Nils Malmros

One of the most important Danish directors of the last three decades and one of Danish cinema's few acknowledged auteurs, Malmros took his inspiration from the french new wave and Truffaut in particular. He started as a self taught director and debuted with En mærkelig kærlighed (1968) which is an amateur film that has not been in distribution since its premiere. His career got going with the largely selffinanced Lars Ole, 5c (1973) which, like his next films, was based on his own childhood experiences in Aarhus. His flair for depicting the pains and bittersweet troubles of early adolescence raised him to the status of a leading director in Denmark. Drenge (1977) ("Boys") was a description of the evolvement of male sexuality from the early pre-puberty experimentations to the grown man's sexual ventures. Kundskabens træ (1981) delved into the group dynamics and the first love experiences of teenagers in an Aarhus public school and is widely praised as a masterpiece and his finest work. La Belle et la Bête (1983) ("Beauty and the Beast") told the tale of a father's protectiveness of his teenage daughter with only the sligtest incestous undercurrents. _Århus by night (1989)_ is a meta-film about a director from the province meeting the cynical Copenhagen crew inspired from the making of Drenge. Kærlighedens smerte (1992) ("Pains of love") is about a lively young high school girl who falls in love with her teacher. They become a couple and when she becomes pregnant the dark sides of her personality begin to appear. Barbara (1997) is his first film based on a literary work and a departure from the highly personal tone in his other films.