Danish films about champions

The story of the world's greatest tennis icons – Björn Borg and his biggest rival, the young and talented John McEnroe – and their legendary duel during the 1980 Wimbledon tournament.

Tensions are high after a Danish freighter is captured and held for ransom by Somali pirates, leading to weeks of high-stakes negotiations – and an escalating potential for explosive violence.

Opening in the seductive style of the sixties, »A Funny Man« uncovers the perennial loneliness that comedian Dirch Passer (Nikolaj Lie Kaas) has found himself in after a fast-tracked rise to fame. He struggles between his own desire to gain critical respect and servicing the audience¿s needs. Costing his kindred friendship to on-stage partner Kjeld Petersen (Lars Ranthe) Dirch takes on Steinbeck's classic »Of Mice and Men«, only for the audience to break out in laughter at his first line. Dirch's Lennie becomes a running joke, and so has, Dirch believes, his own life.

When emerging fashion model Emma gets a chance to pursue her dream of becoming an international top model, she leaves her everyday life in Denmark behind, and moves to Paris. At a photo shoot in her new hometown, she meets the attractive photographer Shane White and they fall in love. But their relationship soon turns into a dangerous obsession for Emma.

When Gerda Wegener asks her husband Einar to fill in as a portrait model, Einar discovers the person she's meant to be and begins living her life as Lili Elbe. Having realized her true self and with Gerda's love and support, Lili embarks on a groundbreaking journey as a transgender pioneer.

A family of four is quarantined in their home as a virulent strand of the flu spreads into town and they are forced to the extreme to escape alive.

Two hard-living best friends and aficionados of illegal racing contests find their bond tested when one of them goes to trial for vehicular homicide.

Erik, a lecturer in architecture, inherits his father’s large old house in Hellerup, north of Copenhagen. His wife Anna, a well-known television newscaster, suggests that they invite their friends to come and live with them. In this way she hopes to evade the boredom that has begun to seep into their marriage. Before long, a dozen women, men and children move into the country house, make collective decisions, engage in discussions and go swimming together in the nearby Øresund strait. They also rub each other up the wrong way on account of their smaller and larger idiosyncrasies. Their fragile equilibrium threatens to come undone when Erik falls in love with his student Emma and the young woman moves into the house. Fourteen-year-old Freja, daughter of Erik and Anna, aloofly observes these goings-on and seeks her own way.

A teacher lives a lonely life, all the while struggling over his son’s custody. His life slowly gets better as he finds love and receives good news from his son, but his new luck is about to be brutally shattered by an innocent little lie.

Maybe the best thing to come out of Scandinavia during the hippie years was, in fact, the story of a radical libertarian and a hedonist capitalist. Their friendship, forged by being outsiders in a conformist country, took them through years of adulation and success, with slight detours into the welcoming arms of vilification and imprisonment. A joyride through taxation, mass travel, hookers and politics. Not feeling too constrained by historical facts, director Christoffer Boe's story of Simon Spies and Mogens Glistrup covers just a few of their decades in a tale of warmth and humour, defiance and eccentricity.

A custodian in a housing project discovers that a naked, mute woman he found in one of his apartments has miraculous healing powers.

Danish soldiers are sent to Afghanistan in 2009 for 6 months, to help stabilize the country against the Taliban. They're stationed on Armadillo military base in Helman province. Unlike other war movies, this is the real deal - no actors.

Frank is left with the responsibility for his nephew Bo on an already planned canoe trip. Frank's mate Casper is also coming along. Weighed down a with their obligation, Frank and Casper nevertheless look forward to ending the trip at Skanderborg Festival where there's plenty there for the guys, a spree of drinking and women. Not the best example to set for young Bo. And how do their partners see it all?

Company commander Claus Michael Pedersen and his men are stationed in Helmand, Afghanistan. Meanwhile back in Denmark, with a husband at war and three children missing their father, everyday life is a struggle for Claus' wife Maria. During a routine mission, the soldiers are caught in heavy Taliban crossfire. In order to save his men, Claus makes a decision that ultimately sees him return to Denmark accused of a war crime.

