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SPECIAL EDITION

We’ve got no less than 34 culture events to see you through the remainder of May

The emphasis is on Danish theatre at this year’s CPH Stage, with many productions specially translated into English

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E.DK

CPHSTAG

DANISH NEWS IN ENGLISH VOL 21 ISSUE 06

CPHPOST.DK 18 - 31 May 2018

NEWS Hack Maersk – fine! But hands off our transport!

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NEWS

Good cop, bad cop Ministers are an effective double act on the road

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Swan over: Why China ♥ Hans Green Card holders submit complaint over rule change

NEWS Denmark wows Eurovision fans, but not the juries

9 BUSINESS

The new superpowers Forever diversifying, the supermarkets would run our lives if they could

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New criteria make it even harder to get a permit, but government body claims they date back to 2015

A

N OFFICIAL complaint has been submitted to Parliament’s Ombudsmand that rejects claims by SIRI (Danish Agency for International Recruitment and Integration) that it has been using revised rules affecting Green Card holder permit criteria for several years now.

Thousands face exodus HOLIDAY money no longer counts towards the Green Card holders’ annual income, which means thousands could be asked to leave the country for earning less than the required amount (286,000-329,364 kroner).

Aage Kramp, the senior legal advisor at Immigration Law who

worded the complaint, tells CPH POST there does not appear to be any mention of holiday money impacting income requirements until 2018.

However, SIRI claims the criteria were changed by law on 1 January 2015.

Pain of Pavan AMONG those affected is Indian IT professional Pavan Sunkara, whose bid to extend his Green Card permit was recently rejected.

Sunkara, who arrived in Denmark in 2014, was just under 4,000 kroner short of reaching the income requirement – a requirement he would have easily met had holiday money been included.

Before applying for his extension he was informed by an official at International House Copenhagen that holiday money

would count towards his income requirement.

“I cannot imagine leaving Denmark,” he said.

Was it a clarification?

ACCORDING to Kramp, there was no mention of the change until January 2018 when a line suddenly appeared on SIRI’s online site ‘New to Denmark’: “Employer paid pension and disbursed holiday allowance is included in the calculation of your salary. Holiday allowance earned but not paid to you is not included.”

However, SIRI claims this was simply a clarification.

“The unjustified and unlawful change of practice has endangered hundreds, if not thousands, of the remaining Green Card holders’ extension applications,” concluded Kramp. (CW)

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Not so green after all A GROUP of 301 Danish researchers have condemned their fellow countrymen as being among the world’s worst contributors to climate change, claiming that their dependence on foreign products is much higher than reported. Socialdemokratiet is accordingly targeting more green vehicles, setting a target of 500,000 by 2030.

Green around the Lars LARS VON Trier’s latest movie, ‘The House That Jack Built’, prompted horrified groans and more than 100 walkouts during its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival on Monday night. The film depicts a serial killer (Matt Dillon) who in one scene blows two small children’s heads off with a hunting rifle. In true Danish tradition, it got a standing ovation … from those left remaining.

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NEWS

THE COPENHAGEN POST | CPHPOST.DK

ONLINE THIS WEEK A 33-YEAR-OLD male nurse has been sentenced to two years in prison for raping a drunk female patient at Rigshospitalet last December. The victim was literally paralytic, but conscious of what was going on, and she eventually summoned up the strength to fight him off. The nurse admitted to assaulting the woman with his fingers and penis, but denied rape.

Soldier shoots copper A SOLDIER shot a police officer on the arm in the vicinity of the Great Synagogue on Krystalgade in central Copenhagen on May 5. The accident took place inside an observation building.

In related news, a 32-year-old man in possession of a gun and ammunition was arrested at a fitness centre in Hvidovre on May 2.

Tower blocks to come down

Motorist action fails A LARGE number of motorists have failed in an appeal at Østre Landsret to overturn speeding fines handed out in 2015 at roadworks near Lyngby. The motorists claimed that signage warning of a reduced speed limit was not clear enough. Nearly 8,000 fines were issued. In related news, an anti-speeding campaign last week nailed 1,600 drivers on its first day.

Editorial offices: International House, Gyldenløvesgade 11, 1600 Copenhagen Denmark

ONLINE THIS WEEK

Hackers increasingly targeting transport companies RAY WEAVER

C

YBER-ATTACKS on governments and the corporate world rarely impact on the average person in the street.

But all that is beginning to change, as hackers would now appear to be targeting transport companies – arguably the very area of our lives that cause us the most stress.

Let’s hope their next goal isn’t self-driving vehicles.

City bike lockdown DURING the night of May 4-5, hackers targeted Copenhagen city bike operator Bycyklen, rendering 1,660 of its 1,860 bicycles unusable.

Bycyklen, which claims no significant data was stolen from

It’ll be a hard job trying to hack that, fellas! Bring them back!

its customers, had no other choice than to search the streets for the bikes and restart them manually.

Bycyklen called the attack “primitive”, but conceded that it was carried out “by a person with a high level of knowledge of the IT structure of our system”.

Ticket sale freeze AND THEN over the night of May 13-14, a DDoS cyber-attack

on DSB ensured it was almost impossible to purchase a rail ticket via the DSB app, website and ticket machines, and also the 7-Eleven kiosks at the stations.

Rejsekort passengers were unaffected, and DSB allowed those customers without the travel card to buy tickets from staff on the trains.

“We have all of our experts on the case,” said DSB spokesperson Aske Wieth-Knudsen.

P

ETER MADSEN, who was sentenced to life after being found guilty of the premeditated murder of Swedish journalist Kim Wall on April 25, has decided to appeal, but not against the verdict – just the length of sentence.

The submariner’s defence lawyers will argue that a life sentence is very rarely handed out for the killing of a single adult.

The high court begins on September 5 at Østre Landsret.

Court rejected defence LAST MONTH, a judge and two lay judges unanimously found Madsen guilty of all charges in connection with

THE POLICE estimate that as many as 200 people might be eligible for compensation in relation to the infringement of their democratic rights when they were prevented from waving Tibetan flags to peacefully protest against the visiting Chinese president in 2012. Already, eight have successfully sued and won 20,000 kroner each. A commission last year ruled that the police action was illegal.

COMMUTERS on Kystbanen, the coastal railway line between Helsingør and Hellerup, face a bus replacement service from June 29 until August 12. The same will be true between Valby and Frederikssund from June 1 until August 26.

Sights set on Europe

Madsen disputes sentence not verdict Submariner expected to argue that life is very rarely handed out for the killing of a single adult.

Tibet protest admission

Summer of misery 2

FLICKR/JOI ITO

BRØNDBY Municipality has decided to knock down five tower blocks built in Brøndby Strand Parkerne because they contain large amounts of the hazardous chemical polychlorinated biphenyl. Demolishing (cost of 200 million kroner) the blocks is cheaper than renovating (780 million).

Hacking a spoke in all our wheels MORTEN JENSEN

Victim literally paralytic

18 - 31 May 2018

ARDENT anti-trafficking campaigner David Munis Zepernick, who won a seat on Frederiksberg Municipal Council last November, has been confirmed as one of Radikale’s two Copenhagen candidates for next year’s European elections. Zepernick told CPH POST he was excited to take the fight to Europe.

Multiple arrests on May 1

We’re sick of seeing his face, quite frankly

murder on August 10 last year, including one of sexually abusing his victim.

Their verdict noted that Madsen had not been a credible witness – particularly in his explanations as to how Wall died – and the unusual inventory aboard his submarine on

the fateful day.

The verdict rejected Madsen’s claims that he cut up Wall’s body for any other reason than to hide the evidence of his crime, and he was ordered to pay 247,000 kroner in compensation to her parents and boyfriend. (CPH POST)

COPENHAGEN Police arrested 11 people on May 1 in connection with various demonstrations. Several were violating the recently-introduced ban on face masks.

Gymnast broke neck A 16-YEAR-OLD boy died on May 6 two days after he broke his neck practising jumps at a gymnastics school in Stevns, south Zealand.

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18 - 31 May 2018

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“Everything you wish for has an expression in Danish�

Olga, philologist from Novosibirsk.

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18 - 31 May 2018

How Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy-tales resonate with Chinese youth For almost a century, the Danish author’s works have delighted and intrigued countless numbers of children and adults CHANG CAI

I

T IS PERHAPS not surprising given his enduring worldwide popularity, but Danish author Hans Christian Andersen also brings joy to Chinese people of all ages.

Many of his stories – such as ‘The Ugly Duckling’, ‘The Snow Queen’ and ‘The Emperor’s New Clothes’ – have been translated into Chinese and are very popular there.

But Andersen’s work is so much more than just pretty stories; the themes can be understood on many different levels and even support differing interpretations – depending on the prevailing societal and political norms.

The beginnings IN 1919 THE author Zuoren Zhou first introduced Andersen’s fairy-tales to Chinese readers during the cultural and political flowering known as the May Fourth Movement by translating ‘The Little Match Girl’ into Chinese.

During this period, Chinese people felt oppressed by the corrupt feudalism and autocracy of the ruling classes, but gradually began to resist traditional authority and reject the autocracy of their rulers.

A number of Andersen’s stories struck a chord by revealing and criticising the corruption, autocracy and stupidity of the upper classes. This chimed well with the Chinese people’s yearning for freedom and democracy, so Andersen’s stories were broadly embraced.

A new perspective

BY THE 1930s, Chinese people had discovered the bitter truth that the mere expectation of a happy life cannot improve standards of living and produce real change.

Overthrowing autocratic dominion and developing the economy is more than just a fairy-tale; freedom has to be won through struggle and hard work.

So Andersen’s stories were now frowned upon as mere escapism and fell out of favour with the people.

Lishan Weng and Yao Ma both recall changing their interpretations of the stories as they grew up

The year 1949 marked the founding of the People’s Republic of China. After this, the Chinese people didn’t need to seek guidance from fairy-tales to make the revolution successful.

So Andersen’s stories began to be interpreted from a cultural standpoint, combining Chinese and Danish culture.

