Denmark Showbiz Latest News and Updates

The Cannes Film Festival will crown its Competition winners tomorrow night and the consensus seems to be building around a few titles.

The Apprentice” in an effort to block its U.S. sale and release. It warns the team behind the film not to pursue a distribution deal, according to two people who have read the letter.

By the time we meet them, Chatila and Reda already are down in the lower depths. Cousins from Palestine, they have spent much of their lives living as refugees on the run. Having made it as far as Athens, a kind of holding zone for people from the Middle East trying to slip into Europe, they are trying to scrape together money to get to Germany.

Heineken has confirmed the cause of a gas leak at its Manchester brewery. A 50-metre cordon was put in place around the Denmark Road site, off Princess Road, yesterday afternoon (May 23) while seven fire engines were called out to the scene.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Fresh from its Cannes premiere George Miller’s “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” dashed into the lead at the South Korea cinema box office. In doing so, it deposed “The Roundup: Punishment,” the local crime actioner that has dominated Korean cinemagoing for the past month. “Furiosa” earned $575,000 from 75,400 ticket sales on Wednesday, giving it a Korean total of $597,000, including a sprinkling of preview showings, according to data from the Kobis tracking service that is operated by the Korean Film Council (Kofic).

Lise Pedersen Danish-Spanish co-production “Only On Earth,” by award-winning Danish filmmaker Robin Petré (“Pulse,” “From the Wild Sea”), has picked up the top IEFTA Docs-in-Progress Award at Cannes Docs, the Cannes Film Market sidebar dedicated to documentary film. The film forms part of the Five Nordics Showcase, one of eight showcases presenting a total of 34 docs-in-progress this year. The others include Chile, Scotland, Palestine Circle Women Accelerator, Docs By The Sea, the East Doc Platform, and newcomer Switzerland.

EXCLUSIVE: Dubai-based management and production company 75East has signed Palestinian director Mahdi Fleifel, whose narrative feature debut To A Land Unknown is playing in Directors’ Fortnight this year.

EXCLUSIVE: Neon has prebought North American rights to Joachim Trier’s Sentimental Value, the latest project from the Norwegian director that stars Renate Reinsve. 

Five years ago, Iranian-Danish filmmaker Ali Abbasi broke out internationally with the Oscar-nominated “Border,” a thorny little beast of a fable about love, complicity, and guilt. His latest prods at some of the same themes, although the thorny little beast at the center of “The Apprentice” is far from a fictional creature of fables.

Donald Trump. “The Apprentice,” the story of the 45th and possibly 47th president’s early years as a real estate developer, earned a eight-minute standing ovation on Monday. It’s probably safe to assume that the film festival crowd isn’t a MAGA-heavy one, so it helps that “The Apprentice” paints a blistering portrait, focusing on Trump’s relationship with Roy Cohn, the McCarthy-ite lawyer and fixer who took an interest in the “the Donald” before he was a household name.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Rolling off its buzzy world premiere at Cannes’ Un Certain Regard, Oscar-nominated Icelandic filmmaker Rúnar Rúnarsson’s poignant drama “When The Light Breaks” has sold to a raft of territories. Represented in international markets by The Party Film Sales, the movie has been picked up for Italy (Movies Inspired), Switzerland (Xenix), Norway (Arthaus), Denmark (Ost for Paradis), Finland (Cinemanse), Hungary (Vertigo), Greece (Cinobo), Israel (New Cinema), Poland (Aurora), Turkey (Bir Film) and Baltics (Estofilm).

Scandi podcast major PodX has bought the UK’s Platform Media in an eight-figure deal.

Mubi has swooped on its third 2024 Cannes competition title, Variety has learned. Having acquired worldwide rights to Coralie Fargeat’s buzzy body horror “The Substance” and U.K.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Berlin-based sales agency Films Boutique has closed the first international sales for Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof’s “The Seed of the Sacred Fig,” ahead of its world premiere on Friday in the Competition section of the Cannes Film Festival. The film has been acquired in Italy by BiM Distribuzione and Lucky Red, Benelux by September Film Distribution, Spain by Bteam Pictures, Greece by Ama Films, Hungary by Cirko Film, Norway by Selmer Media, Portugal by Leopardo Filmes, Taiwan by Hooray Films and Turkey by Bir Film.

Annika Pham Copenhagen-based TrustNordisk has picked up international rights to the Danish drama “Home” by actor-turned director Marijana Jankovic (“The House That Jack Built”). For her debut feature, Jancovic has assembled a high-profile cast that includes Claes Bang (“The Square”), Jesper Christensen (“Spectre”, “Casino Royal”), Trine Dyrholm (2024 Cannes competition title “The Girl With the Needle”), Dejan Cukic (“Snabba Cash”), Nada Sargin (“The Mould”), Zlatko Buric (“Triangle of Sadness”).

Denmark was a world power in the Middle Ages, conquering parts of the British Isles and Normandy, and holding sway in Norway into the 19th century. Today, the Nordic country bordering the Baltic and North seas is prosperous if smaller, with a population of fewer than 6 million people. But it has become a world power in a new arena — documentary filmmaking. Denmark’s flourishing doc scene has become the envy of the nonfiction community.

Thomas Frank has played down rumours linking him with the Manchester United managerial role, expressing contentment with his "perfect football life" at Brentford and suggesting he might remain there for the rest of his career.