When Astrid Lindgren was very young something happened that affected her profoundly, and this combination of both miracle and calamity came to shape her entire life. It was an event that transformed her into one of the most inspiring women of our age and the storyteller a whole world would come to love. This is the story of when a young Astrid, despite the expectations of her time and religious upbringing, decided to break free from society's norms and follow her heart.

Based on the first book in Jussi Adler-Olsen's bestselling thriller series about Department Q THE KEEPER OF LOST CAUSES tells the story of the two policemen Carl Mørck and Assad who become involved in a five-year-old case concerning a missing woman, Merete. Soon Carl and Assad are on a journey through Scandinavia's darkest corners to find a psychopathic killer.

'The Renion' is a new Danish comedy starring Troels Lyby, Nicolaj Copernicus and Anders W. Berthelsen. The three highschool friends Niels (Nicolaj Copernicus), Andreas (Anders W. Berthelsen) and Thomas (Troels Lyby) are invited to their 25 years anniversary. While Niels and Andrew struggles with not feeling like participating, Thomas is of a different opinion. Having arranged an all-time weekend of drinks, ladies and blowing off steam! The big question is: Will they actually survive the Copenhagen nightlife ... and will they even get to the reunion?. 'The Reunion' is a Danish comedy about old friends, that realises, at some point they are going to grow up and have to behave as adults... AS IF!

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.

It Takes A Family is a complex, personal story about the director’s family, its secrets and repressed memories. Susanne Kovács knows that her paternal grandparents survived the Holocaust and fled to Denmark to begin a new life. The Hungarian couple kept their own story under lock and key throughout their lives and focused on immersing themselves into Danish everyday life as quickly as possible. A picture book life, seen from the outside. To escape the memory of death, they smiled and remained silent. If no one sees the darkness, they hoped, normality becomes possible. However the unsaid did not fade but grew and finally began to darken the present. Now, Susanne wants to break the silence. But her probing questions bring back painful memories. Is she at all allowed to dig into a family history that holds so many ghosts from the past? And maybe there is more than one truth?

In a quirky, small town, situated in the outskirts of everything, 14-year-old Martin is getting ready for one of the most formal transitions from boy to man; the communion. It's 1976, music's in the air and hormones are blossoming. But in the midst of it all Martin's mother suddenly passes away and her tragic death trickers a series of events that not only changes Martin's life forever, but also affects everyone else in the local community. Overwhelmed with grief neither Martin's dad, nor his older brother, is capable to comfort Martin. He enters adulthood in a mixture of drunken happiness and immense sadness over the loss of his mother, and his relationship to both his friend Kim and girlfriend Kristine comes to its natural conclusion.

Nordvest is a gangsterfilm set in the suburbs of Copenhagen. Casper (18), the oldest of 3 siblings, survives life on the streets by committing burglaries for the neighbourhood boss, Jamal. When Casper gets an offer to work for Jamal’s rival Björn, he jumps at the chance for a better life, making his way into a world of drugs and prostitution. As things escalate between Björn and Jamal, Casper finds himself and his family dead center of a conflict, that threatens to destroy them.

The young woman, Marie, is an outsider in the small coastal community where she has grown up. The townspeople live in fear of her and not least her mother, who is wheelchair bound, suffering from a mysterious illness. When Marie discovers her body changing – long hair growing on her chest and back – she begins searching for answers concerning her family’s hidden past. Something that will have great consequences for herself and her family – and the choices she has to make.

A whistle blower attempts to reveal the secret behind a nuclear disaster that occurred during the height of the Cold War.

The prestigious Danish filmmaker Bille August, winner of an Academy Award and two Palme d'Or in Cannes, returns with a highly personal drama. 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.

