CPH Post 16 January - 11 February 2021

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Host issues: First a petition to boycott the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, and now a bid to co-stage the world ice hockey championship

From nurseries to night school: a journey through the Danish education system with a special focus on the International Baccalaureate

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DANISH NEWS IN ENGLISH CPHPOST.DK VOL 24 ISSUE 01 18 January - 11 February 2021

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SPORT

NATIONAL

Battle of the speeches Two matriarchs, a day apart: the nation decides who wins

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CULTURE Birgitte’s boss: Who’s the PM in season four of 'Borgen'

10 BUSINESS

Deal of the day Fishing aside, Brexit could have been much worse

2020: SO LONG!

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Locked down, well tested So far so good in fight against new coronavirus threat

tion numbers can spiral out of control in just days.

HISTORY

BEN HAMILTON

Recalling the red-light past of the Latin Quarter

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Great testing rate UP UNTIL the announcement, the daily infection rate had been slowing down (in the 15 hours up until Friday afternoon: just 659 cases), but so has the number of people getting tested.

Nevertheless, Denmark is one of only four countries on the top 100 worst affected list that has a per capita testing ratio of above one.

In fact, with 11.7 million tests carried out so far, it averages over two tests per person.

This might be because all tests are free in Denmark. In most countries, they cost around 100 US dollars.

16 ON SCREENS

Saviour the Tiger?

With cinema dead, the telly better be good

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HE CURRENT coronavirus lockdown will continue until February 7, the government announced on Wednesday.

The three-week postponement was justified on the back of the threat posed by fast-spreading mutations of COVID-19 – most notably the British variant.

Experts warn that a much lower reproduction rate needs to be applied to the British version when assessing the risks.

A huge recent rise in cases in Ireland demonstrates how infec-

4-7 Sausage cart hits 100

New migrant campaign

MONDAY January 18 will mark the 100th anniversary of the pølsevogn, the Danish sausage cart.

Since their heyday in the 1960s and 70s when there were 700 carts on the streets of Denmark, their popularity has been waning.

Today, there are only 100 carts, of which 25 are in the capital.

The original carts were based on ones seen in Berlin.

THE GOVERNMENT has set aside 15 million kroner for a campaign to inform Africans of the perils involved in migrating to Europe. ‘Telling the Real Story’ will build on a 2015 campaign that reportedly had a 50 percent success rate in Eritrea.

In related news, the Immigration Ministry is on the cusp of reaching an official accord with the US regarding asylum control.

Facing impeachment MPS HAVE voted in favour of Inger Støjberg, the former immigration and integration minister, standing trial for impeachment.

A recent European Commission investigation concluded her 2016 order to separate couples seeking asylum, in which one of the couple was a minor, was illegal. Even her own party Venstre voted in favour.

Best in the world COPENHAGENERS are the best non-native speakers of English in the world, according to the 2020 Education First rankings.

It finished ahead of Amsterdam, Helsinki, Oslo and Vienna.

However, the Dutch topped the country rankings ahead of Denmark, which rose two places, Finland, Sweden and Norway.

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LOCAL

THE COPENHAGEN POST | CPHPOST.DK

Codfather: Swim with the fishes!

ONLINE THIS WEEK THE LOCAL authority in Sydhavn, where work has just begun on the Metro line linking Enghave Brygge to Havneholmen, have invited artists to decorate the barricades, and the area already includes Europe's longest continuous graffiti work. In related news, 1.7 million kroner will be spent in the district on revamping the areas around the Sjælør and Vigerslev Allé rail stations.

Gentofte mayor to retire GENTOFTE Municipality mayor Hans Toft, 74, has confirmed he will be retiring in May after 28 years in the job. The Konservative, who has won seven consecutive elections since 1993, will be replaced by former handball star Michael Fenger, who will then contest the mayorship in the local elections in December.

Toft is the fourth longest reigning mayor in Danish history.

No bouncing back

Green festival donation COPENHAGEN Municipality has donated 5 million kroner to help launch TOMORROW, a new festival geared towards sustainability and the green transition worldwide, which will be first held at Tunnelfabrikken in Nordhavn in September.

By & Havn marks itself as a firm friend of the aquatic environment with Copenhagen Harbour initiative

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NEW PARTNERSHIP between the World Wide Fund for Nature and By & Havn promises to breathe new life into Copenhagen Harbour with a project based on ‘Life in the Sea’, a UN World Goal.

Over a number of years, the aim is to improve the marine habitat and biodiversity of an area where 33 different fish species were registered in 2009.

It will soon begin with the release of so-called ‘biohuts’ – described as “hotels and kindergartens for fish” – and the ‘bene-fisharies’ for the environment are said to be numerous.

“World famous” “THE PORT of Copenhagen has become world famous because the

“My feet feel like fish fingers” Well, kind of

water is so clean that you can bathe in it, and now we look forward to showing that the port is also something special when it comes to life below the surface,” explained Anne Skovbro, the CEO of By & Havn.

She hopes that such developments can inspire port cities around the world to consider the

world beneath the waves.

"Man has been hard on nature for a long time. Now is the time to give back before it's too late. With this collaboration, we want to show that urban development and nature conservation can go hand-in-hand,” chimed WWF Denmark secretary-general Bo Øksnebjerg.

Capital joins network of 300 ‘Fast-Track Cities’ to achieve goal

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Treatment pledge A NEW SECRETARIAT will be established in 2021 to ensure

CITY HALL is expected to authorise changes to Inderhavnsbroen, the pedestrian and cycling bridge linking Nyhavn to Christianshavn across Copenhagen Harbour, as users are often confused – particularly at the Nyhavn end. Some 15,000 daily cyclists use it – double the number originally envisaged by its designers.

INTERPOL is hunting a 27-year-old British man accused of the murder of a police officer in a traffic collision on Langebro in 2019. His court case has been delayed several times as he is outside Denmark, and it is now feared he is evading the authorities. He is accused of speeding at 125 km/h and then accelerating after colliding with the police car.

RIP Mike Tweats

Tackling HIV: no stone left unturned OPENHAGEN Municipality has inked an agreement that will aim to end new instances of HIV in the city by 2030.

It means the Danish capital has joined a network of over 300 ‘Fast-Track Cities’ working together to tackle HIV.

Bridge issues

No shows in court

PIXABAY

TRAMPOLINE House, which has been providing refugees and asylum-seekers in Copenhagen with practical and social support since its launch in 2010, closed down on the last day of 2020.

It cited the economic impact of the Coronavirus Crisis.

ONLINE THIS WEEK BOB COLLOWAN

Metro murals

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

18 January - 11 February 2021

MIKE TWEATS, the muchloved quizmaster at the Southern Cross pub who was a friend of many in Copenhagen and his hometown of Manchester, died shortly before Christmas. A huge outpouring of grief on social media has underscored what a popular individual he was.

Terror sentence upheld

Hanging a ribbon around us might be premature

that 95 percent of HIV patients receive treatment to the point where they can’t infect others.

Copenhagen will also significantly increase its testing

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capacity – especially within risk groups – but Aids-Fondet worries it will be hard to reach those who hide their sexuality.

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THE SENTENCING of Swedish-based Syrian national Moyed Al Zoebi, 33, who was handed a 12-year prison sentence by the City Court for terror activities in 2016, has been upheld by the Eastern High Court. It is alleged he and a fellow Syrian were planning to detonate a bomb in Copenhagen.

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18 January - 11 February 2021

ONLINE THIS WEEK

The British exit we didn’t need

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ONLINE THIS WEEK PIXABAY

Tsunami winners are ...

INTERNATIONAL

Capitol riot condemned

THE GOVERNMENT donated 70 million kroner of its unspent 105 million Tsunami Reserve, a pot established in the aftermath of the 2004 tragedy, to humanitarian efforts in Afghanistan and Yemen. Other recent beneficiaries of Danish aid include migrants in the Western Balkans (45 million), the COVAX vaccine scheme (50), the UNICEF Supply Division (50) and the World Bank’s energy program ESMAP (40).

DANISH politicians were unanimous in their condemnation after Donald Trump’s supporters stormed Capitol Hill and forced their way into the US Congress last week. “Extremism, violence, polarisation and chaos is never the way forward. Terrible images from Washington. May Democracy be brought to its feet again,” wrote PM Mette Frederiksen on Facebook.

Sound!

DENMARK has the ninth equal most powerful passport in the world, according to the 2021 Henley Passport Index. Danish passport owners have visa-free access to 187 countries. Japan topped the list with 191, followed by Singapore, and Germany and South Korea in joint third. Afghanistan was last with 26.

SINCE the end of last year, all trains travelling across the Øresund Bridge are now powered increasingly by energy from renewable sources. Previously, trains had been powered by a so-called ‘energy mix’ of both renewable and non-renewable electricity, but new plans will see CO2 emissions from railway traffic on the connection cut by 70 percent.

World’s second best DENMARK has been rated the second best country in the world by the Good Country Index, climbing four places from the 2018 edition. The index measures a country's contribution to "the common good of humanity and the planet", like a "balance-sheet" of its contributions outside its borders. Sweden topped the list.

Greenland rescue mission GREENLAND plans to evacuate 1,000 of its stranded citizens from Denmark over the next two weeks via 11 special flights sent to Danish airports.

Shipowner guilty A SHIPOWNER from Thyborøn in Jutland has been sentenced to 18 months in prison and a fine of three million kroner for hiring two Ghanaian illegal workers on a monthly salary of 9,000 kroner. They were asked to work 66 hours a month.

Top ranking passport

At Gatwick it was like the end of ‘12 Monkeys’

A mutation of the coronavirus in the UK has caused all manner of mayhem since arriving in Denmark

Denmark locked down since mid-December.

Africa. Exceptions exist for primary caregivers or those who have a relative seriously ill or dying in Denmark.

IVEN THAT Brexit was due to take place at the end of 2020, deal or no deal, few envisaged another British endeavour grabbing all the headlines.

But that’s exactly what a British mutation of the coronavirus, of which there have been upwards of 250 cases so far, has managed to do.

Spreading at a speed of 70 percent faster than the regular COVID-19, it has sent shivers down our spines and ended up justifying a long continuation of the restrictions that have seen

Britain blacklisted AS THINGS stand, all travel from Denmark is heavily discouraged, and nobody is allowed to board a flight to Denmark without proof they had a negative coronavirus test within 24 hours of takeoff.

Residents can still enter Denmark by land without one, but foreigners need to have one, and over the last week hundreds have been turned back at the Øresund Bridge and border with Germany.

Cross-border commuters need to have a test every week to comply.

A ban on travel from Britain was placed weeks ago, and there have also been bans on travel from countries where mutations have originated, such as South

Bookseller reprieve

Justice for Dane’s family

HK legal action bid

THE DEATH sentence handed to Said ‘the Bookseller from Brønshøj’ Mansour has been overturned. In 2016 the Supreme Court revoked his Danish citizenship and deported him to Morocco, where he was accused of playing a role in the terrorist attack in Casablanca that claimed 45 lives in 2003.

Early last year he was sentenced to death.

AN AMERICAN driver high on drugs who ran over and killed a 11-year-old Danish girl in South Carolina in 2018 has been sentenced to 16 years in prison. However, the court in Charleston ruled that Jeffrey Wakefield, 33, will be eligible for parole in five years for killing Selma Akguel from Middelfart, who was in the state on holiday with her family.

