The National Film School of Denmark (Danish: Den Danske Filmskole) is an independent institution under the Danish Ministry of Cultural Affairs. It was established in 1966 and is based on Holmen in the harbour of Copenhagen.

History

The National Danish Film School was established in 1966 under the Danish Film Institute with Theodor Christensen [da; ru] and Jens Christian Lauritzen as the driving forces and the latter as the institution's first principal. In 1988 the school became an independent institution and in 1998 the school—until then spread out on several addresses—relocated to its current premises on Holmen as part of the Danish Centre for Artistic Educations.

Courses

There are seven study programmes available: fiction directing, documentary directing, cinematography, script writing, editing, sound, animation and games directing, and film producing. The number of students is 96: 60 film students, 6 scriptwriters, 18 TV students and 12 animation directors. All courses are 4-year programmes, except the animation and games directing course which lasts 4½ years.

The school is an art school but practical knowledge is also very important. The teaching programme is a mixture of theoretical and practical training and includes a large number of exercises and productions. The students' final project is a film produced on a professional level and presented to the public on national TV. All students must pass an entrance test including both practical exercises and interviews.

Director Poul Nesgaard headed the school between 1992 and 2014, when film editor Vinca Wiedemann [da] took over. The number of employees amounts to about 50 persons, including teachers, technical and administrative staff. A large number of guest teachers are temporarily employed. The school also arranges courses for film and TV professionals from abroad and seminars with the participation of other Nordic countries.

Directors

Year	Keeper
1966–1969	Jens Christian Lauritzen
1969–1975	None, run as a film-commune
1975–1982	Henning Camre
1992–2014	Poul Nesgaard
2014–2019	Vinca Wiedemann [da]
2019–2021	Bo Damgaard [da]
2021– May 2024	Tine Fischer [da]

Alumni

Source

See also

• Danish Academy of Digital, Interactive Entertainment
• European Cross Media Academy