Someone You Love is a story about world famous singer-songwriter Thomas Jacob who lives in Los Angeles. He is a successful man with a lot of burned bridges. After years abroad Thomas travels back to Denmark to record a new album. There his estranged daughter Julie suddenly turns up with his 11-year-old grandson, Noa. Soon, Thomas is forced to take care of the boy. Against all odds the two of them slowly begin to connect through music. But disaster strikes, forcing Thomas to realize he has to make a choice that will change his life forever.

The true story of the Fiil's a family of innkeepers who during Nazi-Germany's occupation of Denmark took up arms against the German occupiers. But in the fight for freedom, some must die so that others may live.

HELD FOR RANSOM tells the true story of Danish photojournalist Daniel Rye who was held hostage for 398 days in Syria by the terror organization ISIS along with several other foreign nationals including the American journalist, James Foley. The film follows Daniel’s struggle to survive in captivity, his friendship with James, and the nightmare of the Rye family back home in Denmark as they try to do everything in their power to save their son. At the center of this crisis, we find hostage negotiator, Arthur, who plays a pivotal role in securing Daniel’s release.

After weeks of traveling through Europe, the immature William finds himself in Copenhagen, the place of his father’s birth. He befriends the youthful Effy, who works in William’s hotel as part of an internship program, and they set off to find William’s last living relative. Effy’s mix of youthful exuberance and wisdom challenges William unlike any woman ever has. As the attraction builds, he must come to grips with destabilizing elements of his family’s sordid past.

Based on a classic Danish children's book by Ole Lund Kirkegaard. Being small doesn't make life easy for little ten-year-old Victor and his friends, who not only have to face a world full of stern grown-ups but also the town bully Freddy Frogface. When a circus comes to the sleepy little town, Victor is thrilled at having the chance to perform in a talent show with his dog Sausage. Yet Freddy soon comes up with a sinister plot of his own to spoil Victor's plans...

TPB AFK is a documentary about three computer addicts who redefined the world of media distribution with their hobby homepage The Pirate Bay. How did Tiamo, a beer crazy hardware fanatic, Brokep a tree hugging eco activist and Anakata – a paranoid hacker libertarian – get the White House to threaten the Swedish government with trade sanctions? TPB AFK explores what Hollywood’s most hated pirates go through on a personal level.

Topper thinks summer vacation is boring. He misses his father who is sailing the seven seas. He can't figure out Sille who's cute. And his best friend, Viggo, always has to help out his punctilious dad, Mr Lion, in the café on the first floor of the red house where Topper lives on the top floor with his mother. One day, Topper finds a magic pencil and when he draws a rhino on the wall, the drawing comes to life! While Topper and Viggo try to keep the rhino, which they name Otto, well fed with black bread and raspberry soda before it devours all the furniture, Mr Lion pleads with the local authorities to come and remove the stomping pachyderm.

A father and daughter journey from Denmark to an unknown desert that exists in a realm beyond the confines of civilization.

It’s summer in Copenhagen, it’s a time of endless days and careless nights. Simon is a 23-year-old medical student. He and his friends party and drink and chase girls and wake up the next day to do the whole thing all over again. But it’s also a time of unrest and change among the boys. Dreams shatter, love hurts, and friendships dissolve.

From massive waves to melting ice, filmmaker Victor Kossakovsky travels around the world to capture stunning images of the beauty and raw power of water.

In 1870s America, a peaceful American settler kills his family's murderer which unleashes the fury of a notorious gang leader. His cowardly fellow townspeople then betray him, forcing him to hunt down the outlaws alone.

“This film documents an event that has never taken place…” With unprecedented access to the United Nations’ Office for Outer Space Affairs, leading space scientists and space agencies, The Visit explores humans’ first encounter with alien intelligent life and thereby humanity itself. “Our scenario begins with the arrival. Your arrival.”

6th Grade gets a new substitute teacher. She wants to train the class for an international competition in Paris. But something isn't right. How is she able read kids' minds? Why is she so mean? And how does she manage to convince everyone's parents she is so great when the whole class knows she is really an alien?