But what of today? How do modern young people interpret and understand Andersen’s stories? CPH POST interviewed some young Chinese people to find out.

ness and ruthlessness of society, but the smile on the little girl’s face tells me something about the beauty of human nature.”

Weng pointed out that Andersen criticised the upper classes through the death of the girl and showed his sympathy for poor people.

“Although the social structure is unfair and cold, there are also some good things in the world, like the girl’s smile. Similarly, even though there are many problems in our society, good things still exist,” added Weng.

Striking a match LISHAN Weng, an employee at the internet company Hong Xin, was “deeply affected” by both ‘The Little Match Girl’ and ‘The Ugly Duckling’ as a child.

He read ‘The Little Match Girl’ when he was very young and at that time felt very sad for its female protagonist: “It was hard for me to accept a girl’s death due to cold and starvation when I was a child.”

Now, as a grown-up, he has a better understanding of the story.

“The little girl died with a smile on her face and she saw some beautiful things using the lighted match. In contrast, at the same time, wealthy people were cheerfully celebrating Christmas Day,” said Weng.

“This story reflects the cold-

Hints at ugly truths WENG ALSO changed his mind about The ‘Ugly Duckling’ when he grew up.

As a child he remembers noting how “the duckling eventually turned into a swan. It was really inspiring. When I was in primary school, this story told me that people can become successful as long as they work hard and overcome difficulties.”

Years later, though, he recalls that “after learning more about our society, I know the most important reason for the duckling to become a beautiful swan is that this duckling is born to be a swan! If it is not a swan in nature, then no matter how hard-working it is, this duckling will not change into a swan”.

Certainly, hard work and persistence are also important.

“If it doesn’t work hard and overcome difficulties, maybe it will not end up turning into a swan.” The story tells him that innate skills and hard work are both important to personal development.

Initially, Weng thought the fairy-tales were more suitable for children to read and his understanding of them was at best superficial.

Now, he thinks that these stories incorporate Andersen’s personal thoughts and emotions.

“Combined with my own knowledge and experience, I can reach a deeper understanding of what Andersen wants to express through these stories, like human nature and social problems,” he said.

“I admire Andersen, because he can use the simplest words and stories to reflect extremely profound issues.”

New clothes, old truths YAO MA, a student at Lanzhou

University, remembers ‘The Emperor’s New Clothes’ the best.

“When I first read this, I thought it was very strange and funny for an emperor to walk along the street in his new ‘clothes’.” However, she gradually began to understand the human weakness reflected in the story.

“The emperor deceives himself and others, while his ministers pretend they can see the new ‘clothes’ in order to look after their own interests.

Ironically, nobody dares to tell the truth, except children,” she added.

Ma points out that con-men like these prey on human weakness. People are afraid to tell the truth because they do not want to damage their interests or be punished. Also, she thinks that Andersen reveals the ugliness of the adult world by comparing it with the children’s attitude to the truth.

POPULAR IN CHINA • ‘The Little Match Girl’ was one of, if not the first pieces of Western literature

that most Chinese people encountered.

• Chairman Mao called ‘The Little Match Girl’ the most anti-capitalist story

ever written and was brought to tears when reading it.

• Amongst Chinese tourists visiting Denmark, the Hans Christian Andersen

Museum in Odense is the most visited attraction

• June 2017 saw the opening of the Shanghai Andersen Paradise, a theme

park serving as a celebration of Andersen’s life and work.

18 - 31 May 2018

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NEWS

THE COPENHAGEN POST | CPHPOST.DK

ONLINE THIS WEEK Searches end in success A 24-HOUR search involving helicopters for a missing 17-yearold girl in Vipperød in northwest Zealand ended on May 5 when tracker dogs found her in the attic of her family’s former home. It is believed the girl was suffering from depression. In related news, a shorter search on the same day for a missing two-year-old girl ended when she was found walking alone in a park in Esbjerg.

Rapist will remain AN 18-YEAR-OLD Congolese citizen who raped a 17-year-old girl at a party in Kolding in March will not be deported as he has lived in the country for 15 years. In other Jutland crime news, a police officer was dragged 30-40 metres by a car during a routine stop in Esbjerg on May 6, and a man fired a shotgun outside the Dronninglund asylum centre in Brovst on April 24.

Bother on the bridge TRAFFIC was slow on the Great Belt Bridge for two hours on May 4 as the floating Russian nuclear power plant Akademik Lomonosov made its way past.

The police limited the traffic “as an extra security measure”. No other explanation was given.

During its journey through Danish waters, the Akademik Lomonosov was escorted by the Najaden, a Danish patrol vessel.

Insomniac nation SOME 45 percent of Danes encounter sleeping difficulties, according to the Sundhedsstyrelsen national health board, with 13 percent saying they are ‘very troubled’ – a percentage that has been steadily rising since 2010.

Among young women aged 1624 the proportion was 18 percent – a figure blamed on the pressure on young women to be perfect.

Neighbourly fail A QUARTER of Danes don’t know the name of ther neighbour, according to a YouGov survey for Metroxpress. The percentage was 43 percent in the 18 to 29-year-old bracket – a finding that academics blamed on youngsters having active social lives.

18 - 31 May 2018

In the children’s best interests – or ours?

Whether it’s educating, motivating or punishing them, the authorities and parents are missing the mark more often than delivering BEN HAMILTON

S

OME 20 CHILDREN from Struer in central Jutland had their field trip cut short on May 2 when a wolf sat just 50 metres away and observed them.

It is every parent’s worst nightmare because we know we would do anything to protect our little ones, but do we and the government always make the right decisions?

Pencils for toys THE FIRST four years of school tend to go smoothly. During the SFO classes for children aged 6-10 the focus is mastering the basics: learning to read and counting. Social skills, empathy and personal development, the main focus of daycare, also remain a high priority.

But children aged 5-6 are now being encouraged to swap their toys for pencils at daycare. From July 1, 6.8 million kroner has been allocated to facilitate the early start to the SFO.

Votes at any cost BUT DOES the government have the children’s best interests at heart, or is it more preoccupied with votes?

Take teenage smoking. A recent Vidensråd for Forebyggelse report suggests pricing them out by doubling the price of cigarettes – a move backed by 59 percent of the public.

Nevertheless, Parliament will only consider raising the price from 45 to 65 kroner, as hardly any politicians are willing to go further.

Lock them away AND WHAT about teenagers who make or share sex videos featuring participants under the age of 18 – is charging children with distributing child pornography and locking them up before their adult life has started the best way forward?

Two boys, who were 16 and 17 at the time they shared a video, have been sentenced to 20 and 40 days in prison – a case that could set a punitive precedent for the ‘Umbrella Complex’ case involving over 1,000 other young people.

Arguably more moronic IT’S NOT like adults can be trusted online. A study by the Tænk Kemi (think chemicals) consumer council reveals that Danish customers buy cosmetic products from Wish.com with no notion of the danger the ingredients pose.

Of 39 products purchased by Tænk Kemi, 21 of them did not have a required ingredient list.

Nevertheless, wish.com is the fifth most popular online store in Denmark.

What big pies you’ve got

Two-thirds of children aged 7–12 watch videos on YouTube every day, reports DR, where channel presenters are increasingly being called influencers due to their ability to peddle advertising.

The YouTubers are employing marketing managers to maximise their potential, and over ten companies have been launched in the last five years to cater to the demand.

Concerns have been expressed over the way the advertising is presented, but “the viewers tend to know that someone is trying to sell them something; they are just happy that the YouTubers are making money,” Gonzo Media chief executive Martin Wiinholt told DR.

Learn from them, maybe IT’S NO wonder we’re rearing a nation of eager consumers.

Resort to violence STILL, the parents should know better, right? Well, try telling that to the 1,603 children under the age of nine who experienced violence in 2017 – a 536 percent since 2010, according to advocacy organisation Børns Vilkår in co-operation TrygFonden.

Figures from Danmarks Statistik claimed that children don’t get any help in four out of every ten cases concerning violence and abuse, but then it turned out the figures were erroneous – yes, probably the parents’ fault again.

Expensive for petrol

Grave concerns

Industrial action avoided

DENMARK is the fifth most expensive country in Europe for petrol, according to the Europe’s Fuel Price Index published by Just Tyres. It costs 426 kroner (£50) to drive 418 miles. Only Norway (392), the Netherlands (403), Italy (403) and Greece (409) yielded shorter distances, while Bulgaria (602) was the cheapest. Denmark ranks 14th for diesel.

CONTRARY to historic fears that graveyards would only get bigger, fewer people are using them and almost half the country’s plots now stand unused. It has become normal to reuse a site 20 years after a burial – just a decade in the case of urns – and more people are getting cremated or being buried in a communal grave. Parishes are increasingly covering up the gaps with plants and benches.

LATE APRIL brought a resolution to the dispute over public worker wages that had threatened to bring industrial action to Denmark and a suspension of many services. On April 2627, solutions were struck for 500,000 municipal workers and 40,000 regional employees, followed by deals for the 180,000 state and remaining 80,000 regional employees over the weekend.

Where’s the empathy?

DESPITE the solid start to their schooling, many children play truant once they leave the SFO, with a third of headteachers complaining there are no guidelines in place for dealing with excessive absenteeism.

The problem is so bad at upper-secondary schools (ages 16-19) that Merete Riisager, the education minister, has recommended cutting the SU of students who are absent for more than 15 percent of their schooling in a quarter.

ONLINE THIS WEEK Three new ministers THREE new ministers have been appointed. IT entrepreneur Tommy Ahlers, a former Dragon’s Den judge, has replaced Søren Pind (education and research), Jakob Ellemann-Jensen has taken over from Esben Lunde Larsen (environment and food), and Eva Kjer Hansen has succeeded Jakob’s sister Karen Ellemann (fisheries, equality and Nordic co-operation).

All set for flexi-time FROM SEPTEMBER, the 10,000 workers at Copenhagen Municipality’s Health and Care Services department will be on flexible working hours. A trial yielded positive results, with 68 percent of the employees agreeing that being able to alter their hours was an important contributor to their job satisfaction. The remaining 30,000 city employees could be next.

