Oscars race - Denmark picks The Promised Land, Norway Songs of Earth

Nikolaj Arcel’s epic drama The Promised Land starring Mads Mikkelsen is well placed in the Oscars’ race for best international feature film, considering production house Zentropa’s long experience in campaigning for the coveted Hollywood award.

The film is also represented in the US by Magnolia Pictures which collected nominations with earlier Danish entries-Arcel's A Royal Affair, Thomas Vinterberg’s The Hunt and Tobias Lindholm’s A War.

The film co-written by Arcel with Anders Thomas Jensen, had its world premiere in competition at the Venice Film Festival and continued its festival run at Telluride, Toronto and San Sebastian. The Danish premiere via Nordisk Film is set for October 5. TrustNordisk handles sales.

Read our interview with Nikola Arcel: Nikolaj Arcel on being inspired by fatherhood, David Lean, even Donald Trump.

National Premiere in Denmark October 5.

Trailer for The Promised Land with English subtitles.

Songs of Earth directed and produced by Margreth Olin is Norway’s first documentary film chosen to represent the country at the Oscar for best international feature film. It is also being submitted for best documentary film.

Kjersti Mo, CEO of the Norwegian Film Institute and head of the Oscar committee said: "Through breath-taking images, Songs of Earth portrays both the power and fragility of nature. Offering a close-up view of life in Oldedalen, the film speaks to a wide audience, across generations and national boundaries. Songs of Earth has had an impressive start at festivals around the world, with strong reviews and passionate feedback from viewers.”

Following its world premiere at CPH:DOX, the film won the Samsung Excellence Line award for exceptional image quality at the Krakow Film Festival. It screened as well in Toronto and Haugesund among other festival stops. Cinephil handles world sales.

Olin’s personal documentary is also scoring big on national screens. So far the Norsk Filmdistribusjon release has sold more than 44,000 tickets, making the most successful documentary since 2018.

Read our interview with Margreth Olin: CPH:DOX’s competitor Margreth Olin about Songs of Earth - exec produced by Wim Wenders and Liv Ullmann

Trailer for Songs of Earth with English subtitles.

The nominations for the 96^th Academy Awards will be announced January 23, 2024 and the awards ceremony in Hollywood will be held March 10, 2024.