Danish director Thomas Vinterberg, who recently competed for the Palme d´Or at Cannes with The Hunt [+] (2012) - which won the Ecumenical Prize and earned Mads Mikkelsen the Best Actor Award - has not yet launched his new film, The Commune [+], in Denmark; but before the Danish premiere on Thursday 14 January, through Nordisk Film Distribution, it has been selected for the main competition at the Berlin International Film Festival (11-21 February). His latest Berlin entry was Submarino [+] (2010).
The Commune is based on Vinterberg´s own experiences, when between 1976 and 1985 he lived with his parents in the Nordkrog commune north of Copenhagen; he first used this experience for a play (written with Danish screenwriter and film-school professor Mogens Rukov, who died late last year), which was staged at the Burgtheater in Vienna, then adapted it for the screen with Danish director Tobias Lindholm, who also co-wrote The Hunt.
The Morten Kaufmann and Sisse Graum Jørgensen production for Zentropa Entertainments and Toolbox Film reunites Vinterberg with Danish actors Ulrich Thomsen and Trine Dyrholm, who performed in his first two films, including The Celebration/Festen, which garnered him a shared Jury Prize at Cannes (1998) and introduced Dogme - the Lars von Trier and Vinterberg manifesto - to the world.
The cast of this depiction of the clash between personal desires, solidarity and tolerance in a commune in the 1970s also includes Helene Reingaard Neumann, Lars Ranthe and Swedish actor Fares Fares. “I could not imagine a better outset for the local release - I am deeply thrilled that The Commune will have its international premiere at Berlin,” Vinterberg said.
Danish international sales agency TrustNordisk has licensed the film to several countries: France (Le Pacte), the UK (Artificial Eye), Germany, Liechtenstein, Austria (Prokino), Italy (BIM), Spain (Golem), Portugal (Alambique), Switzerland (Praesens), Benelux (September), Korea (Challan), Russia (Silver Box), Greece/Cyprus (Seven), Estonia (EstinFilm), Romania (Independenta), the Czech Republic, Slovakia (Film Europe), the former Yugoslavia (Megacom), Poland (Gutek), Brazil (California) and Hungary (Vertigo).