Odense oversight HC ANDERSEN’S childhood home in Odense, which has an attached museum, is not a protected building. “I first thought I had read it wrong,” city councillor Jane Jegind told Ekstra Bladet after discovering the gaffe. It is believed Odense Municipality will take swift action. HC Andersen lived in the home for 12 years until he was 14.

Murderers deserve more SOME 70 percent of Danes believe a minimum of 12 years for murdering someone is too lenient, according to a YouGov survey for Metroxpress. However, Trine Baumbach, an expert at the University of Copenhagen, contends the minimum sentence gives judges “wiggle room” should there be exceptional circumstances.

Inheritance tax shake-up?

A PROPOSED citizens’ bill to scrap inheritance tax has gained 14,000 of the needed 50,000 signatures, with Liberal Alliance and Konservative voicing their support for lowering the current rate of 15 percent and raising the tax-free threshold from 282,600 kroner. Sweden (2005) and Norway (2014) have already abolished it. In 2017, the tax netted 4.4 billion kroner from the tax.

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18 - 31 May 2018

CT COOPER

Get out the wrecking ball!

www.cis.dk

It may ruin the sea-view from the promenade, but it’s not dangerous

State backing municipal drive to tidy up coast STEPHEN GADD

T

HE GOVERNMENT has set up a 2.8 million kroner fund to enable coastal municipalities to remove unsightly wrecks lying off their beaches, providing they have been declared ownerless in court or if the owner doesn’t have the means to remove them.

At present the state, which has freed up a total of 45 million kroner for coastal management and nature preservation, will remove wrecks considered environmentally hazardous.

Class of 1842?

IN RELATED news, a historic ship-

wreck has been found off the coast of southern Falster, which might have been sunk in a major storm in 1842 that took over 400 ships to the bottom.

Several days of high winds shifted sand on Bøtø Strand to reveal the ship’s remains. The wreck is about four to five metres wide and 14 to 20 metres long.

Least of the worries IF ONLY wrecks were the only items found in the sea. Off Løverodde strand near Kolding, a group of divers were recently able to collect 250 kilos of rubbish in just one afternoon.

An estimated 1,000 tonnes of maritime rubbish washes up on the coast of west Jutland every year. A new national campaign is targeting tourists, boat owners, fishermen and visitors to the beach.

ONLINE THIS WEEK Mega energy plan

Whose regulations?

A NEW NATIONAL energy strategy aims to cover half of Denmark’s energy needs using sustainable sources by 2030 and make the country fossil fuel-free by 2050. Besides building an 800MW offshore wind park to power Denmark’s seven biggest cities, 4.2 billion kroner will enhance competition between green technologies, and 4 billion kroner will expand green biogas production.

CONFUSION reigns over who is responsible for ensuring the safe disposal of the naturally occurring radioactive material that Total will produce when it drills for oil in the North Sea. Esbjerg Municipality asked the environmental authority to assess Total’s proposed waste dump, but then the health authority took an interest, leading to conflicting government regulations being floated about.

More depression genes

Paid donor success

A NEW ANALYSIS of 135,000 Danes suffering from depression carried out by researchers at Aarhus University has identified 30 new genes connected to depression.

LAST YEAR, 222 children were conceived in Denmark using donated eggs – four times the average heading into 2016, the year when the price paid to donors jumped from 2,400 to 7,000 kroner.

DTU even more innovative

Killed by robotic arm

THE DTU has risen five places up the ‘Reuters Top 100: Europe’s Most Innovative Universities’ list to number nine, making it number one in the Nordics.

A 27-YEAR-OLD man was killed when he became trapped between a robotic arm and an electric cabinet in his Funen workplace on April 30.

Volunteers sought

Massive duck culled

VOLUNTEERS are being sought to help the Natural History Museum count insects in order to map their diversity across the country amid fears they are declining rapidly.

THE NATIONAL food agency recommended that 20,000 domestic ducks should be killed to halt the spread of a strain of bird flu near Holstebro in northwest Jutland.

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NEWS

ONLINE THIS WEEK US DEFENCE company Cubic Defense Systems intends to establish a central training and command centre in Haderslev in southern Denmark for all northern European F-35 combat aircraft, reports Jyllands-Posten.

In other aircraft news, Denmark is lending Frontex, the European border and coastguard agency, its Challenger patrol plane in June and November.

Madsen to blame DENMARK has slipped five places on the 2018 World Press Freedom Index to number nine – a fall mainly blamed on the murder of Swedish journalist Kim Wall by submariner Peter Madsen. One of its main criteria is the safety and freedom of journalists. Denmark trailed fellow Nordic states Norway (1), Sweden (2) and Finland (4), but finished ahead of Iceland (14).

Such high quality ACCORDING to the latest Kochenov Quality of Nationality Index published by Henley & Partners, Denmark has the world’s fourth highest quality nationality, trailing only France, Germany and Iceland. It ranked fourth in the External Value of Nationality and Settlement Freedom subcategories and fifth for Travel Freedom.

Norway and Sweden finished fifth and sixth.

Nigerian trial adjourned THE TRIAL of Peter Nielsen, a 53-year-old Danish man accused of murdering his family in Nigeria, has been adjourned until June 28. As well as his wife, Zainab Ali-Nielsen, a popular singer better known as Alizee, their three-year-old daughter, Petra, was also killed.

Busy in the US THE FOREIGN minister, Anders Samuelsen, has just returned from a six-day visit to the US on which he met the country’s newly-appointed national security adviser, John Bolton, to discuss global challenges. He also opened the new Danish consulate general in Houston and a new Nordic museum in Seattle, where he was joined by Princess Mary.

Good cop, bad cop take Kabul by the horns

ONLINE THIS WEEK FOREIGN MINISTRY

Fighter jet base set up

18 - 31 May 2018

Ulla Tørnæs, the minister for development, is a sight for sore eyes in most of the world’s trouble-spots … providing she’s travelling alone BEN HAMILTON

U

LLA TØRNÆS, the minister for development, is quietly ‘developing’ (geddit?) a reputation for being a bearer of good news, and the last three weeks have been no different, with Syria, the Rohingyas, African wind energy and women in need of contraception during humanitarian crises all benefiting from the swish of her pen.

But put Inger Støjberg, the minister for immigration and integration, on the same plane and suddenly you have a good cop, bad cop scenario.

Clear expectations THE DOUBLE act recently visited Afghanistan and met with President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani. On average, Denmark has annually given Afghanistan 425 million kroner this century, and Tørnæs hailed its “prospects”. Cue bad cop!

The discussion duly touched on the country receiving rejected Afghan asylum-seekers and how Denmark can help the country with reception and reintegration programs.

“The government’s policy is that when we support a developing country, we have a clear expectation the country will co-operate in returning its own nationals if they have been denied asylum or have been expelled from Denmark,” said Støjberg.

US decision condemned DANISH politicians were quick to condemn the US decision to exit the Iran nuclear deal. PM Lars Løkke Rasmussen said the deal was “important for non-proliferation and regional security”, while Holger K Nielsen, the former foreign minister, called the move “catastrophic” and “insane”.

Cambodia’s most wanted

“Is she alone ... Great! Get the cheque book out!”

centre on Sicily, one of the biggest recipients of refugees and migrants crossing the central Mediterranean Sea. Tørnæs discussed preventative measures with representatives of the UNHCR, as well as speaking with migrants to gain insight into some of the reasons why they embark upon the perilous journey from Africa.

with information about sexual health,” explained Tørnæs.

A generous month HOWEVER, Africa didn’t get Tørnæs’s biggest cheque of the past month. Some 730 million kroner has been earmarked to help alleviate the ongoing crisis in Syria. Half the sum will be dedicated to focusing on a sustainable development among refugees and local communities in Lebanon and Jordan.

A further 105 million kroner has been donated to ease the plight of the 671,000 stateless Rohingyas currently residing in overcrowded camps in Bangladesh after fleeing from Myanmar last year, taking the total Denmark has given so far to 286 million kroner.

And the government has committed 600 million kroner to building a 100 MW wind farm close to Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa. In total, the project will cost 1.26 billion kroner.

Recce to Sicily STØJBERG was no doubt keen to learn the findings of Tørnæs’s early May recce to the Mineo

Contraception interceptions IT IS MAINLY in Africa, particularly in the countries experiencing humanitarian crises, where the government is helping to promote women’s access to contraception.

It has accordingly donated 60 million kroner to the UN food program WFP as it is a great platform through which to meet African women who might need help.

“Usually, it is the women who are dispatched to collect the food WFP distributes, and when they receive the food products it’s sensible to provide them

Jailed for fake news

Uproar over deportation

Holding on to power

A DANISH citizen will spend a month in jail in Malaysia after being unable to pay a 16,000 kroner fine after being found guilty of publishing fake news on Facebook. Salah Sulaiman claimed the police took 50 minutes to respond to an emergency call following the assassination of a Palestinian lecturer in Kuala Lumpur on April 21. The police could prove in court they took eight minutes.

THE MEDIA is in uproar following the Immigration Ministry’s decision to deport the mother of a two-monthold baby to the Philippines on a one-way ticket on Monday – alone. Christina Maramba and her Danish husband failed with a bid for family reunification last December – mainly because they misunderstood criteria relating to their residence, which is owned by the in-laws.

WITH 27.2 percent, Greenland’s biggest party Siumut has won another four-year term with Kim Kielsen at the helm.

It edged out Inuit Ataqatigiit (25.5 percent – just 481 votes behind) as its share fell by a fifth.

During its campaign Siumut said it intends to replace Danish with English as the second language of choice in classrooms. Some 60 percent of Greenlanders are monolingual.

SAM SEREY, the founder of the Cambodian dissident group Khmer National Liberation Front who has been a resident in Denmark since being granted asylum in 2011, had a narrow escape in April when his visa ran out in Thailand. Cambodia quickly put in an extradition request, but the Danish government and a human rights group intervened and boarded him on a flight to Denmark.

