At one point in the early 20th century Denmark was the largest film producer in the world and today, after 96 years in the business, the leading Danish film producer, Nordisk Films, remains the oldest film company in the world still making hit movies

Danish cinema is booming like never before thanks to a rich vein of talent, and helped by government support totalling DKK 350 million (in 2001). Danish directors like Lars von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg are among the hottest talents in the industry. Danish-produced films such as 'Festen', 'Dancer In The Dark' and 'Italian For Beginners', have been big hits with international audiences, and won numerous international awards. And Danish actors like Iben Hjejle ('High Fidelity'), Connie Nielsen ('The Devil's Advocate', 'Mission To Mars', "Gladiator"), and Ulrich Thomsen ('Festen', 'The World Is Not Enough','Killing Me Softly'), are making a name for themselves on international screens.

One of the most talked about performances at last year's Academy Awards ceremony came from Icelandic singer and actress Bjork. Wearing an outrageous swan-shaped dress, Bjork performed her Oscar-nominated song from the critically acclaimed film 'Dancer In The Dark', directed by Lars von Trier. The film had already opened the New York Film Festival, won the Palme d'Or at Cannes and the European Film Academy Award for Best Film, and was one of the most hotly discussed feature films in the world last year.

Lars von Trier is probably Denmark's best known cinematic export. He was catapulted to international fame with his 1996 film 'Breaking the Waves', a raw melodrama set in a religious community in a remote Scottish island, and starring Emily Watson. As with all of von Trier's work, 'Breaking The Waves' divided the critics but had a profound affect on audiences. It won the top prize at Cannes, and Watson was nominated for the Best Actress Oscar.

This success came hot on the heels of von Trier's earlier film, 'Europa', which won the 1991 Palm d'Or, and it was followed in 1998 by the even more controversial 'The Idiots'.

As well as his intriguing 'cinema monument' project, shot at a rate of three minutes a year and scheduled for completion in 2025, von Trier is currently working on his next film, 'Dogville', starring Nicole Kidman.

Von Trier is almost as well known as one of the founding fathers of the Dogme95 movement as he is for his films. First outlined in the Dogme95 manifesto, this ten-point, back-to-basics cinema ideology was drawn up by the so-called 'Dogme Brothers' - the four Danish directors: Søren Kragh-Jacobsen, Kristian Levring, von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg. It set out to combat the commercialism of Hollywood by reducing the film making process to its bare essentials. Out went artificial light, special effects and social taboos, and in came hand-held digital cameras and spontaneity.

The first Dogme film was Thomas Vinterberg's 'Festen' ('The Celebration'). Festen told the story of a disastrous family anniversary with thrilling originality and was a huge international hit. It won six international awards including the Special Jury Prize at Cannes. (Vinterberg is currently working on a romantic sci-fi feature in English, starring the American actress Claire Danes.)

At the time of 'Festen's' launch the likes of Steven Spielberg and John Travolta expressed an interest in making a Dogme film. Since then there have been a total of nine Dogme films made in Denmark, France, South Korea, Sweden, Argentina and the USA (the latter by the writer of Kids, Harmony Korine).

Following the success of 'Festen' and 'The Idiots', Søren Kragh-Jacobsen's debut Dogme film, 'Mifune', was sold to 46 countries and won the Grand Jury Prize at the Berlin Film Festival in 1999. Levring's latest, 'The King Is Alive', takes Shakespeare's King Lear, and an international cast including Jennifer Jason Leigh and Janet McTeer, to the Namibian desert. It premiered at Cannes in 2000.

So far, last year's biggest international Danish-produced hit has been 'Italian For Beginners' - the fifth Dogme film. This romantic comedy, directed by Lone Scher and produced by von Trier's Zentropa company, stormed the Berlin Film Festival winning four of the top prizes.

Two more Dogme films are scheduled for release: 'A Real Person', directed by Åke Sandgren, and 'A Love Story' (its working title only), by Ole Christian Madsen. A documentary on the Dogme movement by award-winning filmmaker Jesper Jargill is also imminent.

Several Danish directors have enjoyed recognition from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences over the years. Following the 1985 Best Picture Award given to 'Out of Africa' (based on Danish author Karen Blixen's memoirs), Danish success continued in 1988 when Gabriel Axel's film
adaptation of another Blixen work, 'Babette's Feast', won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. The following year Bille August's Pelle The Conqueror made it a memorable double for Denmark in the same category.

August went on to direct 'Smilla's Feeling For Snow' and an adaptation of 'Les Miserables' (starring Uma Thurman and Liam Neeson), and has recently returned to international screens with the acclaimed Swedish production, 'A Song For Martin'. Axel, meanwhile, also has a new film, 'Laïla The Pure', filmed in Morocco and due for release soon.

Denmark's most recent Academy success has come in the short film category where, from 1997 to 1999, director Anders Thomas Jensen scored a notable hattrick of three Academy Award nominations for Best Short Film, before finally winning in 1999 with 'Election Night'. His first feature film, the Tarantino-esque 'Flickering Lights', was a recent domestic box office success.

Denmark has an enviable reputation for producing children's films and animation. Twenty five per cent of film subsidies in Denmark are currently used for children's films, and this was reflected at the 2000 Chicago International Children's Festival where Danish films won five prizes, including both the Adult and Children's Jury prizes (for 'Katja's Adventure', directed by Lars Hesselholdt; and 'Help! I'm A Fish', directed by Stefan Fjeldmark and Michael Hegner).

Denmark's tradition for producing quality animation predates even Disney. A highlight from 2000 was Karsten Kiilerich's animation 'When Life Departs', which received an Oscar nomination. The master of Danish animation is Jannik Hastrup, who has worked in animation for over 30 years. His latest feature cartoon, 'Circleen - City Mice', also won in Chicago, in the Adult Jury Animation category. Even Lars von Trier has got in on the animation act. His company Zentropa recently produced an pioneering feature length 3D animation, called 'Prop & Berta'.