April 9th (film)

April 9th (Danish: 9. april) is a 2015 Danish Second World War film directed by Roni Ezra and starring Lars Mikkelsen and Pilou Asbæk. The film depicts the German invasion of Denmark which commenced on 9 April 1940 and follows a group of Danish bicycle infantry sent as a vanguard to slow down the German advance until reinforcements can arrive.

The film's budget was 22 million Danish krone (just over $3 million) and was supported by the Danish Film Institute, TV 2 and the Haderslev Municipality. The film was released in Danish cinemas on 12 March 2015.

Plot

During the night of 9 April 1940, the Danish army is alerted that the German army has crossed the border and Denmark is now at war with Europe's strongest army. In South Jutland a Danish bicycle infantry company and a motorcycle platoon is ordered to hold off the German advance until reinforcements can arrive but are quickly overwhelmed by superior German forces. During the morning Second Lieutenant Sand (Pilou Asbæk) and his platoon of soldiers battle the Germans and then retreat to Haderslev.

Nordisk Film

Nordisk Film (USA affiliate: Great Northern Film Company), established in Denmark in 1906 by Danish filmmaker Ole Olsen, is the oldest continuously active film studio in the world. It is the third oldest studio in the world behind Gaumont and Pathé. Olsen started his company in the Copenhagen suburb of Valby under the name "Ole Olsen's Film Factory" but soon changed it to the Nordisk Film Kompagni. In 1908, Olsen opened an affiliate branch in New York, the Great Northern Film Company, to handle distribution of his films to the American market. As Nordisk Film, it became a publicly traded company in 1911.

In 1992 it merged with the Egmont media group and operates today as electronic media production and distribution group that employs 1,090 people in six countries. The total revenues in 2003 amounted to approximately €345 million. Today, Nordisk Film is the oldest movie production company in operation in the world. Egmont Nordisk Film is the largest producer and distributor of electronic entertainment in the Nordic region. Nordisk Film incorporates all parts of the value chain in the electronic entertainment world: development, production, marketing and distribution.