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DANISH NEWS IN ENGLISH CPHPOST.DK VOL 20 ISSUE 06 28 April - 18 May 2017
NEWS Capital bidding with Malmö for major LGBT events
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NEWS
Fatalities on the farm Agriculture remains top for workplace deaths
INTEGRATION’S INSIDE MEN
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(NO, INGE ISN’T ONE OF THEM)
English-language education: giveth and taketh away COMMUNITY
More places at daycare but fewer in further education
Children flocking to Gentofte to pick up the oval ball
LUCIE RYCHLA
14 HISTORY
The Jesus porno Filmmaker Jens Jørgen Thorsen was as outlandish as they come
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NROLMENT has begun for two childcare institutions in Copenhagen where the everyday language will be English. Includes nursery A NURSERY group for infants and a kindergarten group will be provided by Børnebyen Vandværket on Studiestræde. From June 1, it will offer two English-language groups – a nursery group for 12 children and a kindergarten group for 22 kids. Physical education focus A KINDERGARTEN group with a focus on physical education will be offered at
Idrætsbørnehaven Bavnehøj from June. Located at Bavnehøj Allé 40 in Copenhagen SV, it will offer one English-language group for 24 kids aged 2-6 years. Cutting college capacity MEANWHILE, in related news, the education minister, Søren Pind, is cutting the capacity of English-language courses at Danish business academies and university colleges. Enrollments to selected courses will this year be reduced by about 25 percent – 1,600 students fewer than in 2015. Pind cited a new analysis that revealed only one in five students from these programs works in Denmark two years after graduation. Uphill challenge THE ANALYSIS revealed that
57 percent of foreigners on the English-language courses at university leave Denmark within two years of graduation, while the same is true of 31 percent of graduates from business academies. Some 27 percent continue in further education. In 2012, only 21 percent of foreign graduates from business academies (and 17 percent from universities) found a job in Denmark two years after completing their studies, compared to 57 (and 76) percent of Danish graduates. Limited contribution “WE CAN see the number of foreign students who come here to get an education paid for by the Danish taxpayer has increased significantly in recent years,” Pind said. “But far too few contribute to Denmark afterwards”
THE COPENHAGEN MBA TRIPLE-ACCREDITED AND TOP RANKED BY ECONOMIST FINANCIAL TIMES & BLOOMBERG Programme start: September 2017 Open house:4 May Visit www.cbs.dk/ftmba to learn more! SPRING AND SUMMER AT DENMARK’S FAVOURITE MUSEUM FOR MORE INFO CHECK LOUISIANA.DK
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Second fittest in EU SOME 53.4 percent of Danish adults spend at least 150 minutes a week exercising (which includes cycling as a form of transport), according to Eurostat – the second highest rate in the EU. Finland finished top with 54.1 with Sweden third on 53.1, and Bulgaria and Romania bringing up the rear on 9.0 and 7.5 percent. The EU average is 29.9 percent.
Told you: Danish is hard! WHILE Norwegian and Swedish are the easiest languages for English speakers to learn, according to Babbel.com, Danish does not make the top ten, despite its Germanic roots. Commenters to the site attributed its absence to its hard pronunciation. “You’ll have a lot more leeway with pronunciation when learning Norwegian,” contends Babbel.
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NEWS
THE COPENHAGEN POST | CPHPOST.DK
ONLINE THIS WEEK COPENHAGEN will host its first ‘Darkness Into Light’ suicide awareness walk/social run on May 6. Starting at 4 am, pre-registration and a fee is required to take part, with half the proceeds going to a Danish organisation. Meanwhile, the US Embassy’s staff cleaned up rubbish at the Lakes on April 21 ahead of Earth Day’s March for Science a day later.
Unwelcome fliers A TYPE of grass that gives geese stomachache could be soon planted at Copenhagen Airport to discourage the birds from visiting in case they get sucked into and destroy a plane’s engine. In related news, a threeyear-old boy disappeared with his mother’s checked-in luggage at the airport on April 15. He was later found unharmed.
Flowers to the fore COPENHAGEN is awash with colour right now thanks to city efforts to plant thousands of violets, wallflowers and buttercups. But the numbers pale in comparison to the 1.5 million trees that have been planted nationwide to restore the balance since the 2013 storms of Allan and Bodil.
Tunnel vision blurred? ENVIRONMENTALISTS have asked pension funds to withdraw their investment from the proposed 20 billion kroner harbour tunnel, claiming the link will increase congestion problems. The environmentalists claim the funds should be spent on improving public transport and conditions for cyclists, as well as introducing road-pricing.
Bidding for major 2021 LGBT events Copenhagen and Malmö want to co-host WorldPride and EuroGames
JASON ROGERS
Suicide awareness walk
28 April - 18 May 2017
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HE GOVERNMENT has confirmed it will support Copenhagen and Malmö’s bid to co-host two of the biggest events within the LGBT community in 2021: WorldPride and EuroGames. According to hosting organisation Happy Copenhagen, the LGBT events could draw more than half a million visitors to the Danish capital.