THE HONG Kong Ministry of Justice is investigating whether sections of their law can be applicable to prosecuting two Danish politicians, Uffe Elbæk and Katarina Ammitzbøll, who aided the pro-democracy activist Ted Hui to flee the island in December by inviting him to a fake conference. The foreign minister, Jeppe Kofod, supports the politician's actions.

CHRISTIAN WENANDE

G

And in turn ...

SEVERAL people have been prevented from entering Denmark at Copenhagen Airport because their visit had no valid purpose.

Meanwhile, Sweden has closed its borders to Denmark.

The move – which does not apply to Swedes in Denmark, commuters and those transporting goods – has prevented many Bornholm residents from taking their normal route home.

Several other countries also closed its borders to Denmark out of concern for the British variant, including Turkey and Israel.

Chinese rumble ahead A MAJORITY in the Danish Parliament, formed without the government, backs the return of Taiwan to the World Health Organization, reports Jyllands-Posten. This could hurt Danish relations with China, which orchestrated Taiwan’s 2016 ejection from the WHO, arguing it owned the island.

The US and UK also support Taiwan’s return.

Breast substitute a hit THERE is great interest in a new Danish breast milk substitute in China to the extent that private Chinese citizens are buying it to sell on.

Terror suspect returned A 32-YEAR-OLD Danish-Palestinian terror suspect who had been on the run for six years has been deported to Denmark by the Turkish authorities. Jacob El-Ali, who will be charged with inciting terror, left Denmark for Syria in 2013 to fight for Islamic State. He was arrested in Turkey last January.

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COVER

THE COPENHAGEN POST | CPHPOST.DK

18 January - 11 February 2021

Predictions are a difficult art: sometimes the answers are deep within PIXABAY

New direction should see the world navigate itself out of choppy waters, but we need to change our outlook EJVIND SANDAL

S

TORM P, a Danish cartoonist a hundred years back, stated that predictions were a difficult art – especially about the future.

Since everything is upside down for the time being, many think the future to be likewise. Not so.

Defence team mobilised

BY MIDSUMMER the pandemic is under control – in Denmark, we hope. Vaccines are distributed and lockdowns are history.

Whether that also goes for the rest of the world may still be in the balance. COVID-19 may mutate into some even more aggressive form and have to be put down too.

However, the combined scientific defence has been mobilised in record time and will stay on the alert, so new vaccines and change of behaviour will contain the virus. But then what?

Anything but peachy IN DENMARK, the blue parties are critically behind in the polls. Former government party Venstre is torn, not least by the number of MPs leaving its ranks, willfully or not!

MP Markus Knuth has defected to Konservative and is

We wanted snow for Christmas, not different variants of the coronavirus!

now hard-lining their immigration policy there. So has the former leader, the country’s old PM Lars Løkke Rasmussen, who has defected to a solo position.

While immigration hardliner Inge Støjberg is fighting for her political life in the wake of her impending impeachment trial, following criticism from the Instrukskommission that she lied to Parliament and issued an illegal order to separate asylum-seeking couples and families.

The blue parties are way

PHOTOS: FACEBOOK, NEWS ORESUND

Inger’s just peachy, Frank likes a fumble, Mette’s always been a minx

behind in the polls and a comeback, of any kind, looks highly unlikely in 2021.

Immune to everything THERE’S no doubt: the PM is safe and sound, and she has the floor.

Even the aftermath of Minkgate can’t taint her. Even a constitutional court procedure will only shake her a bit – not tumble her. She acted promptly and did the right thing, even if the timing and legality were a little off. Consequently she

sacrificed her cabinet minister Mogens Jensen on the altar.

We do not expect the fur industry to be revived – it will have to start from zero. More likely it will move to Sweden.

The pandemic is costly. The bill has to be paid. Taxes will increase. The average Danish tax burden is now over 46 percent.

The financial sector is in focus, partly as a result of its perceived disrespect and tendency to whitewash. Consumers will end up paying eventually, of course.

Embracing green taxes MAYBE we will see a new CO2 tax introduced. It has been recommended by the ‘wisemen’ and it can be started pretty mildly and increased as you go.

The problem is the technical difficulty of measuring the emissions in a fair way so it does not become a new tax evasion sport for everybody.

More taxes on fossil fuel, electricity and district heating are also likely, as the infrastructure is already in place.

COVER

18 January - 11 February 2021

Living history lessons CLIMATE is always on the agenda with this government, and fortunately for them it is permanently on everybody’s mind these days, not least our children’s. It’s not dissimilar to how many of us were taught to fear the Cold War and the possibility of a nuclear war.

Now kids are taught about a new threat to humanity and how they can help make a difference.

It is going to change the way we eat, dress and live.

Older citizens remember the energy crisis of 50 years ago.

Car-free Sundays, small windows etc. We will see that sort of thing again – most of us have been more than willing to follow the coronavirus restrictions, but it will be a struggle for some.

We have already seen demonstrations against the lockdown and a surge in the number of young people not complying with the rules – for example, falsely claiming to suffer from asthma when they enter the bus without facemasks. We know they are paying a high price for all this confinement, as youth doesn't last forever, so will they tow the line?

Capitol’s wake-up call THE WORLD at large may go back to normal now that President Trump is history. Joe Biden will bring grandfatherly order to the US in a predictable fashion.

The raid on Capitol Hill opened our eyes – and those of over 50 percent of Americans – that democracy does not come automatically but needs to be

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nursed.

Social media needs to be made responsible for quality control as the dissemination of fake news and spread of disinformation sadly enough is not self-controlling.

Time to engage RADICAL minorities can create havoc – left and right. Politicians who should know better fear for their political life if they stand up against it.

We have seen this before.

We must look our politicians straight in the eye and hold them responsible. We need to be able to respect them as popular disrespect will only deteriorate democracy.

In Denmark we have seen membership of political parties drop. That has to change.

If the common citizen does not undertake direct responsibility, we only have ourselves to blame if our systems and institutions implode.

Call them to order CONVERSELY, the threat of Trump has generated new support for the EU and NATO among the general population, and the EU especially is stronger now – never mind the loss of the UK. British PM Boris Johnson may have got his country back, but we are yet to see if it is in one piece when the consequences become a reality and not just populist propaganda.

The pandemic has shown us we cannot walk alone, and that it is time to develop international solidarity and call the likes of

Hungary and Poland to order.

The EU may still be a construction site, but we must make sure we see the budget for the next seven years through, as its strong institutions will play a vital role in the areas of security and affluence after financial crises, Brexit and the pandemic.

Budget curiosities BACK IN Denmark, the budget law demands a balance of less than minus 0.5% of BNP. The budget, which was agreed upon on December 20, respects this margin.

There were allowances for all the red parties as a reward for supporting the PM’s early retirement pension for people who have worked for more than 40 years in the labour market – worn out or not. It will be interesting to see the bill when it is activated.

Big year for Blue Bloc AND IT will be intriguing to see what happens in the local and regional elections later this year, not least among the blue bloc parties.

We expect that Dansk

Folkeparti – once the biggest blue party – will suffer dramatically and might be forced to change its leadership. While Konservative will continue to grow and overtake Venstre as the biggest blue party.

The maverick right-wing newcomer Nye Borgerlige will probably not be able to manifest its national strengths locally, since its anti immigration platform is the same as everybody’s on the blue side.

Lessons learned IN 2020 WE LEARNED to wash and disinfect our hands and wear masks. We are keeping our distance and generally not hugging and kissing to the extent we used to.

Adopted from cultures in warmer climes, many Danes are secretly happy with this, so expect the elbow and fist greetings to become the new normal and for intimacies to be reserved for private purposes.

It might very well eradicate the flu we would otherwise expect in the autumn.

Happy new year.

EJVIND SANDAL Copenhagen Post co-owner Ejvind Sandal has never been afraid to voice his opinion. In 1997 he was fired after a ten-year stint as the chief executive of Politiken for daring to suggest the newspaper merged with Jyllands-Posten. He then joined the J-P board in 2001, finally departing in 2003, the very year it merged with Politiken. He is also a former chairman of the football club Brøndby IF (200005) where he memorably refused to give Michael Laudrup a new contract prior to his hasty departure. A practising lawyer until 2014, Sandal is also the former chairman of Vestas Wind Systems and Axcel Industriinvestor. He has been the owner of the Copenhagen Post since 2000.

PHOTOS: FACEBOOK, NEWS ORESUND

A big year for DF, Venstre and Nye Borgerlige: because it could be disastrous

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SCIENCE

THE COPENHAGEN POST | CPHPOST.DK

18 January - 11 February 2021

Celebrating the top ten breakthroughs of the scientific community AFFALDVARME AARHUS

Given the output of the sector, there was no way this selection could be crammed into a top five. No way!

ORSOLYA ALBERT

I

T WOULD be natural to expect our top science stories to be filled with COVID-related discoveries, but that would be overlooking what a big year Denmark has had in the fields of research, discovering and all-out bravado.

The hurricane that was the coronavirus might have done its best to disrupt the sector, but Denmark has nobly kept its course in its pursuit of sustainability and innovative solutions.

Not the worst of years FROM GRAND international projects to smaller solutions, the year has brought breakthroughs in all fields. In fact, it’s no exaggeration to say the sector didn’t want the year to end. After all, with no faceto-face commitments to honour, it’s been heads down in the laboratory all year!

The picks below showcase the top ten moments.

The scale of the seawater project needs to be seen to be believed

tissue into a small incubator, and they are hopeful it can help them find a treatment for Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.

8: Skin scan solution

5: An ultrasound to measure arthritis Researchers at the University of Southern Denmark have developed the ROPCA Ultrasound (RU) to measure the amount of arthritis in a patient’s hand. The automatised ultrasound was developed with the hope it could reduce the costs of the screenings and to make it more available to the public. They are hoping to bring it to the market in two years.

milk, a common cause of food poisoning in Africa. The researchers found a new strain of lactic acid bacteria that can both acidify the milk and kill off disease-causing micro-organisms. African researchers estimate that food poisoning kills 137,000 people on the continent annually.

2: BIG’s floating city

10: The obligatory COVID breakthrough

Miiskin has built an app that lets people scan their skin irregularities. It hopes the app can spot changes to the skin that are not visible, providing an early detection for skin diseases such as cancer.

Esko Design, a small company from Herfølge has developed a UVC light box that can remove the coronavirus from surfaces within two minutes. The small, automated box can be used to disinfect tools in hospitals, nursing homes and even restaurants. The production of the machine is currently underway, and the orders are slowly rolling out as several public institutions have expressed an interest.

9: Mini brain developed Scientists at the University of Copenhagen have developed a brain that replicates one that a foetus of four to seven months might have. They have succeeded in mimicking the brain by placing a human brain

7: Predicting heart attacks Vital Beats has developed an app that can predict a heart attack for those who have a pacemaker. The app can detect abnormalities 30 days before the attack might happen.

6: No humans needed at testing centre The Technical University of Denmark has unveiled its new automated and intelligent test centre. A one of a kind in Europe, the 1,1000sqm Center for Collaborative Autonomous Systems can adapt to the environment and perform complex tasks independently of human interference.

4: Pig blood into protein University of Copenhagen researchers have pioneered a method to transform pig blood into a neutral-tasting protein powder, which they hope could revolutionise the food industry and its CO2 emission rates. They also found this powder has a higher nutritional value than any other plant or dairy-based protein currently available. In Denmark, 60,000 tonnes of pig blood are left unused by the production of pork annually.

