Print

Friday 1 April

NatFilm Festival 2005
Project Manager: Natsværmerfonden represented by Andreas Steinmann.
Although Andersen never experienced motion pictures himself, he is closely associated with film. Andersen's extensive influence on cinema will be a central theme of the NatFilm Festival 2005. Andersen's impressionability and painterly descriptions appealed to painters of his time and to filmmakers through the ages.
Few authors have with their work wielded greater influence on the world of moviemaking than Hans Christian Andersen. His life, travel books and especially his fairytales have been a source of inspiration for more than 100 films, and the current interest in him seems as strong as ever.
During the NatFilm Festival that opns this friday, moviegoers will enjoy a special programme featuring 11 major Andersen film adaptations. A wide international representation will be on offer of which the majority will be newer films either inspired by Andersen or based on his stories. The aim is to show Andersen's universality and versatility represented by films from different cultures. Filmmakers have been invited to hold talks on their work, and the festival is moreover to issue a printed programme.  Until 15 April.

Temporary list:
YOUNG ANDERSEN (Unge Andersen), Denmark 2005, director: Rumle Hammerich. 
THE NIGHTINGALE (Le Rossignol), France 2005, director Christian Chaudet.
RESURRECTION OF THE LITTLE MATCH GIRL (Seongnanpali Sonyeoeui Jaerim) South Korea 2002, director: Jang Sun-woo.
EL DETECTIVE Y LA MUERTE(The Detective and Death), Spain 1994, director: Gonzalo Suarez.
LA VENDORA DE ROSAS (The Rose Seller), Columbia 1998, director: Victor Gaviria.
THE MATCH FACTORY GIRL (Tulitikkutehtaan tyttö), Finland 1990, director: Aki Kaurismäki.
WILD SWANS (Metsluiged), Estonia 1987, director Helle Faris.
PEACH BLOSSOM, Director: Fu Ming, China 2005
THE STORY OF A MOTHER, USA 2005, director: James Hart.
THE UGLY DUCKLING AND ME (Den grimme Ælling og mig), Denmark 2006, directors: Karsten Killerich and Michael Hegner
www.natfilm.dk

The Society for the Publication of Danish Music/ Edition Samfundet
Project Manager: Else Torp.
Never before have so many new classical works from Denmark been performed so widely throughout the world. This happens in connection with the Andersen bicentenary where the Symphonic Fairytales project is to feature as the principal bicentennial classical music project. Several leading symphony orchestras on four continents will perform 10 new works based on a tale or poem by Hans Christian Andersen created by Danish composers. Most of the world premiers will be held at family concerts worldwide throughout the Andersen bicentenary, 2 April - 6 December 2005.

The unique works have been commissioned by the Society for Publication of Danish Music, which launched the project in 2000 with a grant from the Danish Ministry of Culture. Symphonic Fairytales is today sponsored by the HCA 2005 Foundation and developed in collaboration with the Hans Christian Andersen 2005 Secretariat, represented by Secretary General Lars Seeberg.
Both Danish and international composers have throughout time found music in the texts by Hans Christian Andersen - among the most known composers are Robert Schumann, Alexander Zemlinski, Arthur Honegger and Igor Stravinski.
With Symphonic Fairytales, the Society for the Publication of Danish Music builds on this established musical tradition, which - true to the spirit of the storyteller himself - unites both children and adults alike in the concert experience. The Andersen texts were selected in association with the composers themselves and are set to music within four genres: The Tone Poem, which is purely instrumental, The Orchestral Lied, which engages vocal soloist, The Read Tale, featuring a narrator, and The Integrated Work where children actively participate in the performance.
www.symphonicfairytales.dk

This Friday the following concert will take place in Odense:

Odense Symphony Orchestra, Odense, Denmark
Conductor Frank Strobel
Fuzzy "The Travelling Companion" - World Premiere

Saturday 2 April

The Society for the Publication of Danish Music/ Edition Samfundet
Sonderjyllandshallen in Aabenraa, DK
South Jutland Symphony Orchestra, Denmark
Conductor Justin Brown
Jesper Koch "The Snow Queen" - World Premiere

