The psychological drama COPENHAGEN DOES NOT EXIST directed by Martin Skovbjerg has been officially selected for The Big Screen Competition at International Film Festival Rotterdam, where it will have its world premiere (25 January - 05 February 2023).
Copenhagen, 19 December 2023 – International Film Festival Rotterdam has today unveiled the line-up for its 52nd edition, which includes COPENHAGEN DOES NOT EXIST directed by up-and-coming Danish director Martin Skovbjerg and penned by critically acclaimed screenwriter Eskil Vogt, based on the novel 'Sander' by Terje Holtet Larsen. The film will world premiere as part of the The Big Screen Competition.
COPENHAGEN DOES NOT EXIST marks the sophomore feature of talented director Martin Skovbjerg, following his break-out debut STICKS & STONES (2018), that screened at the BFI London Film Festival. The film is based on a script by award-winning writer and director Eskil Vogt, known for the Academy Award®-nominated THE WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD (2021), the Cannes-selected THE INNOCENTS (2021) and THELMA (2017). Eva Jakobsen, Katrin Pors and Mikkel Jersin of Copenhagen-based Snowglobe produces.
Director Martin Skovbjerg comments "Producer Eva Jakobsen introduced me to Eskil and when I read the script, the story had such an impact on me. Eskil did what he does so well: he created these beautiful, but complex characters, whom you feel biased about at first and then start to fall in love with. Or the other way around. They aren’t that straightforward. ‘Copenhagen Does Not Exist’ revolves around a radical and unconventional love story of two people breaking out of the norm. They decide to isolate themselves in the middle of the city, which might seem antagonistic to some, but it reflects on a longing for intimacy, which they need to define themselves. I hope that after seeing this film, audiences will reflect on their own lives and what it means to live in our fast-paced society."
Featuring acclaimed actor Zlatko Burić
The drama stars new talents Jonas Holst Schmidt, Angela Bundalovic (COPENHAGEN COWBOY, 2022; THE RAIN, 2018), Vilmer Trier Brøgger (STICKS & STONES, 2018) alongside established actor and European Film Award for Best Actor 2022 winner Zlatko Burić (TRIANGLE OF SADNESS, 2022; COPENHAGEN COWBOY, 2022; PUSHER, 1996).
'We have been intrigued by the mystique and thrill of this film from the very beginning, and now we are proud to present this gem to the world with the selection at IFFR. We congratulate the team and the talented Martin Skovbjerg, who besides directing the film has contributed to the spectacular film score' said Susan Wendt, the managing director of TrustNordisk.
Synopsis
A young woman has disappeared without a trace. Three months later her boyfriend agrees to an unusual arrangement: to be locked in an apartment and interrogated by the woman’s father.
It soon becomes obvious that even long before her disappearance, the two lovers had chosen a strange and unconventional life: cut off from the world, isolated in the middle of the big city.
COPENHAGEN DOES NOT EXIST is directed by Martin Skovbjerg, written by Eskil Vogt and produced by Eva Jakobsen, Mikkel Jersin and Katrin Pors for Snowglobe. The film is co-produced by Oslo Pictures, Zentropa Sweden and Don’t Look Now with support from the Danish Film Institute, the Norwegian Film Institute, the Swedish Film Institute, Nordisk Film & TV Fond, Euromages, The Media Program of the European Union, in collaboration with Danish Broadcasting Corp., SVT. Domestic distribution by Scanbox Entertainment. International sales handled by TrustNordisk.
COPENHAGEN DOES NOT EXIST is set to release locally on 9 February 2023.