3: Camel milk solution

In collaboration with other universities the Technical University of Denmark has discovered a novel way to ferment camel

Bjarke Ingels was part of the team who designed Oceanix City, the first floating sustainable city, which can host up to 10,000 residents. It will be powered by renewable energy and can survive a category-five hurricane. The city complex is expected to provide residence to those who are unable to live elsewhere due to rising sea levels.

1: Seawater heating Aarhus Docklands rolled out a new ambitious project that aims to use seawater to heat 12,000 homes in the area. The electric pumps extract heat from the water and also function as a vacuum to collect waste. The aim of the project is to ensure that the whole municipality is CO2-neutral by 2030.

CULTURE

18 January - 11 February 2021

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Saluting the English-language theatre trailblazers of 2020 Actors, directors and playwrights have all made an impression, but who’s top dog in the year in which most people have felt as sick as one

5 Fergal O'Byrne: Ian Burns’s Irish cousin, of course

BEN HAMILTON

T

HE CORONAVIRUS did its best but it couldn’t lock down the city’s English-language theatre groups or keep their audiences away. But if there was a consolation prize, at least we didn’t have to put up with Copenhagen Stage.

Granted, That Theatre and Why Not Theatre had to shorten their runs in March, but they still had plenty of time to make an impression, with the former prevailing on this occasion with a knockout new play, ‘The Visit’, which portrayed the infamous visit of HC Andersen to the home of Charles Dicken in the 1850s.

So may we make a special mention, at this point, of its creators Barry Mckenna and Peter Holst-Beck (who made a memorable Andersen) in what was undoubtedly the year of the playwright.

More noms than Titanic AND THEN, once the corona-webs had cleared, the various groups were charged with planning suitable autumn productions and, again, they did not disappoint.

The CTC started proceedings with ‘The Effect’ – their best for several years – and then the House of International Theatre dared to dream with an ambitious double-header, ‘Harry Clarke & The Shy Manifesto’, a production that has landed no less than four CPH Culture nominations, which is a record in these parts.

That Theatre then conjured up its second original of the year in ‘Extremophiles’, a compelling play by its new resident Irish playwright Fergal O’Brien, and Why Not Theatre completed what has been a dud-free year with yet another standout work by Serbian dramatist Tanja Mastilo.

Raining stars IN A WORD, outstanding; in terms of stars, let’s just say the average score for all these productions was over five out of six!

Of course, most of these wizards were old hands at play, but there were some new faces working their magic, and this is our Top Five Trailblazers selection for 2020.

When an esteemed director comes to grace us with their presence and more experienced eye, I must confess I never get that excited, but when it’s the playwright … that’s a whole other story. With Mastilo and McKenna leading the charge, 2020 was undoubtedly the year of the dramatist on the local scene, and nobody underlined this more than Fergal O’Byrne, the creator of That Theatre’s autumn production ‘Extremophiles’. It wasn’t so much that his play was performed, but that his entire vision was realised, giving new meaning to the expression “the writer’s on set”. Ian Burns has given him free rein to write a trilogy, explaining: “It's rare that a writer and a theatre company click in the way that we have,” so watch out for O’Byrne’s next original, ‘Rub-a-Dub-Dub’, in the spring of 2022. Burns/O’Byrne ... it has a nice ring to it.

4 Joe Young: The Night is Young’s

When 'he' first appears, we see him through the frosted window of the door, his outline foreboding. It’s reminiscent of a horror film in which you can’t quite see the menace until it’s got you in its vice: blurry in a fog, black and white outlines, mummified. When the door is finally, reluctantly opened and Leon walks in, the routine becomes exceptional.

After all, it’s in their nature: doors open.

But few have tension like this. Despite another measured performance by Why Not Theatre stalwart Nathan Meister, it is South African newcomer Joe Young who gives the stronger performance as the intruder. His eyes never stop conveying his inner turmoil, and it’s his emotion

This year’s English-language Theatre Trailblazer winner is Carol Hayes

that you end up subscribing to the most.

3 Jody Fish: he's a chameleon in New York

fully named Fiskler played by Michael Worthman who commands both its Antarctic weather base setting and its soul. Dishevelled yet authoritarian, vulnerable yet soothing, and dynamic yet self-destructive, it’s an intriguing collision of contradictions that Worthman convincingly, and compellingly, portrays.

Definitely an actor to look out for!

1 Carol Hayes: Hey big contender!

Monologues can be a lonely business, but Jody Fish as the title character in the HIT production of David Cale’s 2017 play ‘Harry Clarke’ filled the space at Bøssehuset effortlessly, deliberately sharing almost constant eye contact with the audience as he took them into his world. It was hard to look away. Who was this chameleon before us? It was like he was controlling the flow of blood to his face, whether it was as the palefaced child enduring the shameful bullying of his father, or with the brooding intensity he brought to his alter-ego Harry Clarke and more than one seduction scene. It’s jawdropping how the same actor can look both unremarkable and devilishly sexy with a flick of the head. Oh, and he can sing too.

2 Michael Worthman: Fiskler … wasn’t he on the Nostromo?

Ian Burns provided the heartbeat of ‘Extremophiles’, but it is the wonder-

Finally, a Copenhagen Theatre Circle production earning a nomination that wasn’t directed by Jens Blegaa! Nobody deserves it more than up-and-coming director Carol Hayes, for whom 2020 has been a breakout year. While for others it started before it began, hers started gamely with the only Copenhagen performance to date of ‘Manwatching’ at Dexter’s Bar in early February. The recruitment of comedian Adrian Mackinder was an inspired choice and the show was packed out, with Hayes proving why she is a worthy winner of our top trailblazer by charging the audience to “Pay what you decide”. And then eight months later, she was ahead of the curve again with Lucy Prebble’s ‘The Effect’, a play of chemical love set against the backdrop of clinical drug trials. You could have spent the entire spring lockdown searching for a play, and you wouldn’t have been able to find a more apt choice for the times we live in.

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NATIONAL

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THERE were just 785 breakins over the Christmas period – barely half the 1,530 cases registered in 2019. North Zealand, as normal, led the way with 120 break-ins.

Bigger pockets for police PARLIAMENT has approved plans to increase funding for the police and prosecution services by 650 million kroner for next year.

The funds will be partly used to better combat digital crime. The country can expect 20 new local police units, 110 extra local officers, and a total of 450 police officers.

Green tax approval PARLIAMENT has approved a new tax reform to help Denmark reach its goal of cutting emissions by 70 percent by 2030. The business community will receive a total of 6 billion kroner between 2021 and 2025 to support their green transition. In two phases, an increase in the energy tax will be introduced. However, no CO2 tax is planned … yet.

Nobody to be charged FUNEN Police has confirmed that nobody will be charged in connection with the January 2019 collision on Storebæltsbroen between a passenger train and debris that fell off a freight train, which killed eight and injured 18. “Nobody bears criminal responsibility. In other words, no-one has acted negligently or intentionally in any respect,” a spokesperson told DR.

Quite a sting DR HAS revealed how two Danish-Somali brothers, who spent several years in prison for undertaking terrorist training, were at the heart of a keylogging operation to acquire people’s NEMID password information from computers at local libraries.

Over the last six years, up to 46 libraries have been targeted, and tens of million kroner stolen.

The brothers are back in prison.

Margie vs the Crown, Round II It might not rival the TV version, but this matriarchal showdown had its moments

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Fewer Xmas break-ins

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More couples splitting up

though she was adamant that they stay apart!

ment” - not least because she got vaccinated the very next day.

T MIGHT not rival the showdown between Queen Elizabeth II and Maggie Thatcher in the fourth season of ‘The Crown’, but the annual new year speeches by the nation’s leading matriarchs is always good sport, even if they were a little subdued by the coronavirus this year.

First up on New Year’s Eve, Queen Margrethe reflected on the pandemic over the course of 2020 and how she hopes her people will continue to come together in 2021.

A day later, PM Mette Frederiksen reflected on similar topics in her own speech, al-

Vaccination Day Eve THE QUEEN reflected on how the Danes have found peace by rediscovering their country and exploring nature at home. This was, she argued, “beneficial to the climate”, and she hopes their new-found respect for nature is not a passing fad.

In a nod to her last year’s speech, the monarch mentioned how people have become even more alienated in this time of crisis and call for unity, before solemnly paying her respects to those who have lost their jobs or, worse, their lives.

Sharing her vision for a better 2021, she urged her people not to give up, calling the vaccine roll-out a “source of joy and encourage-

Over to you Mette!

TO BE FAIR, Frederiksen talked about very similar sentiments as the Queen - after all, it would be heartless not to pay tribute to the victims and instead crow about your government’s achievements.

There was the devastating toll of the pandemic, the call for unity, the economic challenges, climate change … if it’s good enough for Her Majesty.

But she then changed tack slightly with a more downbeat tone, warning that the vaccination is no guarantee of “joy” as there is “no clear road to normalcy” ahead, and that the nation should get used to continuing to live with the current restrictions.

Happy new year, indeed!

Gang killing explosion

Cougher in court again

Tackling homelessness

IT MIGHT surprise many to learn that 2020 was a record year for gang-related killings, according to Rigspolitiet figures.

In total, there were 15 unlawful killings, up from eight in 2019.

They accounted for 30 percent of the country’s murders.

THE SUPREME Court has begun proceedings to hear the case of the young man who coughed at two police officers in Aarhus and told them he had COVID-19. The man was found not guilty at the city court, but then guilty at the high court.

FOR THE first time, a set of guidelines outlining ways of tackling homelessness has been published in Denmark. The guidance was published by Socialstyrelsen and is hoped to provide a useful tool to municipalities and other relevant agencies in their efforts to tackle the issue.

Asylum numbers down

Qualified migrants

Fatherless nation

JUST 761 people sought asylum in Denmark in 2019, according to the Danmarks Statistik report ‘Immigrants in Denmark’ – the lowest number since the report was launched in 1997. In 2015, 10,400 people applied. At 41 percent, Ishøj Municipality had the highest share of immigrants or descendants of immigrants.

SOME 48 percent of migrants (aged 25-64) who move to Denmark to work have obtained at least a master’s, compared to 7 percent of asylum-seekers, according to the Danmarks Statistik report ‘Immigrants in Denmark’.

Some 22 percent of all newborns in Denmark in 2019 were born to mothers who were immigrants or descendants of immigrants.

SOME 20 percent of Danish men have not had children by the time they hit 50, according to a Danmarks Statistik report – compared to 12 percent of women. Some 14 percent of all kids born in 2019 had a father who was at least 40 years old, while for mothers it was 4 percent. The more educated and employed the man, the more likely it is that he is a father.

AARHUS has been ranked as the eighth best travel Christmas destination by travel app Big 7 Travel. It praised the City of Smiles for its markets, lunches, horse-drawn carriages and displays of Christmas lights. Den Gamle By was also singled out for praise. Dresden topped the list, followed by Woodstock (Vermont), Franklin (Tennessee), New York City, Moscow and London.

Fewer firework injuries

Day of the Jackass

Top vegan destination

Dissatisfied nurses

NEW YEAR’S Eve was more subdued than usual – partly because the public were prohibited from visiting popular spots such as Rådhuspladsen in Copenhagen, and possibly because there are now stiffer penalties for the irresponsible use of fireworks.

In total, there were 165 firework-related injuries – a decline of almost 30 percent in 2019.

