Will Mads Mikkelsen have another Oscar hit?
Tuesday, October 20, 2020 at 6:00PM by Nathaniel R
Mads Mikkelsen stars in "Another Round"
Denmark is currently Oscar's favourite country in the Best International Feature category. Yes, we know they're not the "all time" favourite country, so don't @ us. But in the past 10 years (2010-2019) they've been nominated 50% of the time, with two additional finalists. Deep involvement in 70% of the Oscar conversations in a decade is a pretty great track record. How long can they keep it up? We won't know if they'll nab another nomination this season until a few months from now but Denmark just announced their finalists. On November 17th, they'll choose their submission between the following films:
- Another Round by Thomas Vinterberg
- A Perfectly Normal Family by Malou Reymann
- Shorta by Anders Ølholm and Frederik Louis Hviid.
If Denmark wants to bet based on past success they'll go with Another Round. It just won the top prize at the London Film Festival. Plus, international star Mads Mikkelsen has headlined three Oscar-nominated films from his home country previously....
He starred in Susanne Bier's drama After the Wedding in 2006, was part of the star triangle in the stunning costume drama A Royal Affair in 2012, and headlined the haunting drama The Hunt in 2013 in which his character was falsely accused of pedophila. The latter was directed by Thomas Vinterberg who helms Another Round. In his reunion with Mads he's again cast him as a teacher. This time a high school teacher struggling with alcoholism.
As for the other contenders, A Perfectly Normal Family has current topicality on its side. It's a family drama about a father announcing that she's actually a woman and the effect that has on her daughter. The leading role is played by Mikkel Boe Følsgaard who was so strong in A Royal Affair (though the casting certainly won't please activists who'd like these roles cast with actual trans actors).
Finally Shorta would be a much different choice as it's a action thriller about racial tension, police brutality, and two officers in danger. "Shorta" is an Arabic term for police.
DENMARK'S OSCAR STATS
Submitting since 1956 (the very first year of the competition)
57 Total Submissions
12 Nominations (and 2 Additional Finalists)
3 Wins
KEY SUBMISSIONS
- Qivitoq (1956) Nominee
- Be Dear to Me (1957) - The first film ever submitted to the category with a female director (Annelise Hovmannd)
- Paw (1959) Nominee - and the first film directed by a woman ever to be nominated in the international category
- Harry and the Butler (1961) Nominee
- Gertrud (1965) - Critics and cinephiles love Carl Theodor Dreyer but Oscar voters didn't bite the only time Denmark submitted him
- Babette's Feast (1987) WINNER
- Pelle the Conqueror (1988) WINNER
- Memories of a Marriage (1989) Nominee
That was Demark's longest consecutive run of nominations, 3 years in a row. - Festen/The Celebration (1998) - Though it was an international hit and made the DOGME 95 movement globally famous, Oscar turned up their noses. It's one of the biggest and most shameful snubs of our lifetime within the category
- After the Wedding (2006) Nominee
- In a Better World (2010) WINNER
- SuperClásico (2011) Finalist
- A Royal Affair (2012) Nominee
- The Hunt (2013) Nominee
- A War (2015) Nominee
- Land of Mind (2016) Nominee
- Guilty (2018) Finalist
Most Oscar-Honored Danish Artists
Live Action Short Film winners Anders Walter and Kim Magnusson
- Kim Magnusson (5 nominations and 2 wins in Live Action Short Film)
- Tambi Larsen (5 nominations and 1 win in Production Design)
- Anders Thomas Jensen (3 nominations and 1 win in Live Action Short)
- Viggo Mortensen (3 nominations in Best Actor)
- Susanne Bier (2 nominations and 1 win in Best International Feature... not technically the nominee or winner -- those honors went to the country itself -- but she is to us)
- Signe Byrge Sørensen (2 nominations in Best Documentary Feature)
- Max Rée, Anders Walter, Martin Strange Hansen (1 nomination and 1 win each in Production Design, Live Action Short, and Live Action Short respectively)
- Billie August (1 nomination and win in Best International Feature... not technically the nominee or winner -- that honors went to the country itself -- but he is to us)
Most Frequently Submitted Directors in Foreign Film
Susanne Bier with Denmark's Oscar for "In a Better World"
- Nils Mamros (4 submissions)
- Susanne Bier (3 submissions, 2 nominated films, 1 winning film)
- Billie August (3 submissions, 1 nominated film, 1 winning film)
- Erik Balling (3 submissions, 1 nominated film)
- Henning Carlsen (3 submissions)
- Thomas Vinterberg and Kaspar Rotrup (2 submissions and 1 nominated film each)
- Morten Arnfred, Peter Schønau Fog, and Erik Claussen (2 submissons each)
Reader Comments (8)
that back to back win intrigued me so i checked to see what an incredibly rare feat it must have been...
in the first six years of the competitive award it happened three times!
italy, then france, then sweden all won back to back
then france won a singular year
but it was back to back for italy after that
then a six year gap before italy did it again
followed immediately by another france double
a four year gap then france did it yet again
eight year gap
then this denmark double header
so...not that rare
BABETTE'S FEAST is one of my all time faves. Love it dearly.
Interesting that they hit two big milestones for the category and female representation.
Viggo Mortensen is Danish? I always though he was Argentinian.
J -- he is Danish-American (dual citizenship) but he spent some of his childhood in Argentina which explains his connection to that country.
Par -- well, not that rare at the beginning but afterwards it was much less common.
Currently rewatching Hannibal getting ready for Halloween, and just amazed at the performances by Dancy and Mads (also first season Fishburne). Too bad the show wasn’t widely watched or showered with awards.
You forgot Academy Award nominee and lyricist Lars von Trier. haha!
Great write-up. But a few minor things:
Kim Magnusson actually has 6 noms. You could also mention his dad, Tivi Magnusson, who has 2 noms and 1 win. Also in the short film category.
And the former president of the Academy, Jean Hersholt, is also Danish. He has received 2 honorary Awards.
Love the Mads coverage!