Short Films from a Small Nation

The first book-length study in English of a national corpus of state-sponsored informational film

For three decades, state-sponsored short filmmaking educated Danish citizens, promoted Denmark to the world, and shaped the careers of renowned directors like Carl Th. Dreyer. The first book-length study in English of a national corpus of state-sponsored informational film, this book traces how Danish shorts on topics including social welfare, industry, art and architecture were commissioned, funded, produced and reviewed from the inter-war period to the 1960s. Examining the life cycle of a representative selection of films, and discussing their preservation and mediation in the digital age, this book presents a detailed case study of how informational cinema is shaped by, and indeed shapes, its cultural, political and technological contexts.

Key features

• Combines close textual analysis of a broad range of films with detailed accounts of their commissioning, production, distribution and reception in Denmark and abroad
• Considers a broad range of genres and sub-genres, including industrial process films, public information films, art films, the city symphony, the essay film, and many more
• Maps international networks of informational and documentary films in the post-war period
• Explores the role of informational film in Danish cultural and political history

Access additional resources on the Danish Film Institute website

Claire Thomson discusses Danish public information films on the BBC podcast