TWO MEN, aged 41 and 53, are currently on trial accused of the attempted manslaughter of extreme right-wing politician Rasmus Paludan in Aarhus last June.

The police shot the 53-year-old on the leg as he rushed through a barricade to the demo wielding a knife. It is contended the 41-yearold was complicit in the attack.

Both are pleading not guilty.

DENMARK ranks 8th in Europe and 13th in the world as one of the best countries for vegans, according to food magazine Chef’s Pencil. “Denmark is a world leader in organic food and that respect for nature is perhaps a key reason why such a herring-loving country now ranks as a top vegan destination,” it wrote. The UK topped the world rankings.

SOME 88 percent public sector nurses have considered changing jobs, according to a DSR survey. Broken down, 21 percent said they often considered it, 41 percent sometimes and 26 rarely. Many cited poor wages and working conditions, and 32.5 percent of the sample said they had considered quitting nursing altogether.

ORSOLYA ALBERT

I

ALMOST 11,400 couples split in Denmark in the first nine months of 2020, according to Danmarks Statistik – already more than the number in 2019. Mother advocacy group Mødrehjælpen has registered an increase in family conflicts during the Coronavirus Crisis.

Thousands pass test SOME 2,503 people passed the Indfødsretsprøven citizenship test on November 25, the Immigration Ministry has confirmed, out of a total of 4,194 people.

The pass rate of 59.7 percent was down slightly on the 64.9 percent who passed in June.

New mink law PARLIAMENT has passed a new mink law, thereby banning the farming of the animal until the end of 2021. Furthermore, there is now an official legal framework in place to put down all mink if needed. The law also agreed on compensation and bonuses due to the farmers who have lost their livelihoods.

Top destination for Xmas

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Vaccination wait for the healthy

THE NUMBER of still-born children is rising. Back in 2013, Denmark had the lowest frequency in the world, but according to Rigshospitalet numbers doubled from 201518 to 0.74 per 1,000 births. The rise has been blamed on a 2012 move to offer an induction to all women who reach their 42nd week of pregnancy.

Platypus findings A STUDY carried out by a research team led by the University of Copenhagen has mapped the genome of the duck-billed platypus, discovering it is a mix of mammal, bird and reptile. It was contended beforehand that the study would enable a better understanding of the evolution of other mammals – including humans - and how they produce milk.

Home-grown energy SOME 80 percent of electricity consumption came from from renewable sources in 2020, according to Dansk Energi – up from 76 percent in 2019. For the first time, wind turbines and solar cells covered half the nation’s needs. It means the CO2 imprint of Danish electricity is at an all-time low of 127 grams/ KWh – a 34 percent drop compared to five years ago.

Eaglets galore WHITE-TAILED eagle numbers are thriving since their reintroduction in 1996. Since then, 1,224 eaglets have been hatched, of which 138 were born last year.

Denmark’s oldest beer?

THE CARLSBERG Foundation is funding research aiming to determine whether beer was brewed during the Stone Age in Denmark.

Previously, the beer boffins lacked the necessary technology to confirm the malting of residue barley found in various receptacles, but all that has changed thanks to a new electron microscope

Telescope responsibility

Stronger sex drives ACADEMICS from Aarhus University and Aarhus University Hospital have recently led a study assessing the long-term psychological effect of circumcision. It finds that circumcised men are more likely to be emotionally unstable, have stronger sexual drives and exhibit borderline sexual behaviour, lower stress thresholds and more difficulties attaching themselves to their partner.

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Induction issues

SCIENCE

If they could vaccinate everyone together, they would

Those under 65 with no chronic conditions will have to wait until mid-April at the earliest CHRISTIAN WENANDE

I

F YOU’RE under the age of 65, don’t have a chronic condition and your job isn’t deemed to be critical in the fight against the coronavirus, the earliest you can expect to be vaccinated is mid-April.

By June 27, promises the Sundhedstyrelsen health authority, all Danish residents will be vaccinated, and so far 2.5 percent have been given their first dose – mostly patients in elderly care homes and frontline health workers – with the second scheduled to follow in three to six weeks.

The Lægemiddelstyrelsen medicines agency has pre-ordered enough vaccines to cover 18.8 million people.

Corona passport soon THE GOVERNMENT is introducing a COVID-19 vaccine passport identical in appearance to the document that has allowed people to travel by proving they have had a recent negative test.

Obtained from sundhed.dk to print at home, the move has been applauded by the aviation and event industries, although the document is not available yet.

Meanwhile, the World Economic Forum has linked up with a Swiss firm to develop CommonPass – an app that transforms an individual’s COVID-19 status into a QR code that can be easily scanned in airports.

It is reported that the Moderna vaccine is easier than Pfizer-BioNTech to administer as it does not need to be stored in extreme low temperatures.

The vaccination program is in a race against time against the spread of new variants of the coronavirus – most notably the British and South African strains – but most experts concur that it will be effective against all of them.

Race against time THE VACCINATION program has been made possible by the EU’s approval of Pfizer/ BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine in December. Since then the Moderna vaccine has also been approved.

No jab for me!

HOWEVER, a poll of 1,095 people in Denmark late last year revealed that 10 percent of people in the country will not take the coronavirus vaccine, with a further ten percent unsure whether or not they will take it.

Among the concerns people expressed were worries the vaccine had been developed too quickly, a distrust of the companies behind the vaccines, and an aversion to vaccines in general.

Agreement to expand 3G

Dark choccy truths

Biowaste breakthrough?

A BROAD majority of Parliament has agreed to expand the planned launch of the 5G network in the coming years. To this end, Parliament has agreed to offer new frequency channels to the broadband providers – thus speeding up the roll-out process. The plan is for at least 75 percent of Denmark to have access to 5G, providing they have the right phones.

A STUDY by the University of Copenhagen suggests that Danes and Chinese tongues are anatomically different. As a result, it contends, Danes are not as good at tasting bitter tastes as the Chinese, who are far more sensitive to them.

This is due to the Danes having fewer small buds called papillae on their tongue. It might explain why they like dark chocolate so much.

UNIVERSITY of Copenhagen researchers are involved in a large EU project to develop technology to easily convert biowaste into fertiliser. European cities produce more than 100 million tonnes of biowaste every year, but much of it is handled inefficiently, and it goes on to emit greenhouse gases and ammonia that harms the climate and our health.

AARHUS University and Finland’s University of Turku have taken over the operation of the Nordic Optical Telescope on the island of La Palma in the Canaries.

The 2,400 metre-high telescope has been integral to the training and research of Nordic astronomers for three decades. With a diameter of 2.56 metres, it is among the 50 largest in the world.

Outdoor tomatoes better A UNIVERSITY of Southern Denmark study concludes that tomatoes grown in the open produce just one eighth of the CO2 emitted by their counterparts in greenhouses: 80 kilos of CO2 per tonne compared to 700. Even when transport is factored in, choosing tomatoes grown in warmer climes is far more preferable.

Snow at last DENMARK’S first official snowfall of the winter came on January 6, and so far this January has been much colder than the previous four years. January 15 was the coldest day since 25 January 2019. Meanwhile, 2020 has been confirmed as the second-hottest year since records began. Its average temperature was 9.8 degrees.

Denmark applauds EU THE EU has agreed to reduce greenhouse emissions by at least 55 percent by 2030, replacing the previous goal of 40 percent. “With this decision, we are witnessing a significant step up in the EU’s climate ambitions,” said the climate minister, Dan Jørgensen. “The previous target has long been a far cry from the demands of science.”

10 CULTURE

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LARS VON Trier’s miniseries ‘Riget’, which was named among the spookiest TV series ever made

by New York magazine in 2014, is getting a third season over 25 years after its original release. Set in city hospital Rigshospitalet, ‘Riget Exodus’ will be released in 2022.

Another round of prizes DRUK WON all four of the awards it was nominated for at the European Film Awards: best film, actor (Mads Mikkelsen), director (Thomas Vinterberg) and manuscript.

Meanwhile, it has been nominated for 12 Roberts, but will face competition from Mikkelsen’s other film ‘Riders of Justice’ (15), ‘Shorta’ (11), ‘A Perfectly Normal Family’ (9) and The Good Traitor (9).

Hunting the Lord NICKLAS Bendtner and his girlfriend Philine Roepstorff are currently contesting the Discovery+ series ‘Jaget vildt: Kendte på flugt’, in which they have joined six other GPS-emitting Danish ‘celebs’ on the run from a team of seasoned investigators.

Among their rivals are Caroline’s storebror Patrik Wozniacki and MMA fighter Mark O Madsen.

So who’s got the top job in ‘Borgen’?

ONLINE THIS WEEK MIKE KOLLÖFFEL, DR

Season three for ‘Riget’

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As more cast members are confirmed, CPH POST speculates on who will be the new PM when series returns in 2022 BEN HAMILTON

W

ITH MORE cast members confirmed for the fourth season of ‘Borgen’, the Danish political series that wowed the world a decade ago, the all-important question is who will be PM when the series returns to DR and then Netflix in 2022?

The non-runners WE KNOW that lead character Birgitte Nyborg (Sidse Babett Knudsen) will be the foreign minister when the show begins.

Her spindoctor Kasper Juul is also ruled out on account of the actor Pilou Asbæk having bigger fish to fry after his spell in 'Game of Thrones'.

Lars Hesselboe, the right-wing PM when we last left off, is also out on account of the actor Søren Spanning having passed away last year.

Ole Thestrup, who played longterm Freedom Party leader Svend Åge Saltum, also died – so it won’t be him either.

TWO DANISH films – ‘Flugt’ (‘Flee’) and 'President' – have been selected for the international documentary program at the Sundance Film Festival (Jan 28-Feb 3). Meanwhile, the partly Danish film 'Human Factors' has been selected for the international feature film competition.

HIT gets four noms Do Özlem (left) or Mikkel (centre right) have premiership qualities?

(Søren Malling), who had just got his job back at TV1 News, but had to sack his long-term lover Pia Munk (Lisbeth Wulff).

Søren Ravn (Lars Mikkelsen), a political advisor in season three, might seem unlikely, but Mikkelsen’s career has taken off since then, so maybe the writers have come up with a way to make ‘Søren the Socialist’ the PM?

EU commissioner in season 2.

More likely are New Democrats duo Jon Berthelsen (Jens Albinus) and Nadia Barazani (Laura Allen Müller Smith). We never really trusted Berthelsen, so maybe he wheeled and dealed it to the top seat, but with Barazani, the producers have a chance to deliver Denmark’s first non-ethnically Danish PM a decade after crowning its first female one.

FORMER CNN anchorman Leon Hawthorne, a British expat who lives in Copenhagen, has with his six-year-old son Milo just released a book aimed at the under-8s. As the name suggests, ‘Milo and the Magic Door’ has a Narnia ring to it, albeit with a time-travelling protagonist who ends up on Blackbeard's pirate ship in the Caribbean.

One of the journos?

OVER IN Britain, the likes of Boris Johnson has shown how easy it is to move from journalism into a top job in politics, so why not in 'Borgen'?

The last time we encountered news anchor Katrine Fønsmark (Birgitte Hjort Sørensen), she was working as the spindoctor of the New Democrats.

Less likely is Torben Friis

Climbing the ranks?

MORE LIKELY, it will be one of the actors who played a politician.

