Santa Barbara

The Danish film IN LOVE & WAR wins Audience Choice Award and the Nordic Cinema Award at the renowned Santa Barbara International Film Festival (SBIFF). 

The jury of the Nordic Cinema Competition states: “Intricate tale of the anguish of war. Totally unpredictable, highly original. Amazing Photography, editing and acting.”

Over the past 32 years, SBIFF has become one of the leading film festivals in the United States – attracting 90,000 attendees and offering 11 days of 200+ films, tributes and panels. The festival is known for attracting Hollywood filmmakers and actors and this year alone several Oscar-nominated directors, producers and actors have participated including actors Viggo Mortensen, Glenn Close, Michael B. Jordan, Rami Malek and Directors Spike Lee, Adam McKay and Alfonso Cuarón.

IN LOVE & WAR had its North American premiere at the festival on January 31st and has, because of large popularity with the festival audiences, had two extra sold out screenings apart from the already scheduled screenings.

Director Kasper Torsting and Producer Ronnie Fridthjof, that have written the script together says: "It's been an amazing experience to participate in Santa Barbara International Film Festival. The film has been very well received by the audiences and we are proud that the film is relevant and has an impact outside of Denmark as well. It is a tremendous honor to receive this award.”

IN LOVE & WAR is an epic romantic drama inspired by true events and is the first Danish/German film, that takes place during WWI. It is Directed by Kasper Torsting and Produced by Ronnie Fridthjof. Together they have written the screenplay.

The Story

Esben flees the trenches of WWI, after three years at the front, so he can return to his beloved wife Kirstine and son Karl. But everything at home has changed. A charming German Officer, Gerhard, has done everything he can to win Kirstine's heart and replace Esben's role as Karl's father. As Esben's family tries to adjust to his return from the front, the bonds of love and loyalty are stretched to the breaking point. From his hideout, Esben becomes a witness to a horrific nightmare watching his family slowly disappear in front of him as he fights for their love and survival and as he tries desperately to save his family.

Fridthjof Films largest production to date

IN LOVE & WAR is produced by Fridthjof Film and is the company’s largest production to date. The film has been made with support from The Danish Film Institute (Market Scheme), Danmarks Radio (DR), Fabrikant Mads Clausens Fond, FilmFyn, Nordisk Film & TV Fond, Sønderborg Kommune and Tønder Kommune.

IN LOVE & WAR is co-produced with the Czech company Film United, with co-producers Rick McCallum and Martin Sebik and the German companies Tamtam Film with co-producer Andrea Schütte and Nordfilm Kiel with co-producers Kerstin Ramcke and Christian Friedrichs.  As the film naturally is in Danish and German the two German Film Funds, Filmförderung Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein and Nordmedia have supported the film. The film is also supported by Creative Europe MEDIA.

IN LOVE & WAR is distributed in Denmark by United International Pictures and Mis. Label. The film has also been pre-sold to the German TV channel NDR and Norwegian TV2.

For more information, please contact:

Anja Linnet, anja@have.dk, +45 22 65 53 48

Michael Feder, michael@have.dk, +45 22 43 49 42

Facts about IN LOVE & WAR

The Team:

Director: Kasper Torsting

Screenplay by: Ronnie Fridthjof og Kasper Torsting

Producer: Ronnie Fridthjof

Cinematographer: Jesper Tøffner

Production Company: Fridthjof Film

Co-producers: Nordfilm Kiel, Tamtam Film og Film United

Supported by: The Danish Film Institute, Danmarks Radio, Fabrikant Mads Clausens Fond, FilmFyn, Nordisk Film & TV Fund, Filmförderung Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein, Sønderborg Kommune, Tønder Kommune, Creative Europe MEDIA, The Czech Film Fund, NDR and TV2 Norway.

Distributor: United International Pictures, Fridthjof Film Distribution og Mis. Label

Cast:

Sebastian Jessen: Esben

Rosalinde Mynster: Kirstine

Tom Wlaschiha: Gerhard

Thure Lindhardt: Hansen

Ulrich Thomsen: Müller

Natalie Madueño: Marie

Morten Brovn: Jes