A manager of an orphanage in India is sent to Copenhagen, Denmark, where he discovers a life-altering family secret.

A family that survives the genocide in Indonesia confronts the men who killed one of their brothers.

Days before the end of the school year, Liliana gives Janek an ultimatum, giving him 24 hours to either prove his love for her or forget about her altogether.

When 14-year-old Marco, a homeless Romani boy, is arrested at the Danish border for possession of a missing public servant's passport, police inspector Carl Mørck and his Department Q team are tasked with finding the connection. The old case contains several suspicious elements: The public servant was accused of pedophilia shortly before he disappeared, and his case was closed unusually quickly. But the silent, traumatized Marco refuses to talk to them and it's not long before he's on the run from those who intend to kill him because of what he knows.

In the early morning of April 9th 1940 the Danish army is alerted. The Germans have crossed the border; Denmark is at war against Europe's strongest army. In Southern Jutland Danish bicycle- and motorcycle companies are ordered out, to against all odds, hold back the forces until the Danish reinforcements can be mobilized. In the fatal hours, we follow second lieutenant Sand and his bicycle company - they will as the first Danish soldiers meet the enemy in combat on April 9th 1940.

As children, Nick and his little brother take care of their baby brother while their mother drinks herself senseless. But the baby dies, and both brothers blame themselves. Many years later, Nick is out of prison after serving time for an assault. He drinks, lives in a shelter and tries to help an old friend. When their mother dies, Nick meets his brother at the funeral. The brother, who remains nameless, is a single father to a young boy, but also supports a drug habit that is spiraling out of control. When an opportunity presents itself, he becomes a drug dealer to secure his son's future. Eventually, the two brothers meet again.

Munch-Fals’ script follows Adam, who has so far been spoiled by life – a good job, a lovely wife, an expensive villa, an independent son – but still it isn’t good enough. Even the swinger weekend trips he has been taking with his wife have become a joyless routine, and his youthful optimism and appetite for life are distant memories. Then, one day, at another swingers’ club, he does what swingers don’t do – he falls in love.

Due to climate change a new race of flesh eating predators arise, who invade and eat everything living on earth. In a residential neighbourhood in a Danish suburb nightmare like scenes are being experienced first hand through the eyes of two teenage brothers, who can't stand each other, but are now suddenly forced to barricade themselves in the basement together, to avoid getting eaten. From one day to another, without parents and without electricity, food, water and contact to other people, the brothers have to learn to live together in their vital protection bunker, while monsters move past the basement windows and heavy, sharp claws can be heard moving around upstairs on the wooden floors.

A tone-deaf cop works to track down a group of guerilla percussionists whose anarchic public performances are terrorizing the city.

The moving love story of a dancer on the rollercoaster ride of her life, a drama about the rise and fall of a modern woman as she summons the courage to face her greatest trial.

Clara and her two sons escape from her abusive husband with little more than their car and plan to start over in New York. After the car towed away, the family meets Alice, who gets them into an emergency shelter. While stealing food at a Russian restaurant called ‘Winter Palace’, Clara meets Marc, who has been given the chance to help the old eatery regain its former glory. The ‘Winter Palace’ soon becomes a place of unexpected encounters between people who are all undergoing some sort of crisis and whom fate has now brought together.

Touko Laaksonen, a decorated officer, returns home after a harrowing and heroic experience serving his country in World War II, but life in Finland during peacetime proves equally distressing. He finds peace-time Helsinki rampant with persecution of the homosexual and men around him even being pressured to marry women and have children. Touko finds refuge in his liberating art, specialising in homoerotic drawings of muscular men, free of inhibitions. His work – made famous by his signature ‘Tom of Finland’ – became the emblem of a generation of men and fanned the flames of a gay revolution.

Set right before Christmas, Niko the reindeer must deal with his mom getting re-married and his being tasked with looking after his little stepbrother.