The concept of publishing a collectors DVD that would include the best shorts by some of the most acclaimed Nordic directors of the last 20 years was developed by the editors of the four Nordic magazines and Hanne Palmquist, CEO of Nordisk Film & TV Fond. For Claus Christensen, Ekko editor in chief, Lars von Trier's "strange and mythological project Dimension fitted perfectly into this initiative."
Back in 1990, when von Trier and co-writer Niels Vørsel launched their Dimension Manifesto, they described the project as a ‘European film collage, a kind of monument of the future'. The idea was to film over a 30 year period several actors in real life. Filming of 2-3 minute sequences of European talents such as Stellan Skarsgård, Jean-Marc Barr, and Katrin Cartlige started in 1991 but the director lost interest and the project was abandoned in 1997. "I was always fascinated by Trier's idea of having a film, not portraying time but being time itself," said Christensen. "Zentropa had already edited the takes and the small film just needed some finishing touches."
The Nordic Short Films DVD comprises eleven other unique works by Swedish directors Roy Andersson, Ruben Östlund and Jens Jonsson, Denmark's Thomas Vinterberg, Finland's Aki Kaurismäki, Saara Saarela and Auli Mantila, Iceland's Grímur Hákonarson and Norway's Joachim Trier, Marius Holst and Bobbie Peers.
The Special Nordic issues published this week and over the next few weeks by the four Nordic magazines include in-depth articles about the Nordic identity in Danish, Finnish, Icelandic, Norwegian and Swedish cinema, as well as interviews with each of the five nominees of the 2010 Nordic Council Film Prize.
For further information check the websites:
www.ekkofilm.dk/
www.rushprint.no/
www.flm.nu/
www.episodi.fr
EPISODI WEBSITE??