Nordisk Film celebrates 120 years of bringing stories to life
In 1906, Ole Olsen founded one of the world’s first film studios in Valby. 120 years later, Nordisk Film continues to bring generations together around major, award-winning stories.
What began with flickering silent films in 1906 at Nordisk Film Kompagni is today one of the Nordic region’s largest entertainment companies.
Over the decades, Nordisk Film has enriched our shared cinematic heritage with everything from beloved domestic classics like The Olsen Gang (Olsen-banden) and Father of Four (Far til fire) to recent, critically acclaimed works such as Queen of Hearts (Dronningen), The Girl with the Needle (Pigen med nålen), and the two Oscar winners In a Better World (Hævnen) and Another Round (Druk).
To mark the 120th anniversary, Nordisk Film’s historic headquarters and studios in Valby have been added to the European Film Academy’s list of places of special significance to European film culture: Treasures of European Film Culture. With this, the studios in Valby join an exclusive circle alongside icons such as Studio Babelsberg in Potsdam, Institut Lumière in Lyon, and the Potemkin Stairs in Odesa.
Strong personalities bring Nordisk Film’s stories to life. Cultural icons such as Erik Balling, Lise Nørgaard, and Ove Sprogøe have helped shape Nordisk Film’s DNA and created universes that people continue to gather around across generations.
The story had its modest beginnings when entrepreneur and cinema owner Ole Olsen established the film company in 1906 and quickly opened branches in Berlin, Vienna, London, and New York. The polar bear on top of the globe swiftly became a global trademark, and Ole Olsen’s early silent films, such as The Lion Hunt (Løvejagten), achieved great international success.
Although the historic studios on "Lotten" in Valby still form the beating heart, Nordisk Film has constantly reinvented itself. Today, its entertainment spans many platforms: on the big screen across more than 40 cinemas in Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, through strong creative partnerships, and in a roster of gaming studios that entertain millions of gamers worldwide.
In 1992, Nordisk Film merged with Egmont, and in the late 1990s, the company entered a groundbreaking partnership for the distribution of PlayStation across the Nordic and Baltic regions. Since 2016, Nordisk Film has also built a significant international presence in the video game industry through Nordisk Games.
Much has changed over 120 years, but as a central part of Egmont, Nordisk Film continues to challenge, inspire, and bring stories to life for new generations.
“Nordisk Film is in a completely different place today than we were 120 years ago. We have encountered countless challenges and industry upheavals along the way, but we have always succeeded in reinventing ourselves - and we must continue doing so to remain relevant,” says Allan Mathson Hansen.