Cleared on Lesbos TWO DANISH employees of the aid group Team Humanity were last week acquitted of human smuggling charges in a court on the Greek island of Lesbos.

Salam Aldeen and Mohammed El Abbassi, along with five Spanish firefighters, were charged after they helped many refugees in danger of drowning as they crossed over from Turkish waters in January 2016.

Stone hits Dane at border A 58-YEAR-OLD Danish female motorist was seriously injured on May 8 by a stone dropped from a German highway bridge just south of the border with Denmark near Padborg in southern Jutland. The granite stone, measuring 25 x 25 cm, smashed through the window of the motorist’s BMW. Another stone was dropped a half-hour earlier 10 km further south in Germany.

Diplomacy decline DENMARK is slipping when it comes to diplomatic clout, according to a University of Copenhagen study. Since 1965 it has slipped from 11th to 46th place as the number of its serving ambassadors (75) has fallen, along with those resident in Denmark (71). Sweden, in contrast, is 20th in the rankings.

NEWS

18 - 31 May 2018

ONLINE THIS WEEK COPENHAGEN Towers have pulled off one of their biggest ever wins: a 50-7 spanking of the British champions Tamworth Phoenix. The Towers, who have also this season beaten the Oslo Vikings, are emerging as strong contenders in the Northern European Football League. Running back Dayton Winn scored five touchdowns. Next up are Swedish champs Carlstad Crusaders.

Beast best at last DANISH keeper Brian ‘The Beast’ Jensen has finally won his first title – in Northern Ireland.

Jensen made several good saves as the Crusaders beat Ballymena United 2-1 to secure the title.

Jensen spent 18 trophy-less years in English football, turning out for the likes of West Brom, Bury, Crawley Town, Mansfield Town and Burnley, for which he played 271 matches.

Michelin ambition DFDS SEAWAYS is launching a new gourmet dining concept, Restaurant Sjø, which it hopes could earn a Michelin star. Søren Westh (formerly Noma and El Bulli) is advising, while Christian Mortensen (Kul and The Paul) will be the head chef. The most expensive menu will cost 1,500 kroner and be composed to reflect the journey.

More like drizzle FOR ONCE, a highly-anticipated Danish television series hasn’t been given rave reviews by the country’s media – but then again, the futuristic, young adult drama was financed with American dollars by Netflix. Despite scoring 65 on Metacritic, ‘The Rain’ got a thumbs down from the likes of Politiken and Ekstra Bladet who complained it was not original enough.

Literally in her art LINA HASHIM, a 39-year-old artist originally from Kuwait studying at the Copenhagen Academy of Fine Arts, has been adding an unusual shade of red to her palette: her own blood.

Hashim has incorporated her own blood into several images of suicide bombers as an exploration of martyrdom.

ONLINE THIS WEEK EUROVISION

Towering over Tamworth

We’ll take the moral high ground Eurovision fans left to conclude that juries are forcefed magic mushrooms BEN HAMILTON

T

HE BIGGEST question doing the rounds in Eurovision circles isn’t about cultural appropriation. No, we’ll leave that to Anti-Semites and bad losers the world over.

It’s who on earth makes up these juries, because the gulf between their scores and those of the public couldn’t be wider on Saturday night, and Denmark was among the countries to lose out.

Hopeless Hilda WHO REMEMBERS Hopeless Hilda? In 2016, the Danish jury member put her selections in completely the wrong order, thus giving her least favourite song top marks.

But even worse was the realisation that she designated the eventual winner as her second worse entry. It suggests judges like Hilda Heick are not being objective and appraising the song on its musical merits alone.

Incidentally, had she not made her mistake, Ukraine’s winning margin would have been reduced from 23 points to nine. It goes to show how a few morons can completely tip the balance.

9

Blues at the Opera AMONG the big music names confirming concert dates this month were blues superstar Joe Bonamassa (Operaen; Sep 19), US hip-hop act Flatbush Zombies (Pumpehuset, Oct 6), US soul singer Leon Bridges (Vega; Oct 29); US rapper Bas (Vega; July 17); Icelandic electronic band GusGus (DR Koncerthuset; Oct 18) and David Crosby (DRK; Aug 27).

DR loses crown jewel

The Vikings conquered viewers’ minds, but not the juries’

DR COULD end up regretting its decision to stop broadcasting ‘X Factor’ as Sofie Linde, the show’s host since 2016, has decided to go freelance to continue presenting it on TV2, where she will reunite with long-time judge Thomas Blachman. Like many presenters on DR who go on to front big shows, the 28-year-old learned the trade working on children’s TV.

Soundtrack of ‘Vikings’ THE PUBLIC liked the Danish entry, ‘Higher Ground’ by Rasmussen, because it was different, fun and catchy – a song that wouldn’t have sounded out of place on the soundtrack of the TV drama ‘Vikings’.

However, like that show there were a few inaccuracies – most notably a grammatically incorrect Icelandic phrase chanted by the background vocalist.

The lyric “taka stökk til hærri jörð” (take a leap to higher ground) should actually be “taka stökk á hærri jörð”.

One of the greats

People’s choice in semi IN THE second of last week’s semi-finals, Denmark got the most 12-point scores from the

voting public, easily amassing the highest total: 164. But with just 40 from the juries, it qualified in fifth.

And the pattern repeated itself in the final in which Denmark got the fifth highest score from the public: 188. But with only 38 from the juries, it ended up coming ninth.

Meanwhile, god only knows how the juries opted for Austria and Sweden being the best songs, with the former just doing enough with the public to hang onto third place, well beaten by Israel and Cyprus.

Sibling’s suitcase

Not quite 1996

Takeover at Amager club

WHEN THE family of the brother of Danish artist Asger Jorn were clearing out his house in 2012, they found a suitcase containing 52 lino plates cut by his famous sibling. Six years of hard work duly followed in which the plates were carefully mounted and then printed, and now the public can admire the works at an exhibition at Museum Jorn in Silkeborg from August 15. It seems Asger Jorn, who died in 1973, gave his brother the plates in the 1940s with instructions to look after them carefully. Created between 1934 and 1939, the museum has hailed the prints as “extraordinary”. (SG)

THE ROSKILDE Festival (June 30-July 7) has sold out in almost record time – only one-day tickets remain for Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The addition of the likes of Eminem and Bruno Mars has resulted in its secondfastest ever ticket sales. In its 47-year history, only 1996 sold out faster – an insane year that included David Bowie, Björk, the Sex Pistols, Alanis Morissette, Foo Fighters, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Pulp and Nick Cave, who is also performing this year. Unsurprisingly, tickets for Wednesday, on which Eminem is scheduled to perform, have also sold out. (BH)

DANISH Superliga clubs are no stranger to attracting overseas interest. Arkady, the son of Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich, nearly bought FCK in 2011, FCM has strong ties with English club Brentford and, more recently, Aston Villa were linked to a bid for Lyngby. But few could have foreseen second tier side Fremad Amager being bought by a London-Monaco consortium, which is busy buying clubs in several countries – a similar strategy to the one pursued by Tottenham owner ENIC in the late 1990s. The group is also eyeing clubs in Portugal, Belgium and Spain. (CW)

JUST OVER 9,000 runners took part in Sunday’s Copenhagen Marathon – far fewer than the 12,000-plus who raced in 2010. Organisers believe runners are favouring more prestigious marathons such as London.

Nevertheless, the standard has improved, as the men’s winner, William Nyarondia Morwabe, took over a minute off the course record in his time of 2:11.16.

READ THE REST OF THESE STORIES AT CPHPOST.DK

THE DANISH neo-expressionist painter Per Kirkeby – who also worked as sculptor, poet, writer, and filmmaker – has died.

He was 79 years old. Kirkeby’s art was particularly influenced by his training as a geologist and his expeditions to Greenland and Mexico. His semi-abstract paintings often feature themes of sedimentation and stratification and his observations of the natural world.

Fewer than normal

Europe’s best street food A MEXICAN restaurant that started life as a food truck in Copenhagen in 2015 has been hailed as Europe’s best producer of street food by the Lonely Planet. Hija de Sanchez can be found at Torvehallerne and Kødbyen.

10 BUSINESS

THE COPENHAGEN POST | CPHPOST.DK

ONLINE THIS WEEK Swedish krona weak A SUMMER holiday in Sweden is looking like a good option for Danish tourists, as the Swedish krona is at its lowest level relative to the Danish kroner since 6 March 2009, when 100 krona would have got you only 63.61 kroner. Today it is hovering around the 71 kroner mark. While it is bad news for Danish exports, it is believed more Danes will buy property in Sweden this year.

Scandi-bank stock failure SWEDISH and Danish banks are among the worst performers on the Bloomberg index of European Financial Stocks. One of Bloomberg’s resident experts, Philip Richards, told the site it was the result of a “combination of slowing loan growth, years of negative interest rates and intensifying competition that have cast a cloud over their revenue outlook”.

World Bank contribution DENMARK’S minister for development co-operation, Ulla Tørnæs, has just announced a 13.5 million kroner contribution to the World Bank’s digital development partnership. The partnership has been set up to help developing countries create new possibilities for solving the digital challenges they face in sectors such as energy, education and health.

New Chinese chamber THE CHINESE Chamber of Commerce (CCCD) in Denmark was officially launched last week by 16 founding members – Chinese enterprises that have between them invested a total of 2 billion kroner in Denmark, creating over 1,000 jobs. The CCCD describes itself as the “only officially recognised” Chinese chamber. Among its competitors is the Danish-Chinese Business Forum.

Rolling into Manhattan DANISH bakery chain Lagkagehuset has confirmed plans to open a store in the New York district of Manhattan this year. The move follows an 18 percent jump in turnover last year. Lagkagehuset already has several outlets in the UK, where they are called Ole and Steen. Nordic Capital’s 2017 takeover of the chain valued it at 1 billion kroner.

18 - 31 May 2018

Supermarkets: the new superpowers of business?