Peggy Gou has released her playful new track ‘Lobster Telephone’ – listen to it down below.The South Korean DJ has shared the new single ahead of her upcoming debut record, ‘I Hear You’. The album will drop June 7 via XL Recordings – pre-order it here.‘Lobster Telephone’, whose name is taken from the famous Salvador Dalí artwork of the same name, sees Gou singing in Korean: “I know you don’t understand this / But it doesn’t matter / It’s all the same / We’re all the same.”Take a listen to the track below:Previously, Gou has said “‘I Hear You’ is more than just my debut album. It embodies countless hours of dedication in my journey to create something timeless, and is a testament to the power of listening, to ourselves and to each other.”In anticipation of the record, Gou has also shared tracks like the Lenny Kravitz-featuring ‘I Believe In Love Again’ and ‘1+1=11’ in the past.

As the 77th Cannes Film Festival gets underway, there are plenty of obvious frontrunners for the coveted Palme d’Or. But don’t count out Ali Abbasi‘s “The Apprentice” as a dark horse pick to win the festival’s top prize.

Irvines Bakery of Beith scooped awards across four categories at the prestigious Scottish Baker of the Year 2024/25 Awards in Glasgow.

The Cover Turns 1, a toast to the relaunch of the editorial property that seeks to champion rising and emerging talent from across the globe.The Cover Turns 1 playlist – featuring all 49 artists who have appeared on The Cover since its launch on May 29, 2023 – is available to listen to below.The playlist features songs by artists such as Chappell Roan, Ashnikko, Blondshell and more, as well as DIY and unsigned acts including Picture Parlour and this week’s Cover star, Songer.The Cover Turns 1 is a month of celebrations that will look back at the incredible new talent NME has championed on The Cover in its first year, with new content that includes Life Since The Cover (exploring milestones artists have hit since their cover debuted), Cover To Cover (cover stars on cover stars) and Behind The Cover (a behind the scenes look at the creative process).Relaunched on May 29 2023, The Cover is dedicated to championing the most exciting emerging artists on earth and connecting them with NME’s global audience of millions of music fans. From soon-to-be superstars to the unsigned and DIY heroes making waves in their respective scenes, all have a place on The Cover.

Studiocanal has acquired UK and Ireland rights for Ali Abbasi’s Cannes Palme d’Or contender The Apprentice.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Beta Cinema has closed a slew of international territory sales on its resistance epic “William Tell,” Nick Hamm’s adaptation of Friedrich Schiller’s play. WME Independent represents domestic rights.

Magnus von Horn’s sophomore feature Sweat earned its director a spot in Cannes’ Official Selection in 2020, after his debut, The Here After, played in Directors’ Fortnight in 2015. But the festival of 2020 was canceled in the wake of the Covid pandemic, so von Horn’s place in this year’s Competition, with his third feature The Girl With the Needle, must surely mark the Swedish director’s coming-of-age. The film, starring Vic Carmen Sonne and Trine Dyrholm, riffs on one of Denmark’s most notorious murder cases to weave a poetic and dark fairytale about the people living on the margins in the aftermath of the First World War. 

Alex Ritman Paris-based sales house Charades has sold the Argentinian Western-inspired documentary “Gaucho Gaucho” across much of Europe. The film — which won a Sundance Jury Prize in January and recently played at CPH:DOX — has landed deals with Tandem (France), Filmin (Spain), Selmer Media (Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Finland, Denmark), M2 (Romania, Poland, Hungary. Ex-Yugoslavia, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Bulgaria), Praesens (Switzerland) and Bantam Films (Benelux).

In 2020, Magnus von Horn was excited to find that his film Sweat had been accepted into the Official Selection at Cannes, a big step up from his debut, The Here After, which made Directors’ Fortnight in 2015. The pandemic put an end to that, but his disappointment was short-lived; this year, his dark atmospheric follow-up, The Girl With the Needle, sees him joining the big league. “This is huge to me,” he beams. “The main competition!”

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor European Film Promotion is playing host at the Cannes Film Festival to 20 up-and-coming European producers, selected for its Producers on the Move program. Variety invited the producers to share details of their upcoming projects. Katharina Posch, Austria“I’m Not Here to Make Friends”Director: Julia Niemann“I’m Not Here to Make Friends” is a sleek and sunny psycho thriller about a reality TV show set on a remote island.

Christopher Vourlias In the past decade, Swedish-Polish filmmaker Magnus von Horn has become something of a fixture on the French Riviera, with his latest film, “The Girl With the Needle,” the director’s third feature to debut at the Cannes Film Festival and his first to compete for the Palme d’Or. But the dark historical drama, which is set in post-WWI Copenhagen, marks a departure for the 40-year-old.

Brentford manager Thomas Frank is reportedly a strong contender to replace Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag should he be sacked at the end of the season.

Annika Pham Scandinavia’s top sales agent TrustNordisk has scored major deals on the English-language epic “Stockholm Bloodbath” by Oscar-nominated Mikael Håfström (‘Evil”), which has sold to Brainstorm Media and Sunrise Films for the US and Canada, The Jokers for France and Divisa Red for Spain. The Claes Bang-vehicle, produced by Helena Danielsson for Viaplay Studios Sweden, is due to screen at the Cannes Market May 18, in a new international version.