Watch These Award-Winning Movies for Free this Weekend at the Fourth Danish Film Festival
For its fourth annual Danish Film Festival, the Embassy of Denmark is screening a selection of award-winning movies from the past 10 years of Danish Cinema, plus a well-loved local indie representing the Philippines. Tickets for the festival are absolutely free on a first-come, first-served basis, and all films will be screened exclusively at Robinsons Movieworld, Robinsons Galleria.
Because tickets are hot, you’ll probably need to head to the cinemas early if you want to score a seat. To make things easier for you, we’ve put together a list of the films you can watch during this weekend, plus their screening schedules:
In a Better World
Directed by: Suzanne Bier
Synopsis: A humanitarian doctor struggles with keeping the peace both at an African refugee camp, and with his family back home in Denmark. His entire ethical structure is tested when the man responsible for the brutal injuries he’s treated comes to him in need of life-saving medical attention.
Watch it because: The drama won the Oscar for Best Foreign Film in 2011, both for its masterful filmmaking and for its socially relevant story.
Screens on: November 9, 3:15pm
Terribly Happy
Directed by: Henrik Ruben Genz
Synopsis: After suffering a nervous breakdown, a big city cop is transferred to a rural town. Things take several unexpected turns, however, when it dawns on him that vigilante justice is the norm at his new assignment.
Watch it because: It’s insane, intense, and holds more than a few surprises. Think of it like Hot Fuzz, but more sinister.
Screens on: November 9, 5:00pm
Walk with Me
Directed by: Lisa Ohlin
Synopsis: An incident with a landmine causes a soldier to lose both his legs. At the rehabilitation center, he forms a friendship with a ballerina, who agrees to put him through an unusual physical therapy program.
Watch it because: No matter what they say, everyone’s a sucker for movies about two broken people who find healing in their relationship.
Screens on: November 9, 7:00pm and November 10, 5:00pm
The Shamer’s Daughter
Directed by: Kenneth Kainz
Synopsis: In a world where witchcraft and dragons are real, shamers—individuals who possess a supernatural ability to see straight into people’s soles—act as criminal investigators. When one such person’s powers are abused for political gain, her daughter embarks on an adventure to rescue her.
Watch it because: European fantasy flicks tend to be darker and more complex than most Hollywood fare, letting you experience an unforgettable world.
Screens on: November 10, 3:15pm
Dagsin
Directed by: Atom Magadia
Synopsis: The lives of several individuals are intertwined by a crime that spans multiple decades throughout Philippine history. At the center of it all is a Death March survivor poring over his dead wife’s journals—and the secrets that lay within their pages.
Watch it because: Stories don’t often get as ambitious as this, and the film delivers its complex narrative beautifully.
Screens on: November 10, 5:00pm
Land of Mine
Directed by: Robert Schwentke
Synopsis: A group of young German POWs are set to work clearing 1.5 million land mines set in Denmark’s battlefields. The officer in charge of this mission begins to question the morality behind this punishment as the boys fall victim to the explosives, one by one.
Watch it because: The fact that this is based on real-life events—in which the Nazis weren’t the only ones committing atrocities—is eye-opening.
Screens on: November 10, 7:00pm.
Otto the Rhino
Directed by: Hans Weingartner
Synopsis: Stuck at home for the summer, an imaginative young boy picks up a pencil and starts drawing. An extraordinary adventure begins when Otto, the rhino he drew on the wall, springs to life before his very eyes.
Watch it because: We’ve all attached stories and personalities to the things we doodled as kids. This film’s a reminder to never lose that sense of magic.
Anti
Directed by: Wolfgang Fischer
Synopsis: A young man’s passion for art is awakened as he discovers the world of graffiti. When he’s accepted into a street crew for his work, however, his life takes a dangerous turn.
Watch it because: Aside from being a stylized look into the darker side of street art, the movie’s on-point 90s throwback is worth watching for the nostalgia.
The 4th Danish Film Festival is a partnership between the Embassy of Denmark, Robinsons Movieworld, the Danish Film Institute, and the Film Development Council of the Philippines. Again, tickets are free and on a first-come, first-served basis, so plan ahead if you want to catch any of these films. For more information, you can head to the Danish Film Festival’s Facebook event page.