There’s former Labour leader Michael Laugesen (Peter Mygind), who ended up becoming the editor-of-chief of Ekspres, but would he retain Nyborg as his foreign minister? Unlikely!

Anne Sophie Lindenkrone (Signe Egholm Olsen), the loose cannon leader of the Solidarity Party, also seems unlikely. This was the politician at the centre of the series’ most far-fetched moment when audio emerged of her threatening to have the PM’s kid kidnapped (more like Bogota than Borgen).

Bent Sejrø (Lars Knutzon) is too knackered after his stroke just moments after being appointed

Complete newcomer ALL OF this leads us to the conclusion that the PM will be a new addition to the cast.

Mikkel Boe Følsgaard (Christian VII in ‘A Royal Affair’) may only be 36, but Finnish PM Sanna Marin is just 35, so why not. However, the baseball cap he’s sporting in the promo photo suggests he will be playing a bum ... a journo probably.

That leaves Özlem Saglanmak as our favourite. Currently nominated for a Robert for ‘Shorta’, her star is rising. At 40, she’s the right age and, as mentioned before, the right ethnicity given the show’s previous track record.

Stick your money on Özlem for the top job!

Lamar to play Roskilde

White casting condemned

Shock at penis kids show

Top honour for our Viv

US RAPPER Kendrick Lamar has been confirmed as one of the headliners for this year’s Roskilde Festival. It will be the 33-year-old Compton rapper’s third visit, as he previously performed at the festival in 2013 and 2015. This year’s festival, which will run from June 26 to July 3, will be Roskilde’s 50th edition. One-day ticket options remain available.

THE CASTING of Nikolaj Lie Kaas in the leading role of the Danish-language version of the new Pixar film ‘Soul’ has stoked controversy – because he is white and the character Joe is black. Berlingske found two prominent Danes eager to condemn the castings. But others defended Riis, saying he’s better than Jamie Foxx, who plays Joe in the original version.

NATIONAL broadcaster DR has been criticised for airing a cartoon aimed at the under-8s about a man with a long, magical penis, even though it has been very popular with audiences on DR Ramasjang. ‘John Dillermand’ has split the public and ruffled feathers abroad.

Dillermand is slang for penis in Danish.

CRAZY Christmas Cabaret’s British creator and star Vivienne McKee has been awarded the 2020 Teaterflisen. The award, which bequeathes the recipient their own granite tile on Frederiksberg Alle, recognises actors for their significant contribution to theatre.

Previous winners include Mads Mikkelsen, Trine Dyrholm and Sidse Babett Knudsen.

On Blackbeard's ship

Sundance nominations

THE CPH Culture theatre awards have nominated four city-based English-language productions for its best international production award: HIT’s ‘Harry Clarke’ and ‘The Shy Manifesto’, That Theatre’s ‘The Visit’ and the CTC’s ‘The Effect’. The first three also picked up acting noms.

Midt om Natten PUK RECORDING Studios near Randers in Jutland burned down during the night of December 27. It was completely destroyed.

Among the hits recorded there were ‘Faith’ (George Michael), ‘Sacrifice’ (Elton John), ‘Personal Jesus’ (Depeche Mode) and ‘Midt om Natten’ (Kim Larsen).

Princely parrot A NEW DOCUMENTARY, 'Dronningens mand' (‘The Queen’s Husband’), includes previously unseen footage of Prince Henrik along with several French-language audio interviews carried out by DR’s Paris correspondent Stéphanie Surrugue in 2008. He recalls how he memorised his wedding speech like a “parrot”.

Not all YouTube ALMOST one half of Danish children aged 7-14 go to the cinema at least once every three months, according to a new Danish Film Institute study.

#MeToo hits TV2 host THE LATEST high-profile Dane caught up in #MeToo is TV host Jes Dorph-Petersen, who has been sacked by the TV2 program ‘Go after live’ for allegedly sexually harassing two former journalism interns 20 years ago.

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DANISH eSport phenom Anders Vejrgang, 14, has won a world record 390 Fifa Ultimate Team games in a row – over 13 consecutive weekends he has played 30 opponents each time.

In related news, Danish Counter-Strike team Astralis is again number one in the world following its triumph at the IEM Global Challenge, which saw it overtake French rival Team Vitality.

Cycling quartet’s joy THE TRACK cycling 4,000-metre pursuit team, who smashed the world record on their way to world gold last February, have been named Sports Persons of the Year by DIF and Team Denmark.

Badminton player Viktor Axelsen won best sporting achievement and 2012 gold medal rowing duo Mads Rasmussen and Rasmus Quist were inducted into the hall of fame.

Blue Jacket bonanza ICE HOCKEY player Oliver Bjorkstrand, 25, has agreed a new 164 million kroner deal with Columbus Blue Jackets that will keep him at the NHL club until the end of the 202526 season.

Dane is Klopp’s disciple BO SVENSSON, 41, has been named the new head coach of Mainz 05. The former coach of Austrian second tier side FC Liefering played under Jürgen Klopp at Mainz from 2007-08.

Concerns over Qatar and Belarus Danes uncomfortable over hosts of forthcoming football and ice hockey world tournaments CHRISTIAN WENANDE

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ENMARK is often lauded for its strong stance internationally, and over the last month strong opposition has been voiced against Qatar staging the 2022 World Cup in football and Belarus co-hosting this year’s World Ice Hockey Championships, which start on May 21.

The Danish Ice Hockey Union (DIU) has even said it was prepared to take over hosting duties – as has Slovakia.

Co-hosts Latvia and fellow Nordic nations Sweden, Finland and Norway reportedly back the DIU’s stance to deprive Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko – a huge ice hockey fan – of his big moment.

people’s petition to deprive Qatar of the World Cup. On Monday it confirmed that it would not get in the Danish national team’s way should it qualify for the next World Cup, confirming that it would be left to the DBU football association to decide, and the DBU is against a boycott.

Close to 6,000 people have signed a petition requesting a vote by MPs, which if approved could lead to a bill, but it still needs over 44,000 more votes to reach Parliament.

Boycott not backed HOWEVER, the Danish government is against an ongoing

Strong interest abroad THE WORLD’S media have been taking note, with outlets in

On course ... for now WHILE national team coach Kasper Hjulmand has stated that he would fully understand if one of his players decided to boycott the tournament in protest.

Coronavirus-permitting, the 2022 World Cup is scheduled to start next year on November 21 – providing, of course, the Danes do not persuade the rest of the world to boycott it.

Kasper takes Dad's record

Eriksen on the move?

Freediver’s new record

KASPER Schmeichel, 34, has now played more games for Leicester City than his father Peter did for Manchester United – the Danish record for a goalkeeper at a single club in Denmark – and he has now made 400 starts for the Foxes. However, Peter retains the Premier League record, as Kasper’s first three seasons at Leicester were in the Championship.

WILL CHRISTIAN Eriksen secure a move away from Inter?

PSG, Ajax and Tottenham are all reportedly interested! In other news, right back Joakim Mæhle has joined Atalanta from Genk, veteran striker Ronnie Schwartz has left FCM for Charlton Athletic, and right back Alexander Bah has swapped SønderjyskE for Slavia Prague for a reported 13 million kroner.

DANISH freediver Stig Severinsen, 47, has smashed the world record for the furthest successful descent into water on one mouthful of air. His mark of 202 metres off the coast of Mexico beat the previous record of 177, which was set in 2016.

Severinsen can hold his breath underwater for over 20 minutes, which is also a record.

Could the Danes be playing on home ice?

Scandinavia, the UK and other parts of Europe reporting the news.

“On a appris: Danemark, un boycott de la Coupe du monde 2022?” questioned France Football, the esteemed magazine that awards the Ballon d'Or.

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390-0 for Danish star

SPORT

SSI’s illegal storage FOR MORE than six years up until 2018, the Statens Serum Institut illegally passed on samples of blood and other tissues to Danish researchers without seeking permission from the Danish Data Protection Agency, reports DR. Approximately 10 million samples are stored by the SSI at the Danish National Biobank. Virtually everyone has a sample there!

Helping Greta to fly!

THE VILLUM Center for the Science of Sustainable Fuels and Chemical is developing new technologies to enable ‘e-fuels’ to replace their polluting forerunners. "Of course we can get Greta Thunberg to fly!" said Professor Ib Chorkendorff from the DTU. “We are already, in principle, able to propel aircraft, ships and cars without CO2 emissions.”

Sea level worry A DTU SPACE project indicates there may be factors causing Greenland’s ice to melt that are not currently factored into existing models mapping rising sea levels.

Worryingly, this suggests that sea levels may be rising faster than previously anticipated.

Smoother cancer cream?

THE UNIVERSITY of Southern Denmark is developing a cream that can reduce the built-up chemotherapy in skin cells, thus reducing the severe skin pain of its application by cancer patients.

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UPON ANNOUNCING a loss of 6.8 billion kroner for its 2019-20 fiscal year, SAS took the opportunity to confirm the departure of its long-time CEO Rickard Gustafson in July to take on a similar role at SKF. SAS chairman Carsten Dilling praised Gustafson’s efforts over the past decade, noting that “SAS is in a critical - but stable position.

Truck reprieve for city FROM MARCH 1, Maersk will shift much of its container ship traffic from the capital to the western coast of Zealand.

It will move a third of its volume in Zealand to Kalundborg, which it contends is much closer to open seas than Copenhagen.

The move should dramatically decrease the number of trucks on the city’s streets.

Fewer bankruptcies DESPITE fears earlier in the year, 2020 saw the fewest number of bankruptcies since 2015. In total there were 5,614. Extensive aid packages and support schemes saved many companies from going belly up in the spring. However, since then hotels and restaurants have faced a bankruptcy risk of three times above average.

Baggage bankruptcy A DIFFICULT year for the travel industry led to an attempted restructuring of Aviator Airport Services – a Nordic baggage handling company – but failure has led to the bankruptcy of its Danish branch. In June, Aviator fired 280 employees, and now these have been joined by a further 200 with the latest closure.

Danes better off DANES have more wealth than before the Coronavirus Crisis started, according to a Nationalbanken report. The net wealth of Danish households increased by 362 billion kroner in the third quarter to 5,657 billion. Since then, a further 52 billion has been paid out in frozen holiday money.

Timely Brexit avoids 2021 heartbreak

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SAS loses its CEO

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Fishing sector under the most pressure following Christmas Eve deal

A

HEAD OF a possible Hard Brexit at the end of 2020, Danish exports were bracing themselves for a considerable hit.

After all, the UK is one of Denmark’s biggest trade partners. Exports of Danish goods to the UK totalled 45 billion kroner last year - making up about 6 percent of Denmark’s exports.

A No Deal Brexit could have resulted in trade tariffs and quotas being imposed on trade between the two partners.

According to Danmarks Statistik (see factbox), such a development would have particularly affected ten product groups that account for 60 percent (28 billion kroner) of exports to the UK, as well as the top ten for imports, which account for 50 percent (25 billion kroner).

Timely Xmas present BUT THANKS to the deal announced by Britain and the EU on December 24, most of Danish industry can sleep easier at night.

For example, the deal provided full, liberalised access to international transport between the UK and EU member states.

Flights to and from the UK will continue, with some operational flexibility agreed in terms of code sharing and aircraft leasing.

However, Danish companies face more paperwork and checks, along with a mountain of new processes and terminology to deal with.

Complications are expected in

X marks the new capital of Europe

the areas of banking, transfering data and, most particularly, fishing.

