Congratulations, Nordisk Film!

Today, Nordisk Film, the world's oldest functioning film studio, is 100 years old. A. Film A/S, the company that I established--with 4 other guys--in 1988, is half owned (since 1995) by the Danish publishing giant Egmont, which merged with Nordisk Film in 1991, which makes us part of this legendary Danish film studio. Nordisk Film's heyday was in the early 1910's, when they were among the world's largest film producers, with stars like Asta Nielsen and Valdemar Psilander. But they still produce films and distribute - and own a large part of the cinemas in Denmark.

It was Nordisk Film that in 1952 overtook Ring, Frank and Rønde studios, after having invested in them to make a feature directed by Dave Hand, and having aquired a 51% interest. They were not able to make a deal with Hand, so after a year they declared Ring, Frank and Rønde bancrupt, took over its assets and constructed Nordisk Tegnefilm A/S (Nordisk Animation Inc.) with Børge Ring and Bjørn Frank Jensen, but they soon decided to move to Holland to work for Toonder Studios. The story is actually much longer, and Nordisk Film really liked Ring, Frank and Rønde, but business was business even then...

Anyway, here is the official 'Borgerbrev' that gave Nordisk Films Kompagnie its civil right to establish itself in Copenhagen. The date of this document is considered Nordisk Film's official birthday...

< Click on it!