Wind takeover

As the owners of banks, webshops and advertising companies, Denmark’s leading chain owners are constantly diversifying

DANISH company Global Wind Service has purchased the offshore and blade-related operations of wind services provider Total Wind, which recently began bankruptcy proceedings. The takeover will save more than 150 jobs. In other news, Danish fashion concern IC Group has sold its Peak Performance brand to the Finnishbased Amer Sports Corporation for 1.9 billion kroner.

N

OBODY can say that Denmark’s major supermarket chain owners aren’t evolving, increasingly innovating to remain at the forefront of their industry, as well as leading the way in promoting sustainability, organic food and a reduction in food waste.

Dominant players JUST LAST year, Coop (a 40 percent market share through Fakta, Kvickly, Irma and the Brugsen stores) announced a new local focus, and it was no surprise to see it top the 2018 Sustainable Brand Index. It already owns a bank, an investment arm and an advertising company, and last year it took the plunge into crowdfunding.

Dansk Supermarked (with a 34.9 percent market share through Netto, Føtex, Salling and Bilka) also had a busy 2017, announcing plans to transform the Wupti webshop into a onestop shop to rival Amazon.

The days of just stacking shelves and expecting your customers to come are clearly long gone!

ONLINE THIS WEEK

Cheating customers EXTRA credit card fees have been illegal since the start of the year, but many stores continue to charge them, according to a check by the Konkurrence og Forbrugerstyrelsen consumer protection agency, which found 22 guilty Danish culprits. MasterCard users were among the victims, although some third party credit cards still carry fees.

Forever changing jobs Forks off the inventory

sector. German company Aldi, for example, lost 326 million kroner last year, taking its overall five-year loss figure to 1.35 billion kroner.

Denmark that would be exempt from VAT and a number of other taxes – “just by moving everything a couple of kilometres”, However, the tax minister, Karsten Lauritzen, believes such zones generate “more problems than they solve”.

Losses and redundancies THIS WAS no more evident when Fakta announced in late April that it is closing 47 branches by the end of May, making 900 employees redundant. The closures will reduce its overall number of stores to 359.

Fakta lost 18 million kroner last year – an improvement on a 124 million kroner deficit in 2016, but it’s not enough for its owner Coop.

Losses are common in the

Just a few km IN SUCH a difficult environment, thinking outside the box is essential – and in Dansk Supermarked’s case that can mean just outside the country (kind of ).

It is currently proposing a new strategy to stop the practice of driving to Germany to stock up on cheap booze and soft drinks.

According to its chief executive, Per Bank, bargain hunters could instead head to a border-trading zone in southern

42-hour week

Freddie to Finland

Meeting the challenge

ONE UPSHOT of the recent threat of industrial action is that public employees will officially be on a 42-hour working week – up five hours following new agreements regarding paid lunch breaks. Previously, public worker lunch breaks were only 30 minutes, thus enabling them to start work at 08:00 and leave the office at 16:00. In the future, their day will be 30 minutes longer.

PRINCE Frederik will visit Finland from September 13-14 at the head of a business delegation to promote Danish enterprise in the areas of the maritime industry, urban solutions and Nordic cuisine. In related news, a Danish business delegation met Argentina’s vice president Gabriela Michetti at Dansk Industri to discuss future possibilities in the country.

DENMARK has signed a partnership with the World Economic Forum to meet the challenges of the Fourth Industrial Revolution – the fourth major industrial era since the initial Industrial Revolution of the 18th century. The partnership is a concrete result of new TechPlomacy efforts and the government’s ambition to boost the digital transition in Denmark.

Føtex going plastic IN RELATED news, Føtex has confirmed it will no longer sell plastic cups, plates or straws, and instead offer sustainable tems made from degradable materials.

Føtex, which annually sells about 25 million plastic service items, is the first chain in Denmark to drop plastic in an effort to combat litter and help nature. (BH)

SOME 281,000 people changed jobs in Copenhagen last year, according to an analysis of Jobindsats.dk figures by PFA Pension – the highest figure since it started assessing the data in 2009. Most cite new challenges and motivation as their reasons for changing jobs. Dansk Arbejdsgiverforening said the trend was “extremely beneficial” to society.

Dipping revenue PHARMA giant Novo Nordisk has posted a 10.8 billion kroner profit on falling revenue of 26.9 billion (down 5 percent) for the first three months of 2018. Novo partly blamed the dip on the weak US dollar. Meanwhile, Carlsberg also blamed currency fluctuation – particularly a 8.5 percent fall in the Russian rouble this year – for Q1 turnover falling from 13.4 to 12.7 billion kroner.

The opposite of brief COPENHAGEN-BASED sustainable underwear company Organic Basics took less than a day to raise its Kickstarter target of 250,000 kroner to launch its new SilverTech 2.0 line, which offers improved comfort, heat regulation, durability, and breathability to a range of garments, which the company proudly claims we will “Wear more. Wash less.”

BUSINESS OPINION

18 - 31 May 2018

CARLOS MONTEIRO GIVE YOURSELF A CHANCE Carlos (cm@biassa.com), a Brazilian resident of Odense, started his business from a blog known as denmarkbrazil.com.

It later became Biassa, a business development company, which under the motto ‘Bringing forth results, not reports’ is focused on supporting Nordic businesses that want to tap into and thrive in the Brazilian market

Get with the program HOWEVER, there is a fascinating theory – ‘The IT Mirror’

by Mariano Gomide de Faria

STEEN VIVE UNION VIEWS Steen is senior advisor at Djøf, the Danish Association of Lawyers and Economists. He is a blogger and manager of various projects aimed at generating jobs in the private sector. In this column he writes about trends and tendencies in the labour market. Follow him on Twitter @SteenVive

Counteract and interact THAT IS: being able to break down problems and come up with creative solutions, which you then communicate to teams

Mirror images THE LACK of technological savviness is what causes organisations and governments to be burdensome, bureaucratic and costly.

The IT Mirror proposes a new way to think about IT via an organisational chart. It is based on the notion of allocating a programmer alongside a business-specific individual.

For that matter, a CEO would have a respective IT

Mirror chief executive peer, and so on and so forth. At first, this would be introduced at the highest level: the leadership of an organisation.

Qualitative future THE WHOLE idea behind it is to generate more nimbleness in the way decisions are made and what is best for the individual business units.

By doing so, companies are free to build autonomous groups, and it allows humongous gains in speed as well as in the ability to streamline processes.

While I’m not sure if governments are willing to take this step, I believe it is inevitable that society will take a stand and demand tech-savvy professionals backing up governments.

With that, our discussions and the way we question things will become way more qualitative as well.

Here come the men in tech FRANCK V. ON UNSPLASH

T

HIS IS easier than it sounds as, whatever jobs arise, you need to excel at critical and creative thinking, as well as effective communication and interaction.

The US Department of Labor predicts that 65 percent of today’s grade school kids will end up in jobs that haven’t been invented yet.

Artificial intelligence and robots automate tasks we currently perform, while new technologies push companies to question how they tackle challenges and what skillsets they hire.

But, although the jobs of the future are unknown, top employers, universities and business schools all agree that the skills you’ll need are not.

– which contradicts that.

He believes that skillsets widely accepted to be the norm will become obsolete 20 years from now – in the same way typewriters disappeared with the arrival of personal computers.

If he is correct, and I believe he is, when my kids turn 23 and 25 they will both be able to code – or at least have a much better notion of programming than most people today.

BY BOB NEWMAN ON UNSPLASH

W

E ARE LIVING in momentous times and on the verge of a great transformation in our society.

If the recent Cambridge Analytica scandal implicating Facebook demonstrated anything of importance, it was not that Facebook has a lot of ‘eyes in the sky’.

No, the biggest insight was how clueless the congressmen interrogating Mark Zuckerberg were. They appeared to have no understanding of how his business is monetised.

We’ve reached a point in human development when we can no longer afford to have decision-makers who do not understand technology – whether it is representing a private organisation or a government.

of people and work on together to make a reality.

According to the Association of American Colleges and Universities, 93 percent of US employers believe these skills are more important than the degree you studied at university.

You need to know how to think, not what to think.

Luckily, this can be learned.

Practice and prescience PRACTISE how to think by researching the top five companies you’d love to work for. Analyse how the future might affect their markets, products, legal function, marketing, supply chain or whatever you’re interested in.

What opportunities might the future present and how might you make them profitable?

For example, self-driving cars are being tested on the streets, so if the next step is self-sailing ships, how will that affect transport and logistics companies like AP Moller-

“They called me Number 2. I can’t think why.”

Maersk or ferry operators like DFDS? Or, if unmanned commercial floor-cleaning machines become the first robots we’ll see in our daily lives, how will that affect healthcare providers or facility management companies like ISS?

Use your research to engage with the companies and apply for jobs. Whether or not they take you on, you’ll be training your critical and creative thinking while communicating and interacting with potential co-workers.

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18 - 31 May 2018

Our prince: A man of today

O

Multi-talents all WE ARE blessed with a royal family of high quality. Queen Margrethe II is a descendent of the French marshal Bernadotte and his common-born wife Desiree. It’s a bloodline that has spawned designers, painters and international personalities.

In her own right the queen has designed ecclesiastical robes and theatrical costumes and fashioned some impressive oil paintings – and not been too shy to exhibit them. Among other things, the late Prince Henrik was musically talented.

However, not much of this seems to have rubbed off on the Crown Prince. His music teacher famously complained about the lack of effort he put into practising the piano.

Physical and intellectual HOWEVER, Frederik has shown extraordinary physical skills when facing the fierce and uninhabited wastes of east Greenland – mostly with dog sledges.

He also enlisted to train as the Danish equivalent of a navy seal and completed the course on

Mishra’s Mishmash

even terms with the professionals.

Each year 600 apply to the elite Frogman Corps, 20 get through to basic training and only four to eight pass.

It is not only about physicality.

Frederik has a degree in political science from Aarhus University and has studied at Harvard. He has been the monarch’s representative on the government council and no minister has had reason to complain about his commonsense approach and disciplined preparation.

