Asger Leth

Jørgen Leth can squeeze poetry from a stone and wit from dust, and he can find love where the milk of human kindness runs dry. In a series of tableaux of Life in Denmark, he carries absurdism to a happy extreme. To act out his minuscule non-dramas, he uses a motley crew of professional actors like Ghita Nørby and Claus Nissen, writer Dan Turéll plus a snake charmer, a bicycle racer and a circus queen.

What are the consequences of a young person to be famous at an early age, being a public person? "Født til Filmen" is about the Danish actress Stine Bierlich's (1967 - 2007) life and career. Through interviews with herself, with her family - Ann Bierlich (mother), Asger Leth (brother), Jørgen Leth (stepfather), friends and people from the film industry it tells us about Stine's life from being a child actress to becoming a celebrated young star of the 80's. The film is a comment on today's worshipping of stars, and how fame has almost become a drug in itself. It’s as if here’s every answer to any doubt. But as Stine's story shows, reality can actually be the opposite.

The intention of the film is to give an impression of what small exotic Denmark looks like, what the strange Danes look like and how they are. Nearly 100 Danes are presented in the film, amongst them a racing cyclist, a Minister of Finance, a popular actor and 13 unmarried women from a provincial town. "There is too much fogginess and rain and melancholy in most of the pictures of Denmark," says Jørgen Leth. "But not in my film. I would like to show you some authentic, clear and beautiful pictures from this strange country."

Klovn is a Danish sitcom, which first aired on the Danish TV channel TV2 Zulu. It focuses on the life of the main character Frank and Casper. The show builds its comedy around quiet everyday situations, social awkwardness, uncomfortable silences and general faux pas. Klovn usually gets compared to the American sitcom Curb Your Enthusiasm by Larry David. It’s also shot handheld, in a pseudo-realistic style. Some have also mistakenly compared the theme to Curb Your Enthusiasm’s, despite it being a direct reference to Jacques Tati’s Mr. Hulot movies. The poster for the first film can be seen in Casper and Frank’s offices throughout the series. Klovn initially ran 6 seasons on TV2 Zulu from 2005-2009 and was renewed with an additional 3 seasons that aired from 2018-2022.