Fishing under pressure DANMARKS Fiskeriforening estimates jobs will be lost on account of Danish fishermen losing a quarter of the fishing quotas they previously held in British waters.

Already there has been a spike in Scottish fishermen heading to Denmark to offload their wares.

Jesper Kongsted, who works for Denmark’s biggest fish auction house in the Jutland fishing town of Hanstholm, estimated to Altinget.dk that upwards of 40 percent of the 1,300 tonnes

of fish sold in Hanstholm this year has come off 10-15 Scottish boats.

Due to issues pertaining to Brexit, the price of certain fish has plummeted in Scotland - by up to 80 percent for some species - and it is believed Scottish fisherman can probably earn much more by selling their loads in Denmark.

Application avalanche IN RELATED news, 511 Brits applied for Danish citizenship in 2020, according to the Immigration Ministry.

Only 26 applied in 2015, the year before Brexit, and 305 in 2017 and 600 in 2019. (CPH POST)

TOP 10 IMPORTS FROM UK

TOP 10 EXPORTS TO UK

- Vehicles - Processed goods - Telecom and sound recording applications - Raw mineral oils at related products - Electric machines - Power machines and engines - Machines and accessories for industry - Other transport goods - Technical and scientific instruments - Medicine and pharma

- Power machines and engines - Meat - Medicine and pharma - Metal - Machines and accessories for industry - Raw mineral oils and related products - Garments and related products - Dairy and eggs - Furniture - Other food products

Carlsberg accused

Among the safest

Green car sales soar

CARLSBERG is accused of colluding with two rival brewers over prices in India. The competition authorities have accused Carlsberg, SABMiller and United Breweries - which together control 88 percent of a market worth 40 billion kroner a year - of illegal price fixing for eleven years. It is believed SABMiller’s new owner AB Inbev alerted the authorities in 2018.

SAS IS among the safest airlines to fly with in 2021, according to new ratings from AirlineRatings. com. It ranked 16th, two spots down from last year, on a list led

by Australian airline Qantas. The top five was completed by Qatar Airways, Air New Zealand, Singapore Airlines and Emirates, while Lufthansa, KLM and United failed to make the top 20.

2020 WAS A BANNER year for new green car sales, according to Danish Car Importers. For example, sales of electric cars increased by 141.4 percent to 6,261 in the capital region, while plug-in hybrid sales shot up 370 percent to 6,170. Overall, 78,619 new cars were sold in the capital area in 2020 - down 12.2 percent from 89,550 in 2019.

Flashing the cash AFTER years of decline, last year saw a surprise record-high in the amount of physical cash in circulation, according to Finans. In the second quarter of last year, figures from Danmarks Nationalbank revealed that 73 billion kroner in physical cash was in circulation, corresponding to each Dane handling an average of 12,565 kroner.

MobilePay increase IN TOTAL, 351 million transactions were made via MobilePay in Denmark last year – moving a total of 123 billion kroner. It represents a 6 percent increase in traffic and a 20 percent increase in volume compared to the previous year.

Launched in 2013, the service is free for private individuals, but not for businesses.

Property sales rise A RECORD 107,000 homes were sold in 2020 - up 22 percent on 2019. Estate agent chain Boligsiden attributed the rise to low interest rates and travel restrictions, which aided a 55 percent increase in the sale of holiday homes. Over the course of the year, house, apartment and summerhouse prices shot up by 5.5, 7.4 and 13.0 percent respectively.

Unemployment dip FROM OCTOBER to November, gross unemployment in Denmark fell by 3,200 to 127,700 – the sixth consecutive month the figure has fallen.

Simultaneously, the unemployment rate fell 0.1 percentage points to 4.5 percent. It is yet to fall to pre-pandemic levels, however.

Dovista acquisition SUBJECT to approval, Danish window group Dovista is set to purchase of Swiss Arbonia’s façade windows and doors division at a cost of 2.4 billion kroner.

BUSINESS OPINION

18 January - 11 February 2021

THE VALLEY OF LIFE As the chairman of the Medicon Valley Alliance – the gold-labelled Danish-Swedish life science cluster organisation – Søren will address current trends and challenges in the sector.

W

E ENTER 2021 with hopes of a new year much better than the one we

Chance for a reboot AS A GROWTH industry and a regional stronghold in the Øresund region and as a natural part of the solution to a healthcare crisis, life science and investments in life science

GARETH GARVEY UK-DK TRADE Gareth (gareth@bccd.dk), who has a passion for creativity and innovation in business, has been the CEO of the British Chamber of Commerce in Denmark since the start of 2017. Gareth has a background in management consultancy working for Price Waterhouse, PwC Consulting and IBM, and he also teaches at Copenhagen Business School.

NEXT ISSUE

So, all in agreement?

COMPANIES that trade goods between Denmark and the UK will be pleased to avoid the tariffs that could have had a noticeable adverse effect on their margins.

But for many companies there is plenty of work ahead.

We all now need to understand how the 1,246-page Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) will affect our businesses. As an example, there are over 80 pages covering ‘Rules IN 2 ISSUES

Joining forces RESTORING the free movement of labour, a key component of our shared regional economy, is only part of the solution, however. We must join forces with our Swedish neighbours and proactively identify and initiate strategic collaboration in areas that promise better and more profitable solutions to stimulate

of Origin’, which determine whether goods are eligible for preferential tariffs (tariff free).

It is complicated and mistakes can be very costly.

There will be new customs checks, there will be new terminology and there will be additional paperwork. And there will certainly be teething troubles as new processes are implemented.

health, growth and job creation.

Within life science we have already come far, but there are still ripe and low-hanging fruits to be picked. Fortunately, some stakeholders are already working hard to prepare for a reboot of Copenhagen and the Øresund region as an even more attractive destination for international conferences, tourists, and other events once the world reopens.

Realising the potential I SUGGEST that key local, regional, and preferably also national decision-makers and stakeholders from Denmark and Sweden should get together and take it upon themselves to do a 360-degree review of the Øresund Region and its potential as a catalyst for growth and development – and then take the actions needed to realise this potential.

Life science riches

Organisations such as Medicon Valley Alliance, Greater Copenhagen, Copenhagen Capacity, Invest in Skåne and Wonderful Copenhagen are already working with specific and important elements of this challenge, but a more comprehensive, cross-border, long-term, and in-depth understanding of the region and its potential and contribution to health, wealth and welfare is needed.

PIXABAY

A

T THE ELEVENTH hour the EU and the UK signed a trade deal that came into effect on 1 January 2021.

We all breathed a sigh of relief that we had avoided the ‘no-deal’ and the consequential tariffs and quotas.

So now we can forget about Brexit and move on. Or can we?

is an obvious part of the answer.

And efforts are now underway to leverage the life science sector to reboot the Danish economy.

So let me suggest we use the current situation to take a more comprehensive look at the Øresund Region to ascertain how we can make it an even stronger catalyst for growth in Denmark and Southern Sweden alike. I am sure we can agree that stronger growth is part of our common hopes for 2021

PIXABAY

SØREN BREGENHOLT

have just left behind. Although the COVID-19 pandemic is far from over, the recently approved vaccines give cause for optimism.

There is light at the end of the tunnel, and this time it is probably not just the light of a train steaming towards us.

It is still too early to evaluate the total economic, social, and health-related consequences of the pandemic. But there is no doubt that we need to do our utmost to get back on the growth trajectory to restore jobs and welfare, so we can fund the associated healthcare costs.

13

The last time we run this flag photo, hopefully

TCA technicalities WE SHOULD not expect Brexit to disappear from our radar.

The deal is primarily focused on goods, not services. The Banking Industry, a major industry for the UK, is not included and discussions about regulatory equivalence go on.

More relevant to many businesses, the UK’s data protection laws have not yet been deemed ‘adequate’ by the EU, but the IN 3 ISSUES

TCA includes a buffer of up to six months during which data transfers can be made under existing EU rules.

If adequacy is not granted in this period, transfers of data between the EU and UK will have to follow the more complicated rules applying to third countries.

There are many provisions in the TCA for review, redress, and arbitration. These can be both positive and negative. FlexibilIN 4 ISSUES

ity and uncertainty go hand in hand.

Fit For Business

Just Say It As It Is

Economics Explained

Union Views

Welcome Onboard!

Global Denmark

Startup Community

Get Your Biering’s

Danish Capital in 2019

It’s complicated!

HAPPILY, there is a deal in place, and we need to move on and make it work.

But as I have already said, it is complicated; make sure you get the right advice from your lawyers, trade bodies and chambers of commerce so that we can continue to develop business between the UK and Denmark.

IN 5 ISSUES

Give Yourself a Chance

14 OPINION

THE COPENHAGEN POST | CPHPOST.DK

18 January - 11 February 2021

ADRIAN MACKINDER

Mackindergarten British writer and performer Adrian Mackinder (adrianmackinder.co.uk) and his pregnant Danish wife moved from London to Copenhagen in September 2015. He now spends all his time wrestling with fatherhood, the unexpected culture clash and being an Englishman abroad.

Pox upon my house LAST YEAR was especially turbulent for me. January 2020 alone saw an unexpected and tragic death in the family, me blighted by a nasty bout of shingles, and then both kids simultaneously struck down by chicken pox so aggressive they resembled those doomed engineers ordered to cool down Reactor 4 at Chernobyl.

And then, a few weeks later, just when things started to calm down for us and sickness had waned, the entire world caved in on itself.

What a time to be alive. But I remain hopeful.

New year, same t-shirt 2021 HAS ALREADY caved under pressure. It’s told us we shouldn’t get our hopes up.

Within only a week of its birth, this year delivered us an unbridled attack on the very seat of US democracy. The images of a failed coup ascending Capitol Hill was a sight to behold. A conflagration of jagged, angry flags, ludicrous facial hair, UFO abductees, far-right nutjobs and extras from the film ‘Deliverance’.

That wasn’t so funny.

Blessed is thy Danes GLOBALLY speaking, we are lucky to be living here in the time of corona. After all, the UK crumbled. The British government proved even worse at handling a pandemic than Brexit.

I remain largely disinterested by Danish politics – too much choice and not enough variety – but I do applaud the current government. Their relatively swift action enabled schools and nurseries to reopen and people to return to work in good time, albeit under different, strange conditions.

I

Stand up and fight!

AS A PARENT, I was grateful my kids could continue to enjoy their own kind and we could preserve our sanity.

As a performer, I know just how fortunate I was to spend a large chunk of last year doing stand-up comedy and improv to paying audiences all around this city, when so many overseas had their professions and employment crushed overnight by months of interminable lockdown.

Okay, so things have since gone backwards, but we turned it around before, and I remain hopeful we can do it again.

A weight off my mind?

I ALSO remain hopeful I can shed the lockdown weight and keep it off.

But I have no patience for diets.

Now is not the time. We need all the comfort food we can get. So home exercise that doesn’t involve being screamed at by a lycra-clad YouTuber is the way forward.

After years of being a proud member of gyms I won’t go to, the other week I stumped up for a rowing machine. A fancy

one. I’ve already used it. I remain hopeful I will use it twice.

Marvelous time for all FINALLY, I remain hopeful you will buy my book. It’s entitled ‘Stan Lee: How Marvel Changed the World’, and it’s out on March 31. It’s about the man who helped invent some of the world’s most famous comic-book superheroes.