Now, he represents Denmark on the International Olympic Committee and has shown personality and integrity. Just as he does not tell the government what to do by dint of constitutional constraints, he lets his personal judgement guide his mind and does not let himself be told what to think by anyone. A little noise has been heard in certain political circles, but it died down as people realised that Frederik’s integrity surmounts everything.

A rosy royal future ON TOP of everything else we have admired his taste in girlfriends. They were smart and beautiful. We have had even more reason to admire his taste in his choice of spouse. Crown Princess Mary has charmed everybody. Her language skills are equal to the crown prince’s, who is fluent in English, French and German. She is also fluent in Danish.

Added to all this the two have produced four beautiful children.

Some day we expect a Christian 11th and are pleased that the constitutional monarchy will exist for future generations, as neither the people of Denmark nor the crown prince are showing signs of wanting to change things.

Therefore we join the chorus of congratulators and say Happy Birthday and Many Happy Returns. (ES)

As a regular contributor to the Times of India, the country’s largest newspaper, Mishra is often soughtafter by Danish media and academia to provide expertise on Asian-related matters, human rights issues and democratisation. He has spent half his life in India and the other half in Denmark and Sweden.

CHESKEL DOVID

N MAY 26, Crown Prince Frederik will celebrate his 50th birthday – along with all of us.

In our democracy it is a paradox to have a hereditary head of state; nowhere else in the kingdom is anybody entitled to inherit positions. There are still counts and barons about, but since 1919, although it is still possible to inherit such titles, any privileges attached to them have been abolished through the constitution.

Not so, however, for the Royal Family. The eldest son inherits the throne or, if there are no sons, since 1953 the eldest daughter – but some day that will probably change to total equality as in Sweden.

MRUTYUANJAI MISHRA

It’s the kind of procedure you’d see on a battlefield, with a bottle of plonk to numb the pain

T

HE MEMBERS of Parliament in Iceland, a country close to Denmark, have already made a proposal to enforce a ban on male circumcision until the individual is mature enough to make a decision himself.

Female circumcision is banned in many countries, including Denmark and Iceland, but the political parties are split on this divisive human rights issue.

On the table THE ISSUE could soon be on the table in the Danish Parliament: should the state grant religious freedom to parents and thereby allow a cultural practice that involves strapping a baby boy down and cutting off his foreskin, resulting in bleeding and pain?

Intact Denmark is an organisation fighting vociferously to collect signatures for its citizens’ bill, which it hopes will soon be presented to the Danish Parliament. Since January 1, the required number of signatures needed to submit a proposal to Parliament, irrespective of the support of a political party, has been 50,000. Intact Denmark has already reached 44,000 and

is inching slowly toward its final goal of 50,000, which is expected to be reached in May. Additionally, the Medical Association of Denmark and leading doctors, such as Morten Frisch, believe that now is the right time to impose a ban and pass a law in Parliament making it illegal to perform circumcision on small boys.

Political support divided THE MOVEMENT is forcing political parties to take a stand on this highly-debated issue, and two have been quick to state their position. While government party Venstre has decided to vote against a ban, SF, a left-leaning political party with dwindling support, has no ambiguity on the issue and is clearly in favour of a ban.

Several parties, though, such as Konservative, have decided to give their members free rein to vote according to their conscience. Meanwhile, one of its more prominent MPs, Naser Khader, has come forward to suggest a minimum age for circumcision. He concurs with Intact Denmark and several prominent doctors that 18 would be a suitable cut-off point.

Pain is undeniable MONICA Ritterband, an artist and former journalist, has been a long-time advocate for a ban on circumcision – and her stance has additional clout because she has a Jewish background. Both Ritterband and Naser Khader, who is a Muslim, have given personal accounts of being witness to the unbearable screams of children, expressing the excruciating pain they undergo when the foreskin of their penis is cut off.

The foreskin is not garbage, they argue. Meanwhile, others who want Denmark to be at the forefront of a movement are arguing that the right to an intact body is a fundamental human right, and no-one should be allowed to make that decision except the person who has the body.

At the centre of the debate is the controversy over which comes first: the right of parents to practise their faith and impose permanent and irreversible change to their child’s sexual organ, or the right of the child to make a decision based on maturity and prowess.

OPINION

18 - 31 May 2018

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JESSICA ALEXANDER

The Road Less Taken Jessica is a bestselling US author, Danish parenting expert, columnist, speaker, and cultural researcher. Her work has been featured in TIME, Huffington Post, The Atlantic and The NY Times, among others. She graduated with a BS in psychology and speaks four languages. She currently lives in Italy with her Danish husband and two children.

Crazier than Christmas VIVIENNE MCKEE

Early Rejser ADAM WELLS

IN 2 ISSUES

RAWPIXEL ON UNSPLASH

Straight Up ZACH KHADUDU

A Dane Abroad KIRSTEN LOUISE PEDERSEN IN 3 ISSUES

Mackindergarten ADRIAN MACKINDER

All play and no work makes little Jack a little angel

W

E HAVE all thought about what it means to be a parent from time to time, but have you ever wondered how our culture affects the way we view what we think is the right way to parent? In Norway, parents regularly leave children to sleep outside in -20 degree weather, in Belgium children are allowed to drink beer, and in Japan kids ride the metro alone just seven years old. While these behaviours may sound bizarre to us, to these parents they are the ‘right way’.

New parental perspectives THE IMPLICIT ideas we have about the right way to raise children are what Sarah Harkness, a professor of human development at the University of Connecticut, calls ‘parental ethnotheories’.

These beliefs are so engrained in us that it is almost impossible to see them objectively.

But what if we could take off our cultural lens for a moment and try another perspective?

What if we could look through the lens of one of the happiest countries in the world for over 40 years in a row and see what they believe is the right way to raise children. Is there anything we might learn? What if one of the secrets to their success was as simple as child’s play?

The land of free play DENMARK, the land of Lego

and Hans Christian Andersen, is currently the third happiest country in the world (since 1973 it has never been lower than third) and one thing they do differently is the way their children play. Free play is unstructured and never led by adults. Since its introduction as an educational theory in 1871 it has been considered one of the most important activities a child can engage in.

“Free play is seen as crucial, not optional in Denmark,” explains Dorthe Mikkelsen, a Danish teacher at a fritid skole (free time school) where children are encouraged to free play after they finish regular school. “Play helps children process all of what they learn with others. It builds empathy, negotiation and skills that are so important for building the child’s self-esteem, not just in academia.”

Learning from animals SCIENTISTS have been studying play amongst animals for years in a bid to understand its evolutionary purpose, and one thing they have found is that play is crucial for learning how to cope with stress. Hanging from bars, play fighting, chasing each other and learning how to negotiate are all things that occur in play.

Children practise putting themselves into fight or flight positions and other stressful situ-

ations to see how much they can handle, and then they manage how far they will go with it. Play helps children develop coping mechanisms, self-control and resilience, which has been proven to be a key factor in long-term happiness.

Playing well since 1932 MANY PARENTS feel lazy letting kids play freely and not programming their days with activities. But this is contrary to the research backing up its educational benefits and how the current number one happiest country in the world, Finland, also sees play as a fundamental learning tool for children.

Finland happens to be a global leader in education as well. Is it time we took play more seriously?

It’s interesting to consider that Lego, the world’s biggest toy company, was invented by a Danish carpenter in 1932 who watched children play and use their imaginations freely. This inspired him so much that the word Lego is actually a contraction of the words ‘leg godt’, which when put together means ‘play well’. Even then, Danes knew that being able to ‘play well’ was a building block for a future empire of happiness.

Like the internationallyloved Lego blocks, learning to ‘free play’ seems like a parental ethnotheory worth importing.

Straight, No Chaser STEPHEN GADD

An Actor’s Life IAN BURNS

Fashion Jam JENNY EGSTEN-ERICSON

IN 4 ISSUES

14 COMMUNITY

THE COPENHAGEN POST | CPHPOST.DK

18 - 31 May 2018

ABOUT TOWN

PHOTOS BY HASSE FERROLD

The diplomatic corps were out in force at the Sakura Festival at Langelinie on the last weekend of April. Among those joining the host (centre left), Japanese ambassador Toshiro Suzuki (third left), under the cherry tree blossom were Hungarian ambassador László Hellebrandt (second left) and Austrian ambassador Maria Rotheiser-Scotti (brown jacket), along with a number of charming children dressed in traditional kimonos, who were no doubt relieved to know that free hugs were available to all courtesy of Hello Kitty! (centre right). And as if we didn’t need proof that Japanese culture is taking over (beyond the Eurovision result) the J-Popcon event at DGI-Byen from April 27-29 was once again extremely well attended

No national days to celebrate this issue, but there were plenty of events either organised by or attracting ambassadors. First off, you wouldn’t really be French if you could resist the temptation to attend a recreation of the meal in Karen Blixen’s iconic short story ‘Babette’s Feast’ (left). Ambassador Francois Zimeray (left) mingled with guests at the Karen Blixen Museum in Rungsted Kyst, including the daughter of Gabriel Axel, the director of the classic 1987 Oscar-winning film adaptation. A day later (centre left), Indian ambassador Ajit Gupte (right) was in attendance at the ‘Business IT in India and Denmark’ seminar at CBS. Meanwhile, across town at the now-concluded Baltic Frames film festival at Cinemateket (centre), the region’s ambassadors (left-right: Latvia’s Kaspars Ozolins, Lithuania’s Ginte Damusis and Estonia’s Mart Volmer) were out in force for the screening of Lithuanian film ‘Miracle’ with director Egle Vertelyte (second right). A week later (centre right), the Benin Embassy was the place to be for a seminar on history and tourism in the African country. In attendance (left-right) were Danish Africa Society president Carsten Dencker Nielsen, archaeology expert Inga Merkyte and Benin ambassador Eusebe Agbangha. And finally, a day later (right), Swedish ambassador Frederik Jörgensen and his wife were full of confidence ahead of their country taking on the Czechs in their opening game at the world ice hockey championships

The dignitaries were out in force to mark St George’s Day on April 21. Among those invited by the Royal Society of St George were UK ambassador Dominic Schroeder and his wife (centre), KUKS president Kaj Larssen (left), society president Simon Mears (red tie) and BCCD president Gareth Garvey (right)

Caroline Wozniacki (left) received the ultimate honour on April 30: pancakes at City Hall.

