"It was in all aspects an overwhelming evening for Denmark," said the head of the Danish Film Institute Henrik Bo Nielsen to nordiskfilmogtvfond.com. "14 nominations and a handful of awards including Best Film and Best Director are more than anyone could have hoped for. It makes me particularly happy, that it was not only a great year for established directors Bier and Trier but also for upcoming talent like Daniel Bergman, director of the EFA short film nominated Berik and Mikkel-Munch-Fals, director of Nothing's All Bad, EFA candidate for Best First Film. It's always comforting to be able to see that the pipeline is in order. And for Zentropa, after in many ways a difficult period, it must have been a fantastic evening that they richly deserve."
The top EFA awards wrapped 2011 in a glittering way for Danish talents and films that collected throughout the year some of the most prestigious international awards: an Oscar (Best Foreign Language Film for In a Better World), two awards in Cannes (Best Director to Nicolas Winding Refn and Best Actress for Kirsten Dunst in Melancholia) and a BAFTA (Best non-English language Film for Niels Arden Oplev's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo).
"Whichever way you look at it, it's a historic moment for Danish film when the leading film magazine Empire in England has just named Nicolas Winding Refn's Drive nothing less than the Film of the year," said film journalist Kim Skotte from leading newspaper Politiken.
Looking ahead, 2012 will bring another top class list of Danish titles including the next Susanne Bier All You Need is Love (Den skaldede frisør) starring Pierce Brosnan and Trine Dyrholm, Nikola Arcel's historical drama A Royal Affair starring Mads Mikkelsen (pictured - also honoured with a European Achievement in World Cinema 2011 award by the European Academy) and Alicia Vikander, and Bille August's first Danish film in 25 years The Passion of Marie. The three high profile titles are supported by Nordisk Film & TV Fond.