Odense Theatre
Project Manager: Director Kasper Wilton, Odense Theatre.
"Kender du Svimmel?" (Do you Know Dizzy?). A newly composed chamber play by playwright Sven Holm reflecting Andersen at a mature age. The performance conveys Hans Christian Andersen the poet and man as a sensitive, impulsive and inquisitive person - a dynamic architect of his own life. But he is also monstrously self-centred; a pathological hypochondriac who is so vulnerable and hyper-sensitive that engaging in normal relationships with his fellow man is almost impossible for him.
We experience Andersen's ambivalent relationship with the Collin family and we witness how he falls head over heals in love with both men and women; how he delves into his own soul to grasp the universality of the human condition. We join him on travels through Europe where he is surrounded by admirers, princes and aristocracy as well as porters and prostitutes. And we join him as an elderly man in Odense when he was hailed as honorary citizen. The play will be directed by Henrik Sartou and is starring Danish actor Jesper Langberg in the leading role as Andersen. Premiere at Odense Theatre Main Stage, Saturday.
Dunkelfolket, Brovst
Andersen's fairytale "The Story of a Mother" will be adapted to the stage by the Dunkelfolket mask theatre to feature 15 masked players and 3-5 musicians. The performance features music, masks, movement and dance but not a single utterance. Premiere Saturday 2 April 2005, Nordjyllands Kunstmuseum, Aalborg.
www.dunkelfolket.dk

Støbeskeen, Frederiksværk
The two amateur theatre circles in the town of Frederiksværk - Støbeskeen and Melby Scenen - will jointly produce and stage a performance created by playwright Niels Stokholm. The performance will feature Andersen in clinch with his literary characters, highlighting him as a timeless writer. Gjethuset, Frederiksværk.
www.stobeskeen.dk

Filuren's Children's Theatre, Aarhus
The children's drama school at Filuren is to hire an extra musician/composer, who along with the children and drama teachers is to stage a Hans Christian Andersen performance.
Børneteatersalen, Concert Hall Aarhus.
www.filuren.dk

17 private schools in Himmerland
Seventeen private schools in the Himmerland area of North and East Jutland, totalling 1839 pupils and 255 teachers and educationalists, will jointly host a multicultural event/meeting place at Gigantium in Aalborg. The event will bring Andersen's fairytales to life through drama, music, singing, dance, paper cut, painting and sculpture, etc. In an Andersen theme land, schoolchildren will be given the opportunity to dress up either as fairytale characters or in period costumes. All schoolchildren will take part in a rhythmic choir performance on Saturday. Original music and songs have been composed for the event.

Hevring Amateur Theatre Society, Ørsted
A touring production is being created with a cast of 12-15 performers within the 7-16 age group as well as one or two adults. The fairytale performance will draw on the narrative tradition and will be staged at daycare centres, schools and nursing homes/senior citizens' centres.
Premiere at the old railroad station in Alingaabro.

The Children's and Youth Amateur Theatre BALDER, Lemvig
The drama groups for small children and youngsters respectively will stage a rendition of "The Nightingale" with original score by Danish songwriter Sebastian. The small children's version will primarily feature movement and improvisation whereas the youngsters will stage a version more loyal to the fairytale, featuring colourful costumes and singing.
Performances - apart from the upcoming Saturday: 12 May and 19 June 2005.
www.teatret-balder.dk

Brønderslev Amateur Theatre Society
The amateur theatre society of Vendsyssel has asked a local playwright, Gunnar Iversen, to create the play "Prinsessen af Vendsyssel" (The Princess of Vendsyssel).
Performances: 2-4 and 6, 8, 9 April 2005.
www.bas-teater.dk

Eventyrkisten, Viborg Drama School
A drama group aged 17 - 19 will tour with 5 different fairytales created especially for the Andersen bicentenary. The performances will be staged at children's institutions in the County of Viborg and at different campsites on the west coast of Jutland.
The performance will premiere Saturday, and the rest of the year tour - primarily in Viborg County.

Golden Days in Copenhagen
Project Manager: Ulla Tofte, Secretary General of Golden Days in Copenhagen.
"Face to Face with Andersen". The project, hosted by Golden Days in Copenhagen, will take place on streets, public squares and historical buildings where people go about their everyday business. The main feature will be 50 Hans Christian Andersen portraits and quotes exhibited on display board on buildings once frequented by Andersen. The project allows the storyteller to be visually highlighted throughout the city and grants the general public easy access to stories and knowledge related to specific Andersen-related places in town. Further information as well as Andersen's own descriptions of the localities will be available via cell-phone, audio-guide and on the Internet. Weekly after-work events will be staged related to Andersen between 2 April and 31 October 2005.
www.goldendays.dk

Danish Educational Resource Centres
The regional educational resource centres in Denmark will host a poster competition open to elementary and upper-secondary schools. Each of Denmark's 16 resource centres will select a number of drawings entered by schoolchildren with which to create a collage. The 16 collage posters will feature as a frieze depicting the life of Hans Christian Andersen. Winning entries will be announced on 2 April 2005.
www.amtscentre.dk

More information about the projects and more projects  is available at the official web-site

Print

Back