The Australian Open champion, ahead of her exhibition match against Venus Williams at Parken, gathered with other guests, including her father and coach Piotr (right)

The superheroes were out in force at Comic Con Copenhagen at Forum (May 5-6), along with several members of the Suicide Squad and – we never thought we’d be able to say this in About Town – ‘Where’s Wally’ (is he on the left, or is he on the right)

The Copenhagen Architecture Festival (May 3-16) has this year included 220 events at over 100 different venues

Anders Samuelsen, the foreign minister, gave the main address to mark the 40-year anniversary of the International Press Center on May 7

There was no doubt who the star of the show was at the premiere of new Danish film ‘Sankt Bernhard Syndikatet’ at Empire Bio on May 8

COMMUNITY

18 -31 May 2018

THE COPENHAGEN POST | CPHPOST.DK

A

S SUMMER has finally begun making an appearance, many young students in Denmark are preparing to complete their high school studies and put on their studenterhuer. The very first of these young graduates

may just be Katja Hjorth Wulff from Copenhagen International School, who recently became the first to finish her exams from the class of 2018.

Wulff’s achievement was celebrated by granting her the

Low pollution health implications (May 22) and the post-truth society (May 26) are the two Science & Cocktails events this month. The talk and discussion is followed by music and cocktails (May 8, 22 & 26, 20:00; Fabriksområdet, Cph K; free adm)

DRAMA

OLIVER RAASSINA PICNIC FESTIVAL 2018

COMING UP SOON

COOKING

a wide age-range, with students aged 4-17 able to register. The summer school is not just limited to CIS students with both Danish and non-Danish speakers welcome.

of their summer school program on June 18. The program will run for three weeks and offer a diverse range of activities including hiphop dancing, art projects, movie making and sports.

These activities will appeal to SCIENCEANDCOCKTAILS.ORG

KH HOCKEY CLUB

KH field hockey club is hosting the biggest tournament in its 114-year history. Contested by teams from Denmark, Lithuania, Ukraine, Malta, Sweden, Turkey and Norway, the Men’s EuroHockey Club Challenge III offers a chance to watch some high-level action (May 18-21; Valby Idrætspark; kh-hockey.dk)

honour of raising the flag at the school’s Nordhavn campus. She was cheered on by fellow students who had yet to finish their exams.

Despite the academic year nearing its end at CIS, the school will keep busy with the beginning

15

The Furesø Picnic Festival is coming to Copenhagen, offering delicious food, picturesque sights and various activities for all ages. The festivities will be spread out over two days at two unique locations (June 1 at Naturpark Mølleåen, June 2 at Furesøbad; free adm) OLIVER RAASSINA

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Institut Sankt Joseph Dag Hammarskjölds Allé 17 | 2100 København Ø +45 35 38 47 35 | www.sanktjoseph.dk/en

ALL PHOTOS: CIS

OUT AND ABOUT

Program and registration

www.sanktjoseph.dk close to ØsterPort station

16 INOUT: EVENTS THE COPENHAGEN POST | CPHPOST.DK

MUSIC

QUIZ

Big Quiz Nights May 17 & 31, 19:30; The Globe, Nørregade 43, Cph K; 30kr, five per team June 4, 19:30; Kennedy’s, Gammel Kongevej 23, Cph V; 25kr, four per team The winners get 1,000 kroner at the Globe, and 800 at Kennedy’s. And who knows, the odd rollover has been known to go too.

ANDREA DOMINGUEZ

EVENT FACEBOOK PAGE

MUSIC

ART

Consumed Future Spewed Up As Present ongoing, ends May 27; overgaden. org Lea Gulditte Hestelund is interested in how human bodies are ascribed meaning in contemporary western societies. In this solo exhibition she explores this topic through mysterious scenarios taken from science-fiction plotlines. (DS)

The Queen of Spades May 19 & 25; Gamle Scene; 100-725kr The Russian officer hadn’t reckoned on meeting his match at the card table and in bed, but the countess, in this adaptation of the Aleksandr Pusjkin short story performed to the music of Pjotr Tchaikovsky, never relinquishes control.

YURI YUDELEVICH

FESTIVAL

BALLET

GLOBE

Madame Butterfly May 19, 22 & 26; Operaen; 150925kr ‘Madame Butterfly’, one of the best loved operas of all time, is also one of the most visually beautiful – providing you can see anything through the countless tears you’re sure to be shedding as love, betrayal and suicide leave their mark.

EVENT FACEBOOK PAGE

SANDSKULPTUR.DK

KIDS

OPERA

OVERGADEN.ORG

Othello May 24, 27 & 30, June 4; Operaen; 150-825kr This masterpiece was first performed in Milan in 1887 and has captivated audiences ever since. Verdi retained the dramatic elements of the Shakespeare play – sexual jealousy, murder and suicide – and somehow succeeded in making Iago even more evil.

HENRIK STENBERG

MIKLOSSZABO

CAMILLA_WINTHER

OPERA

18 - 31 May 2018

MUSIC

Sand Sculpture Festival ongoing, ends Sep 16, daily from 10:00; Kajgaden 7, Hundested; sandskulptur.dk The seventh edition of the popular Sand Sculpture Festival has a ‘myths and legends’ theme.

Some 40 local and international sculptures, including several world champions, will display their biodegradable masterworks. (DW)

CPH Medieval Market May 18-21; Valbyparken, Cph SV; 150kr; kmm.dk Come and experience life as it was lived during the Middle Ages. Knights on horseback jousting and fearsome Viking battle re-enactments provide the action, while various tents sell all manner of arts, crafts and nibbles, as well as providing demonstrations. (CC)

500 Years of Music May 27, 15:00-17:00; Tivoli’s Concert Hall, Vesterbrogade 3, Cph V; from 185kr; tivoligardens.com Concertmaster Kim Sjøgren will lead Denmark’s light orchestra through classical music’s historic past, assisted by Rasmus Botoft. Full of humorous commentary, this Tivoli Summer Classic event will be one for the ages. (EK)

KLANG May 28-June 8; various locations; 80-250kr; klang.dk KLANG, the Copenhagen Avantgarde Music Festival, will host over 30 Danish and international music acts. The festival, now entering its tenth year, is the country’s largest event for contemporary music and will have programs for all ages. (EK)

Gran Partita in Tivoli May 29, 19:30; Tivoli’s Concert Hall, Vesterbrogade 3, Cph V; 50kr with entry to Tivoli; dkdm.dk Enjoy Tivoli’s beautiful scenery as you are serenaded by wondrous woodwind music. The concert, organised in partnership with Tivoli Summer Classic, will include compositions by Smaldone and Mozart. (EK)

Decoration of Montana Room ongoing, ends Feb 2019; glstrand.dk The Danish artist duo Randi & Katrine, who began collaborating back in 2004, combine architecture, objects and narration to create large, immersive installations. This new work takes the macaw as an inspiration. (DW)

Picasso Ceramics ongoing, ends May 27; Louisiana Museum; louisiana.dk Picasso is known for his paintings. However, this 160-piece exhibition instead demonstrates his tremendous talents as a ceramic artist. The display also marks Louisiana’s 60th anniversary. (DW)

Gabriele Münter ongoing, ends Aug 18; Louisiana Museum; louisiana.dk Münter did not receive widespread acclaim during her lifetime. However, her striking contribution to art in the 20th century is being celebrated in a new solo exhibition this summer. (DW)

Very May 17-Aug 18; louisiana.dk Ed Ruscha’s work comprises powerful and iconic representations of post-war American society. This exhibition will demonstrate his take on the cool elegance of gas stations and Hollywood logos from the 1960s onwards. (DW)

The Executioner ongoing, ends June 10; smk.dk This large-scale installation lets you explore Ursula Reuter Christiansen’s film through pictures, sound and objects. The German-born artist also worked with the gallery to review feminism themes present in the movie. (DW)

Pick up 25 kg.

Gourmet-ice cubes or crushed ice 99 kr. in flamingo barrel Order at scotsman.dk

INOUT: EVENTS

18 - 31 May 2018

LEDREBORGLIVSSTIL.DK

CPHDISOTION.DK

KGLTEATER.DK

PARTY

SPECTACLE

Day at the Races May 19 & 25, June 2, 16 & 24, from 12:00 (16:00 on May 25); Klampenborg Galopbane, Klampenborgvej 52; 60kr; galopbane.dk Enjoy the fun and competitive spirit of Klampenborg Racetrack.

Enjoy a flutter or two, listen to music and enjoy some great food and racing at the track. (MA)

Hieroglyphs – Symbolist Drawings 1890-1910 ongoing, ends Aug 12; smk.dk The exhibition showcases over 100 works of art from a time when draughtsmanship came to the fore. Among the notable featured artists are Jens Lund, JF Williamson and Johannes Holbek. (DW)

Vogue like a Painting ongoing, ends Aug 26; glstrand.dk The exhibition explores the intersection between fashionphotography and the fine arts.

The images come from Vogue’s archives – taken by world-renowned photographers such as Nick Knight and Annie Leibovitz. (DW) BALLET

ART

FGHFGHFGHFGH

SMK.DK_PERNILLE KLEMP

ERWIN-OLAF

ART

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OUTDOORS

Ballet de Luxe May 17 & 23; Gamle Scene, Kongens Nytorv 9, Cph K; 80625kr, kglteater.dk Let the work of August Bournonville, George Balanchine and Harald Landers guide you through the history of ballet. The pick is Balanchine’s ‘Rubiner’, which features Hollywood sirens in sexy red skirts dancing to energetic jazz by Igor Stravinsky.