But I’ve cunningly written it so you don’t have to be a comic book fan to also find it interesting. It’s a joyous romp through a century of mainstream entertainment – stage, radio, TV, film and online – seen through the life of a man who was at the forefront of popular culture for over 70 years.

It’s fun, funny, full of weird trivia and, I hope, as fascinating to read as I found it to research and write. You can pre-order now directly from White Owl Books or via Amazon. It’s my first book, but I remain hopeful it won’t be my last.

PIXABAY

F EVER there was a year that’s under a lot of pressure to deliver, it’s 2021. So much so, it’s not very fair really.

There’s been this unspoken, unfounded but understood belief that last year’s horror show would somehow vanish as soon as the Town Hall clock struck midnight on January 1. With each and every one of those chimes ringing across the soggy Copenhagen night air, we would bid good riddance to a year blighted by pandemic, and usher in a new dawn of viral-free freedom.

Except it didn’t. Funny that.

Home is where the is NOW BREXIT has happened, along with all other Brits living here, I must reapply for residency. I remain hopeful this will be just a formality and not a hurdle.

I’ve lived here half a decade now; this is my home. It is also my kids’ home, and I want them to enjoy growing up here.

Then in ten years’ time, we can visit the smoldering ruins of Daddy’s homeland and buy a Chelsea townhouse for five jellied eels and a pickled egg.

Computer say “No”

OPINION

18 January - 11 February 2021

SIBYLLE DE VALENCE

A Dane Abroad

Green Spotlight

Photosynthesis in play IT’S NOT dissimilar to the 20,000 LED lights providing mountains of salad with energy and warmth in a 7,000 sqm warehouse located in an industrial area on the outskirts of Copenhagen, where photosynthesis is always in play.

The largest indoor vertical farm in Europe was inaugurated in Denmark on December 7. Some 15 harvests per year are expected to produce nearly a thousand tonnes of salads and aromatic herbs grown above ground and intended for restaurants and caterers, as well as supermarkets.

Grown in a constant 20-degree temperature, the stacks of veg are 14 levels high. Automated robots circulate between the shelves transporting the seeds and contributing to the space-age atmosphere in this unusual hyper-clean and windowless farm, where there’s not one trace of soil or daylight.

Keeping a lid on loss ENERGY consumption will account for 30 percent of the total production cost, and yet

Straight, No Chaser STEPHEN GADD PIXABAY

F

NEXT ISSUE

KIRSTEN LOUISE PEDERSEN

Sibylle is a French journalist, columnist and author who writes for a variety of French, English and Italian language-publications, specialising on the green transition. Having lived and worked in San Francisco, Milan, Berlin, Rome, Calgary and Paris, she speaks five languages. Follow her on Instagram at sibdevalence IVE: THAT was the number of hours of sun that Denmark experienced over the first 20 days of December.

An average of 5.3 minutes of sunshine per day!

But even if we had 100 hours, it wouldn’t be enough, according to Professor Susanne Gjedsted Bügel at the University of Copenhagen, as the sunlight comes in at such a very low angle that it would not be enough to fulfil our vitamin D needs.

So if you’re feeling sad and depressed, don’t resort to anxiolytics and instead invest in a light therapy lamp.

15

Straight Up

IN 2 ISSUES

ZACH KHADUDU

Early Rejser ADAM WELLS IN 3 ISSUES Altogether now: “The sun will come out tomorrow!”

Anders Riemann, the man behind the startup Nordic Harvest in partnership with the Taiwanese company YesHealth Group, describes the urban farm as an ‘ecological model’.

The food is grown close to the end-consumers, so there are no food losses or CO2 emissions during transportation. Nothing is lost, everything is recycled: water, nutrients and fertilisers. And no pesticides are used.

And, of course, the green energy is 100 percent derived from renewable sources – the wind turbines Denmark has so many of. “Here the demand [of wind power] is not meeting the supply, therefore it is a perfect match,” notes Riemann.

Tasteful future?

THE DANISH Farmers’ Union contends that 95 percent of the Danish population is ready to change their consumption behaviour in order to protect the environment. But at the same time, another study insists that the Danes are still driven by price.

It is yet to be seen in a few months if the price makes the difference. And if the economics follow, and the taste too. Because

according to Riemann, here lies the future of agriculture in an over-populated world more prone to extreme weather.

Word of the year IN THE meantime, the Danes have chosen their word of the infamous year 2020: ‘Samfundssind’.

Originating in 1936, it breaks down into ‘samfund’ (society) and ‘sind’ (mind), and it was used shortly afterwards by the then prime minister when he appealed for solidarity at the start of World War II. It was apt therefore that one of his successors, Mette Frederiksen, used it on March 11 when she announced the lockdown. "We have to stand together by keeping our distance. We need community spirit (…) Samfundssind," she said, calling for a collective responsibility combined with a sense of community.

And it’s proven to be a new standard for our society – a new form of patriotism that has created a buzz on social media and in our everyday lives. It celebrates the heroism of small daily acts of kindness and mutual support.

That’s enough to be hopeful for 2021 and the new world to come!

Mishra’s Mishmash MRUTYUANJAI MISHRA

Crazier than Christmas VIVIENNE MCKEE IN 4 ISSUES

The Road Less Taken JESSICA ALEXANDER

An Actor’s Life IAN BURNS IN 5 ISSUES

Englishman in Nyhavn JACK GARDNER

Living Faith REVD SMITHA PRASADAM

16 HISTORY

THE COPENHAGEN POST | CPHPOST.DK

18 January - 11 February 2021

How gentrification came to the Gutter and broke Grethe’s heart

MARCUS HOY

N

Too tired to get (it) up

BY THE second half of the 20th century, many prostitutes were established as independent businesswomen, paying tax and trading without pimps.

One, who was renowned for her speedy customer turnover, would blame bad business on the steep steps to her fifth floor apartment. “Most of them are too knackered by the time they reach the top,” she said.

By the 1970s and 80s, the sound of guitars and the smell of cannabis were in the air as hippies moved in alongside the prostitutes. The infamous Pelican Bar was renowned for its heady mixture of prostitutes, criminals and long-haired newcomers.

Gentrified and gutted GIVEN its cheap rents and central location, it was only a matter of time before Pisserenden began to experience gentrification.

During the 1990s, the brothels and bars began to close and be replaced by upscale restaurants, boutiques and coffee shops.

The last prostitute still known to be operating was a Swedish woman called Grethe, who was active until at least 1999, a reliable source at CPH POST then confirmed. When she finally left, a centuries-spanning tradition finally came to an end.

To the average visitor today, Copenhagen’s Latin Quarter has little to distinguish it from other parts of the old town. The streets are a little more narrow perhaps, a couple of erotic accessory stores can be found, and you’re marginally more likely to catch a whiff of cannabis.

But Pisserenden’s edge vanished long ago. This is how full gentrification looks, 20 years on.

Larsbjørnsstræde facing Vestergade in 1900 (and the same view in 2011)

ORF3US

Fancy some real estate?

ACCOUNTS dating back to the 19th century confirm that prostitution was as brazen on the streets of Sankt Peders Strade and Teglgardsstraede as Amsterdam’s Red Light District.

Women of all shapes and sizes plied their trade on the narrow sidewalks or from the windows of the cheap, high apartment buildings.

A historic euphemism for sex was a ‘real estate valuation’, and a woman’s plea for trade often took the form of a request for such an assessment. The cost ranged from 10-100 kroner, paid by the assessor of course – with the over-70s often getting half-price deals.

As early as 1910, 25 percent of Copenhagen’s prostitutes were thought to be living in Pisserenden, which was also the centre of Copenhagen’s earliest gay scene.

Regardless of how many hip-

ster microbreweries are open today, their number is unlikely to exceed the 50 breweries and 50 brandy distilleries that existed a century ago. All of these establishments kept cattle, which were fed on residual products from the brewing process.

ORF3US

EXT TIME you sip a latte or craft beer in Copenhagen’s quaint Latin Quarter, take a second to reflect on your surroundings.

Previously known as ‘Pisserenden’ (’The Gutter’), this seedy district wasn’t always part of the tourist trail. In fact, it used to be Scandinavia’s most notorious red light district.

Just a few decades ago, timid tourists would have hesitated to enter. Thieves hawked their wares and sex workers patrolled the narrow streets from Nørregade all the way to the Rådhuspladsen town hall square.

Certainly, no Copenhagen resident would have paid over the odds to live there. Over 20 years after its gentrification, however, not a flicker of a red light remains.

KØBENHAVNS MUSEUM

Back when was Istedgade was a glint in the milkman‘s eye, Copenhagen’s undisputed red light district was the area the city knows today as the Latin Quarter

COMMUNITY

18 January - 11 February 2021

17

Free Yoga Webinars

IB Information Evening

CTC Play Reading

Det Frie Felts Festival

Virtual Speaking Masterclass

Jan 19, 19:00; weekly event; online; free adm Are you looking for rejuvenating practices that will help eliminate stress, tension and boost your immunity? Would you like to learn how to cook delicious and healthy recipes whilst bringing overall balance to your life? The Indian Embassy in collaboration with the Isha Foundation introduces powerful, easy-to-do yogic practices to enhance your vitality. Read more about the event on India in Denmark’s Facebook page. (NJB)

Jan 19, 19:00-21:00; online event; free adm Are you, or your child, thinking of pursuing the International Baccalaureate? Come and join the IB informational evening at Nørre Gymnasium, online and corona-safe. You will have a chance to hear more about the program from coordinators, current students and teachers. More info on Nørre Gymnasium’s Facebook page. (NJB)

Jan 18, 18:30; online; free adm If you’ve never tried acting, this play reading event is a great place to start. It’s essentially off-stage acting. It’s a great chance to test your versatility and meet other people. Visit Copenhagen Theatre Circle’s website to learn more about the event. (NJB)

Jan 19- Jan 24; online festival; free adm If you are interested in visual and performance arts, this is your festival of the season!

The online session will include presentations, artist dialogues, performances performed in front of a live camera, video works and excerpts from the archives. Learn more about Det Frie Felts Festival on Facebook. (OA)

Jan 25, 18:30; online event; free adm In the age of digital communication, we all have to be masters of Zoom and be able to get our points across the screen! Hosted

by David McCrae, the author of two #1 Amazon bestselling books, it is never too late to master the tricks of virtual speaking.

Find out more about the event at Eventbrite. (OA)

Blazing Binaries Feb 3, 18:30; online event@ AoT Copenhagen; free adm Astronomy on Tap is a series of events aimed at making the latest research in astronomy and space accessible to the public, with fun talks and quizzes given in simple English, along with plenty of time for mingling between our speakers and guests. This February will celebrate five years since the announcement of the first detected gravitational waves! So this month we will learn about the life of binaries and how they can make ripples in space-time! The event will be streamed on AoT Copenhagen’s Youtube page. (NJB)

Graduate careers fair Jan 20, 13:00-16:00; online event @ graduateland.com; free adm The Graduate Programme Virtual Career Fair is the all-online event for recent and soon-to-be graduates – sign up and kickstart your career with a graduate position! Employers and recruiters from all across Europe will be attending the fair. Get unique insights and chat with recruiters that will help you tailor your applications! The fair is designed to help you land your next graduate position. (NJB)

Music Bean Open Mic Feb 7, 16:00; online event; free adm Want to discover local talented musicians? This is your chance to do so from the comfort of your home with host Jordan Jackson. Find more information at Music Bean Open Mic on Facebook. (OA)

Women’s Sharing Circle Jan 31, 17:00-20:00; online event; free adm A women's sharing circle is about coming together with our authentic selves and powerful stories with no labels or judgment. We gather the many beautiful and unique faces of women to share our collective identity as a multi-dimensional sisterhood. This is an opportunity to take off the titles of attentive mom, strong businesswoman, high-achieving student, dutiful wife etc. And instead, discover who you are underneath it all.

