2017 was a lacklustre year as the audience for Danish films dropped by 7.4% and for all films by 4.6%, due notably to a lack of mega-hits. 

2017 was a lacklustre year as the audience for Danish films dropped by 7.4% and for all films by 4.6%, due notably to a lack of mega-hits. 

After the gravy years of 2011-2015 where local films’ market share oscillated between 27%-30%, last year Danish films slid to 20%, the lowest rate since 2009 (17%), although still higher than in Norway (18%) and Sweden (17.2%). 

According to the Danish Film Institute, a total of 2.5 million tickets were sold in 2017, of which 325,000 went to Rasmus Heide’s comedy Three Heists and a Hamster and 256,000 to Ole Bornedal’s Small Time Killers, the only two Danish films at the Top 10. This was the first time in a decade that no Danish film had passed 400,000 admissions.

Claus Ladegaard, Director at the Danish Film Institute said: “In 2017, more Danish films had a hard time catching an audience, but there are also bright spots. Films like Darkland [181,000 admissions], The Incredible Story of the Giant Pear [224,000 in 2017] and You Disappear[192,000] succeeded in combining artistic ambitions with a good audience. 

"The Danish market share is pushed down by the fact that several of our major established directors and actors have gone to Hollywood or TV drama. This is why we must strengthen the development of new talents.

“What looks promising is that two films by young directors that premiered last year, have performed well in cinemas,” added Ladegaard, referring to Christian Tafdrup’s A Horrible Woman (nearly 150,000 admissions) and Mehdi Avaz ‘s While We Live (100,150)."

Other first-time directors that should attract Danish audiences in 2018 are Gustav Möller’s The Guilty (Audience Award-World Dramatic section at Sundance), and Isabella Eklöf’s Holiday, another Sundance selection, on top of major releases such as Ole Bornedal’s The Way to Mandalay about legendary Danish singer/songwriter John Mogensen, and the new thriller in the Department Q series The Purity of Vengeance.

Among Hollywood films that premiered in 2017, Star Wars-The Last Jedi was a welcome end of year entry that sold 478,000 tickets, pushing overall admissions to 2.5 million.

The Norwegian historical drama The King’s Choice was the top-selling Nordic film with 80,003 admissions for Camera Film, followed by the Swedish Palme d’or The Square (70,465 admissions for Scanbox) and the Norwegian animated stop motion In the Forest of Huckybucky (50,156 admissions)

The most popular Danish documentary was Nicole N. Horanyi’s The Stranger with 18,064 admissions.