Distortion street parties May 30-31; Cph N & V; free adm; cphdistortion.dk Distortion, which is 20 years old this year, has grown to become one of the biggest music parties in the world. In its prime, it included four street parties; today that has shrunk to two, but each will attract 100,000 people to the streets of Nørrebro and Vesterbro on Wednesday and Thursday night. (CC)

Ledreborg Living May 18-21, open 10:00-17:00; Ledreborg Allé 2D, Lejre; 125kr; ledreborglivsstil.dk Thousands will be heading to the picturesque Ledreborg Castle, the home of the Holstein-Ledreborg family, for a long weekend of house and garden inspiration. The 24th annual lifestyle fair offers a chance to try dirt-track mountain biking and ponyriding.

Danish Design Festival May 23-30; various venues in CPH; ddfestival.dk This festival celebrates the diversity of design present in Copenhagen with exhibitions, events, conferences and awards.

Highlights include a creative workshop where participants can exchange design ideas. (DW)

#Whatif? ongoing, ends May 20; kunsthalcharlottenborg.dk Internationally-renowned artists such as Renzo Martens, Lara Baladi and Forensic Architecture ask hefty questions such as “What if art could eradicate poverty?” and “What if we could live without fossil fuels?” (DW)

Judith Hopf in the X-room ongoing, ends Sep 9; smk.dke German artist Judith Hopf has been working with video and sculptures since the 1990s. In this exhibition, she will create a selection of new ‘laptop sculptures’ from metal – along with a moving image display. (DW)

3 Days of Design May 24-26; various venues in CPH; tickets from 100kr; 3daysofdesign.dk This three-day festival for aficionados of design comprises exhibitions and talks – with plenty of international flavour. (CC)

Fringe Festival May 31-June 2; Krudttønden, Cph Ø; 88kr; ctcircle.dk Directors, playwrights and actors will show a series of one-act plays over three nights. The plays compete for a prize and the bragging rights. (CC)

Copenhagen Beer Festival May 31-June 2; Lokomotivværkstedet, Otto Busses Vej 5, Cph SV; 150kr; ale.dk This long-established festival at Lokomotivværkstedet was born out of the campaign for real ale.

Distortion Ø June 1-2; Refshalevej Copenhagen; 550kr; cphdistortion.dk The Distortion club event offers two nights of dance music and occasional decadence. The emphasis is partying until you drop. (CC)

Jewish Culture Festival June 1-10; most events at Great Synagogue, Krystalgade 12, Cph K; more details on Facebook Come and experience concerts, movies, lectures and debates and sample Jewish cuisine. (CC)

Fortorvfest May 26; Enghave Plads, Cph V; fortovsfest.dk The child-friendly Fortorvfest includes live music, a flea market and plenty of entertainment. It’s a perfect way to introduce Danish culture to the kids. (CC)

Click Festival May 19-20; Kulturærftet, Allegade, Helsingør; 275kr; clickfestival.dk Join curious, creative minds from around the world at this contemporary art festival, which includes exhibitions, talks, workshops and music performances. (CC)

Friday Night Skate May 25, June 8 & 22, 20:00; Solberg Plads, Frederiksberg; free adm; fns-cph.dk Put on your skates and join people of all ages for an evening skate around town. Whether you’re a greenhorn or a pro, this event is for everyone. (DA)

Theatre Flea Market June 2, 10:00-17:00; Riddersalen, Frederiksberg; riddersalen.dk Theatre-goers have a large selection of costumes and props to choose from. Sourced from both large and small productions, it’s a great chance to find your next party costume. (DA)

Copenhagen Photo Festival June 7-17; Photo City, Cph Ø; 80kr; copenhagenphotofestival.com Set out for some abstract travel where the only limit is the sky.

Whether you’re into philosophy and self-reflection or an uncensored version of reality, the photos will meet all tastes. (DA)

18 ON SCREENS

THE COPENHAGEN POST | CPHPOST.DK

18 - 31 May 2018

Nepotism, cronyism and car-shagging – happy days with George’s mate

R

ON HOWARD’S got good taste, right? We can trust him with an origins film about one of history’s most beloved ever movie characters, Solo: A Star Wars Story (Not Released Worldwide; out on May 23). Sure, he made Far and Away and The Da Vinci Code, but A Beautiful Mind and Rush were on the money, right? We can trust him …

Howard’s end away Well, did you know he’s given all of his children middle names that reflect where they were conceived – an idea so naff even Victoria Beckham lampooned it.

It started well when their eldest, the actress Bryce Dallas Howard (yes, from her mother), was sparked into existence (not on a casting couch, although Mum has been in ten of Dad’s films) in full view of the Texas School Book Depository.

The next round of Howard’s end away took place in Manhattan – which could be confusing if they end up as waitresses (however unlikely with Dad’s nepotism). Ron duly named his twins after the Carlyle hotel he smashed their mother in.

And finally, his fourth child was named after the street the car (some kind of American Graffiti fantasy?) was parked in. Classy!

Strike while she’s hot ONE CAN only presume the parents of British actress Holiday Grainger were on a club 18-30 and too drunk to remember. Her star is clearly on the rise, and in mid-May she’s in two mega HBO series worth checking out.

The first, CB Strike (May 18),

is based on the detective novel JK Rowling wrote under a pseudonym, which was turned down by several publishers unaware of who the real author was. Once it was revealed Rowling wrote The Cuckoo’s Calling – an early review praised “the male author’s ability to describe women’s clothes” – sales rose by 507,000 percent.

The three-parter TV adaptation was acclaimed when it was first shown in the UK last autumn, and another two books in the series have already been adapted.

The second, Patrick Melrose (May 14), is a five-episode miniseries starring Benedict Cumberbatch based on a series of semi-autobiographical novels by Edward St Aubyn written about his privileged upbringing and drug addiction in Europe and New York. Each episode takes on a novel and the early word is strong.

In Ricky’s footsteps ANOTHER British actor going places is Ralph Ineson, who many will remember fondly for playing Finchy in The Office.

His stateside break came in The Witch, and he is following that as one of the leads in The Hurricane Heist (35; May 31). As the name suggests, a gang decide an incoming storm will offer good camouflage for their robbery. We’d like to say you’ll be blown away. You won’t.

Also from The Office, but with slightly more success, Martin Freeman brings some clout to the Australian post-apocalypse thriller Cargo (Netflix, May 18). Mad Max suggested that bikers would be the most likely survivors, but this film (probably quite sensibly) sticks with the Aboriginals.

MASTERCLASS.COM

BEN HAMILTON

As Tom Cruise’s casting in ‘Far and Away’ demonstrated, he’s a master at fitting square pegs into round holes

And staying on the themes of Ricky Gervais and the nepotism/cronyism of Ron Howard (did you spot the link to George Lucas?), it would be neglectful to not mention that Warwick Davis joins quite a cast in Solo: A Star Wars Story that also includes Emilia Clarke, Thandie Newton and Donald Glover.

Tellingly, perhaps, they are all hot properties right now due to their appearances in TV series (Game of Thrones, Westworld and Atlanta) not films.

For Davis, it will be his fourth Star Wars role. Not only did he play Wicket the annoying Ewok in Return of the Jedi, but he plays a dwarf smuggler in The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi and a dwarf sniper in Rogue One – proof there’s no shortage of dwarf roles in Star Wars.

More dead ringers ELSEWHERE, there’s not much beyond Solo this fortnight, with

only four other films coming out, of which three are heading straight to the small screen. And all of them have a sense of déjà vu.

Deadpool 2 (NRW; May 16) is back for seconds of whatever that surprisingly popular and violent superhero flick honed in on before.

Ibiza (NRW; May 25 on Netflix) might not be a sequel in name, but it’s undeniably spawned by Bridesmaids. Three American women want to walk a cool DJ (Richard Madden from GoT) down the aisle, but didn’t they see what happened at the Red Wedding?

Fahrenheit 451 (NRW; May 20 on HBO) starring Michael B Jordan and Michael Shannon is the third film adaptation of the Ray Bradbury classic. It won’t be the last.

And The Tale (88; May 27 on HBO) is another journey into the memory of a woman played by Laura Dern. We’re still trying to

get over Inland Empire and they give us this?

Keep on dreaming FINALLY, we have two unpromising US comedy series.

The Break with Michelle Wolf (Netflix on May 27) is a showreel for the star of The Today Show who recently upset Trump’s press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner with some well-written, but poorly delivered comparisons to The Handmaid’s Tale.

And All Night (HBO since May 12) is set at an overnight graduation party where students set in motion plans to make their dreams come true.

For many, a dream that has been alive ever since Harrison Ford strode into their lives in cowboy boots in 1977 is about to be realised – entrusted into the suspect hands of a director who conceived one of his children in a Volvo.

STANDING TALL FILM OF THE MONTH May 17th-27th experience the French drama ‘Standing Tall’ featuring Cathrine Deneuve alongside two César winners. Refined French social realism at its very best.

We present some 50 films with English dialogue or subtitles every month.

See what’s on at cinemateket.dk or visit us in Gothersgade 55

3

18 - 31 May 2018

Wait, what!?

You didn’t choose Studieskolen?

Learn Danish at a school that is not laughable Studieskolen has been teaching Danish for 40 years – and we’re not going to stop now!

The price is the same as you will find in other language schools.

Go for the best. Go for Studieskolen. In the centre of Copenhagen Find our new courses on studieskolen.dk/dansk

Follow us /studieskolen

NEVER NOT NOW

31.05 — 09.06 2018

cphstage.com #cphstage

CPH STAGE is proud to present the 6th edition of the Copenhagen based theater festival, with more than 100 plays, performances and events taking place all over Copenhagen and Frederiksberg. More than 50 performances will be accessible to non-Danish speakers.

You will find both Danish and international productions and a long list of other events.

Visit cphstage.com for the full program and information. Or drop by the Festival Center at The Meatpacking District during the festival for personal guidance and tickets. Welcome!

CPH STAGE APP – get it for free via App Store and Google Play

ET VINTEREVENTYR Foto: Per Morten Abrahamsen