Danish Silent Classics on DVD

A delicious and not to mention important selection of Danish silent film classics has been restored and is now available for purchase online on the website of the Danish Film Institute. The selection includes films by internationally renowned director Carl Theodor Dreyer; the charismatic actor-director Benjamin Christensen and films starring Denmark's most prominent thespians of the silent period: actor Valdemar Psilander and actress Asta Nielsen.

A total of nine DVDs are available at present, while two more will be ready for sale in the coming months. These include films by Holger-Madsen (Himmelskibet, from 1918), August Blom (Verdens undergang/The End of the World, from 1916) and Carl Theodor Dreyer (Blade af Satan's Bog/Leaves from Satan's Book from 1921, Der var engang/Once Upon A Time, 1922).

The launch of this DVD collection (with English intertitles) is the conclusion of an ambitious project of the DFI Film Archive, which began in 2003, when the Danish Ministry of Culture allocated 1 million DKK (about £90,000) to a project for the digitization of national film classics from the silent period. The title list and more information can be found on the site of the Danish Film Institute.