Nordisk Film

History

Ole Olsen started his company in the Copenhagen suburb of Valby under the name Ole Olsen Filmfabrik ("Ole Olsen's Film Factory"), but soon changed it to the Nordisk Films Kompagnie.

In 1908, Olsen opened an affiliate branch in New York, the Great Northern Film Company, to handle the distribution of his films to the American market. In 1909, having been excluded from the MPPC cartel in the United States, which Olsen had hoped to join, Nordisk participated in the Paris Film Congress in a failed attempt by major European producers to form a similar monopoly. It became a publicly traded company in 1911 as Nordisk Film. During the 1910s, the company created popular silent films with movie stars such as Valdemar Psilander and Clara Pontoppidan.

When Germany invaded Denmark during World War II, the company was locked out of the nationalized German film industry and lost large amounts of revenue.

In 1992, it merged with the Egmont media group, operating as electronic media production and distribution group. The total revenues in 2018 amounted to approximately €559 million.

Nordisk Film is the fourth-oldest film studio (as of 2011) in the world behind Gaumont, Pathé, and Titanus, and the oldest studio to be continuously active.

Foundation and awards

Through the Nordisk Film Foundation, Nordisk Film develops Danish acting talents with travel scholarships. As of 2024, the Nordisk Film Foundation stated an annual budget of DKK 7 million for the development of the Danish film industry though scholarships, project grants and awards.

Isbjørnen

The "Isbjørnen" awards are awarded at the Nordisk Film studios in the Valby district of Copenhagen, Denmark. They comprise a set of honorary awards.

In 2024, a one-off prize, the Ballings Særpris (Special Prize), was awarded to mark the 100th birthday of Danish filmmaker Erik Balling. This was awarded to director Anders Thomas Jensen. A new award was inaugurated in 2025, the Alice Prisen (Alice Prize), which celebrates the work of the first female Danish film director, who directed over 70 films, Alice O'Fredericks.

Operations

Nordisk Film A/S produces and co-produces national and international feature films in Denmark, Norway and Sweden, which are distributed to cinemas around the Nordic countries, including Nordisk Film Cinemas in Denmark, Norway and Sweden. The films are also distributed internationally for viewing in cinemas, on video and on television.

Nordisk Film produces video games through a number of game studios invested in by Nordisk Film Games, distributes PlayStation in the Nordic and Baltic countries and develops global digital gifting solutions through GoGift.

Business areas

Nordisk Film Production

Nordisk Film Production focuses primarily on the Scandinavian market but produces feature films, animation films, short films, TV series, and TV documentaries for both the Scandinavian and international market. They have a hand in roughly 15 productions per year, spanning a range of formats and genres. Nordisk Film Production

In October 2009, Nordisk sold its TV production unit to the Banijay Group.