Learn more about the event at think.dk. (NJB)

Women’s Sharing Circle Jan 31, 17:00-20:00; online event; free adm A women's sharing circle is about coming together with our authentic selves and powerful stories with no labels or judgment. We gather the many beautiful and unique faces of women to share our collective identity as a multi-dimensional sisterhood. This is an opportunity to take off the titles of attentive mom, strong businesswoman, high-achieving student, dutiful wife etc. And instead, discover who you are underneath it all. Learn more about the event at think.dk. (NJB)

Copenhagen Light Festival Feb 5-27; various locations in Cph; free adm The festival presents both Danish and international light artists and designers. During the festival, architectural lighting, art, design, and installations will add a different aesthetic and expression to the winter season in the city spaces of Copenhagen. (NJB)

UNYA Monthly Meeting Jan 29, 17:30-19:00; online @ UNYA Copenhagen; free adm Attend UNYA’s fourth monthly meeting of the semester where you will be introduced to current ‘in-progress’ projects and can take part in a brainstorming session regarding future activities. Feel free to bring your own ideas and initiatives. Hear more about projects from the Climate Action Working Group, Peace and Justice Working Group, Gender Equality Working Group, Global Health Working Group, Social Media Team, Media Team, Public Relations Team, Journalism Team and Visual Journalism Team. (NJB)

Bastard Café Virtual Quiz Jan 21, 18:00; online event; free adm The Bastard Café Virtual Lounge Quiz won’t be held in Bastard Café's spiffy lounge area this time, but rather on Zoom. And yes, it will include some questions on boardgames! Feel free to form teams and use whatever tools you need to communicate within your team. Or come by solo. (OA)

Canvas Jan 21, 18:00; online event @ AIESEC in Denmark; free adm Canvas is a creative space to connect through art, embrace your potential and meet like-minded young people! Get yourself a cup of tea or a glass of wine, dive into a magical, creative world and paint, draw, write and enjoy! You will also get a chance to participate in interactive workshops with local artists and discussions about art. Learn more at AIESEC in Denmark’s Facebook page. (OA)

80s vs 90s Zumba® Party Jan 17, 18:00; online event; free adm but donations are appreciated This is already the second round of a successful online event! Come and put your dancing shoes on and join this digital party with special guests! Find more about the event at Meetup.com. (OA)

BRÆT Improv Comedy Postponed, TBC; BRÆT, Frederikssundsvej 92A, Cph NV; free adm A brand new collaboration between BRÆT & Jakob Schnohr offers a ten-week course in the distinguished discipline of improv comedy. The course is aimed at lower intermediate to experienced levels, and it ends with a showcase in March/April. (NJB)

Tour Gaudi's Barcelona Jan 30, 23:00; online event; free adm Feeling tired of the dark Danish winter? Join this virtual tour of Barcelona for an instant getaway!

The tour will discover the Mediterranean capital and the architectural genius of Antoni Gaudí through his most emblematic projects: Park Güell, Casa Milà, Casa Batlló and the impressive yet unfinished Sagrada Familia church.

Learn more about the event on Facebook. (OA)

‘Druk’ Virtual Q&A Jan 17, 20:00; online event; free adm Have you seen the highly-acclaimed Danish film ‘Druk’ (‘Another Round’)? In this live Q&A you can join the director Thomas Vinterberg and the actor Mads Mikkelsen as they discuss the movie. Register for free on Eventbrite to receive the participating Zoom link. (OA)

Live Stream Bartok & Mozart Jan 20, 18:00; online; free adm Come and join this event filled with Bartók and Mozart, live from the other side of the Øresund Bridge! This night is the opening event for a series of concert series from Sweden.

Visit Van Der Pals Quartet’s Facebook page for more information. (OA)

Startup Ecosystem Kick-off Jan 21, 15:00; online event @ Tech Nordic Advocates; free adm Join the online startup event to hear more about the Danish startup culture, how to build your own business and hear success stories from ones who succeeded. You will get a chance to ask experts questions in a designated Q&A section.

Learn more about the event on Tech Nordic Advocate’s Facebook page. (NJB)

Skill Up! Jan 28, 18:00; online event @ AIESEC in Denmark; free adm Are you curious about which skills you need to build for your future career? Are you interested in connecting with like-minded people? If the answer is yes, then come and join!

In these monthly sessions, top experts such as career strategists, counsellors and specialists in different business areas will discuss topics such as the essential employability skills of the present moment, future skills you will need by 2030, and the opportunities and challenges of changing careers. Learn more at AIESEC in Denmark’s Facebook page. (NJB)

18 ON SCREENS

THE COPENHAGEN POST | CPHPOST.DK

18 January - 11 February 2021

Meet the crook and Cablinasian trying to save our January

I

HAD TO delay this column until the last minute due to the latest extension of the restrictions, which means the nation’s cinemas will remain shut for the foreseeable future. But if you think you’re feeling awful, spare a thought for Wonder Woman 1984 (which had been due to come out on January 21 – I know, as fanciful as a superpowered woman with a magic lasso), which has set a new world record for postponements at the cinema.

Let’s face it, the coronavirus has succeeded where the Nazis failed: bringing global cinema to a standstill. And it’s come during the cruellest of time periods: the dark months when our only consolation is that most of the major studios are unrolling their film award contenders. You probably know by now that the Oscars have also been postponed – from February 28 until April 25 – and incidentally this isn’t the first time this has happened, but the fourth, although the Nazis weren’t involved in any of them.

In 1938 it was a flood in Los Angeles (kudos if you guessed earthquake, but no star on this occasion), in 1968 the murder of Martin Luther King, and in 1981 the attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan – ironically, in the mind of the deranged gunman, with the blessing of one of the stars of a four-time Oscar nominee in 1977 that caught its taxi home empty-handed.

Intouchable force HAD WE called Omar Sy the Tiger Woods of French cinema a decade ago, nobody would have batted an eyelid. He’s tall, black (Tiger begs to differ, of course, as he is actually Cablinasian – a blend of Caucasian, black, American Indian and Asian – he explained to a surprised Oprah back in the day), handsome and successful. But say it today, and your first reaction is to ask whether he has drug, alcohol and sex addiction problems … and

whether he’s any good at golf.

His rags to riches story has been anything but simple. His big break came in the 2011 film The Intouchables in which he played a welfare recipient who reluctantly accepts a job to care for a wealthy quadriplegic.

While the film was most panned by critics (57 on Metacritic) falling over one another in their eagerness to unfavourably compare the “third-rate buddy movie” to Driving Miss Daisy, the public loved it (8.5 on IMDB).

Today, he’s France’s answer to Idris Elba, but at 42, he’s got time on his side and his latest turn in Lupin (85 on Metacritic), the most watched show on Netflix as of Tuesday, suggests he has the goods to become one of the world’s biggest stars, or at least pinch all of the roles that Elba has been grabbing for a decade.

After watching the first two episodes of Lupin, I concur it is very watchable, albeit rather predictable at times. The show hangs on Omar Sy’s charisma, and he wears it as effortlessly as he does the various outfits he needs to carry out his gentlemanly thievery. But every so often there is a quintessentially French rough edge that completely throws you (the toothbrush moment in episode 2, for example) – an extra element of charm that will gain it many fans.

He saw skirt chased I MENTIONED Tiger Woods for a good reason as a two-part, three-hour documentary about his life (72 on Metacritic; episode 2 out on Jan 18) is our second recommendation of what is a pretty bare month. Episode one, viewable since Monday, is compelling because Tiger’s story is an amazing one. Footage of him aged just two playing golf with Bob Hope is just one of many ‘home movies’ that shows the youngster at various ages during his upbringing under the watchful eye of father Earl, whose death in 2006 neatly frames the first episode.

KEITH ALLISON

BEN HAMILTON

Tiger’s been in some bunk-ups in his time but … I’ll get my coat/green jacket

An interview with his first serious girlfriend – the Tiger in a bed revelations courtesy of the lover who broke up his marriage are coming in part 2 – yields fascinating insights into his upbringing and the closed world he lived in. Because there’s the rub: Tiger pretty much grew up on a golf course, and while a junior pro does his best to excuse his future behaviour by confessing how the young boy used to witness his father and him “chasing skirt” on the greens and fairways, it’s not like he grew up in the slums of west Baltimore. No, he grew up on fresh air among manicured lawns, foliage-free trees, sandpits, lakes and sprinklers.

At one point, an interviewee touches on how incredulous he was that Tiger denied he was black on ‘Oprah’, because he has also revealed in interviews how he and his father were kicked off several golf courses. But more likely it was because his father had used his Vietnam deep ops training to bypass the clubhouse and navigate his way through the woods to the third green.

Miss Snowden, missing Snowfall TALKING of the Oscars, British actress Vanessa Kirby (Princess Margaret in the first two seasons of

The Crown) is the third favourite to win the Best Actress award for Pieces of a Woman (on Netflix since Jan 7), the story of a woman who takes legal action after medics botch up the birth of her baby.

Slightly more upbeat is The Dig (Jan 29 on Netflix) starring Carey Mulligan as a landowner in 1930s Britain who gives a humble amateur archaeologist (Ralph Fiennes) permission to dig up her mysterious mounds.

He only ends up discovering a Viking longboat. The film is inspired by similar events in Sutton Hoo in Suffolk in 1939.

Gawd knows why somebody thought Outside the Wire (48; Jan 15 on Netflix) was a good idea. Androids, drones, most of the action is CGI and most of the dialogue DOA. Damson Idris – the main star of Snowfall who is actually British, but no relation to Idris Elba – does his best, while Danish actor Pilou Asbæk should know better. His Game of Thrones ‘get me out of cinematic jail’ card won’t last forever.

Talking of Snowfall, the documentary Crack: Cocaine, Corruption & Conspiracy (Netflix) is a good companion piece.

Serial killer movie nights ALSO ON TV land, we’ve

got a host of returning series.

On HBO Nordic we’ve got A Discovery of Witches (S2), Batwoman (S2; Jan 19), All American (S32; Jan 19), Legacies (S3; Jan 22), Euphoria (S2; Jan 25), and on Netflix, Cobra Kai (S3), Riverdale (S5; Jan 21), Snowpiercer (S2; Jan 26) and Call my Agent (S4; Jan 21).

There are two promising serial killer documentary series that might take care of a few long winter evenings – The Ripper (62) and Nightstalker: The Hunt for a Serial Killer (72) – but make sure your front door is securely locked before you settle down. Respectively set in Yorkshire, England and Los Angeles just a few years apart, both series evoke the eras as much as the fear many people felt when these individuals were on their streets.

Firefly Lane (Netflix on Feb 3) with Katherine Heigl is a little too gooey for our liking, but I’m not sure the same can be said of the 1980s London-set dramedy series It’s a Sin, which might have feel-good intentions but delivers quite a punch with its alternative AIDS-dominated storyline. Angels in America this ain’t.

We bet Tiger’s been called Angel a few times, but Monday night might change that impression forever.

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