefields of World War I as a teenager, Indy’s experiences shaped the heroic, whip-cracking archaeologist he would become. At every turn, Indy encounters history in the making, meeting true-life activists, soldiers, writers, artists, and thinkers who helped influence the world we live in today.

The Guldbagge Awards

The Guldbagge Awards is an official and annual Swedish film awards ceremony honoring achievements in the Swedish film industry. Winners are awarded a statuette depicting a rose chafer, better known by the name Guldbaggen. The awards, first presented in 1964 at the Grand Hôtel in Stockholm, are overseen by the Swedish Film Institute. It is described as the Swedish equivalent of the Academy Awards. The awards ceremony was first televised in 1981.

A Fortunate Man

Dansk films bedste

Meyerheim & stjernerne

The Best Intentions

The story of Ingmar Bergman's parents. How they fell in love, married against the wishes of their families, and had a difficult marriage and life in rural Sweden. Bergman's father was a pastor and poor; his mother from a well to do cultured family. It ends with the birth of Ingmar.

Buster's World

Buster's World is a Danish children's television series and movie from 1984. Based on a play by Bjarne Reuter, Buster's World deals with the experiences of young Buster Oregon Mortensen. The television series was a break-through for director Bille August, and the soundtrack also provided a hit for the young singer Nanna Lüders Jensen.

mig og 60erne

Jerusalem