Decisions soon THE BIENNIAL WorldPride, the world’s largest LGBT festival, is being hosted by Madrid this year and New York in 2019. A decision regarding 2021 will be
Learning from Stockholm CONCRETE barrier blocks temporarily installed in pedestrian zones in Copenhagen’s centre could become permanent following the terror attack in Stockholm, according to Frank Jensen, the city mayor. The blocks were originally installed after a similar attack on a Christmas market in Berlin.
made in October. The European Gay & Lesbian Sport Federation’s multi-sport event EuroGames was last held in Copenhagen in 2003. A decision will be made next year. Copenhagen has not hosted a major LGBT event since the 2009 World Outgames. Still discriminatory HOWEVER, the organisers will not be happy that a PhD student
LUCY RYCHLA
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OME 75.1 PERCENT of the cases processed at the city courts in Copenhagen and Frederiksberg in 2016 involved foreign nationals, reports BTMX. Common crimes included pickpocketing
and prostitution. “Foreigners are welcome in Copenhagen if they want to enjoy the city as tourists or work here, but it’s hard to stomach when some of them abuse our hospitality and come here to commit crimes,” said the city mayor, Frank Jensen. Costly to purse and image ACCORDING to figures from
at the University of Copenhagen has argued that Danish family law discriminates against gay couples, single parents and others who live in alternative family structures. “Formulations in the Children’s Act basically assume that a child always has two parents, one of whom is the woman who has given birth to the child,” Freya Semanda told Videnskab.
Danmarks Statistik, most of the criminals come from eastern Europe, Turkey, Somalia, Iraq, Lebanon and Pakistan. A large number of the victims are tourists. Thorkild Fogde, the police commissioner at Copenhagen Police, complains that it is also expensive due to the frequent need for an interpreter and arranging the deportation.
COPENHAGEN Municipality is pursuing two transport initiatives to make the capital even greener. Firstly, it has decided to replace its four yellow harbour buses with more environmentally-friendly models. Secondly, its popular mobile app ‘I Bike CPH’ can now advise cyclists of the greenest route from A to B.
Born to be wowed DENMARK’S first motorcycle cafe, Xtreme Motorcycles & Café, opened on April 1 at Ingerslevsgade 60 in the city’s meatpacking district. The café includes a custom MC garage/shop.
Serious child abuse case A 46-YEAR-OLD employee at a daycare centre in Albertslund Municipality west of Copenhagen has been accused of committing sexual offences against 24 children. He has been in custody since March 17.
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Green transport measures
Hard luck Hermione, Harry Potter’s taken
Foreigners commit most city crimes Overseas tourists tend to be the victims
Man kills family A 38-YEAR-OLD man has pleaded guilty to killing his three children and their mother at an apartment in the Greater Copenhagen suburb of Brønshøj on April 11. It is believed the man is from Afghanistan and that he used both a gun and a knife. The kids’ ages ranged from 14 to 3.
CHRISTIAN WENANDE
At the forefront “THE RIGHT to love or know whoever you want to is a right that Sweden and Denmark were early to protect,” Nils Karlsson, a local politician for Miljöpartiet de Gröna in Malmö, told News Øresund. “Nothing feels more natural than a WorldPride being arranged by two cities that have stood out as being LGBT-friendly and progressive.”
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28 April - 18 May 2017
ONLINE THIS WEEK
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More Brits than Americans
In their best pulling gear
Favourites in a punch-up then
FOLLOWING Parliament’s approval to deploy 200 Danish troops to Estonia later this year, a risk assessment has warned that Russian ‘honey traps’ could target the forces to discredit their presence in the country. In related news, Russian hackers have been targeting Danish Defence since 2015; preparations are underway to allow a 172-metre Russian typhoon-class nuclear submarine to pass through Danish waters this summer; and Denmark has extended an olive branch to Russia regarding co-operation in the Arctic.
ARTICLE 50 stimulated Denmark’s interest in the number of Brits living here, and Danmarks Statistik was happy to oblige. Right now, there are over 17,000. While 5,105 have been here over 20 years and are off the radar, of the other 12,451, only 4,535 are here to work, whilst 1,335 are studying. Some 19.9 percent are among the 10 percent in Denmark with the lowest incomes, and 15 percent are among the top 10 percent. In contrast, there are 8,564 Americans, of which 2,134 are studying and 1,992 have work permits.
Turks in Denmark back Erdogan
Planes, trains, cocaine
SOME 60.4 percent of the Turks in Denmark who voted in their country’s referendum said yes to giving President Erdogan permission to change the country’s constitution – a higher proportion than the overall 51 percent approval rate. Meanwhile, two young Danish men, and later a female associate, have been arrested in Turkey under suspicion they planned to join IS.
A SAS FLIGHT travelling from Chicago to Copenhagen made an emergency landing after a loss of cabin pressure on April 16. In other transport news, a Danish transport ship discovered 1,250 kilos of cocaine floating in Belgian waters; and from around June 1, ID controls on the Danish-Swedish border will be carried out on moving trains instead of at Copenhagen Airport.
Another busy month for aid
Løkke all smiles at White House
A BUSY month for aid has seen 125 million kroner pledged to six Danish aid organisations operating in the Horn of Africa, 250 million kroner granted to the victims of the conflict in Syria, and 40 million kroner to the UN population fund to help address the cuts made by the new US administration.
PM LARS Løkke Rasmussen had a productive meeting with US President Donald Trump on March 30, discussing the EU, the green transition, NATO and IS. Ahead of the summit, a Megafon poll for TV2 revealed that 42 percent of Danes thought Rasmussen should be less accommodating to Trump.
Big pledge to Global Goals
Brexit talks heating up
DENMARK, which has pledged 60 million kroner over the next three years to reaching the UN’s 2030 Global Goals, is also introducing legislation to facilitate their efforts. Only 12 percent of Danes are aware of the goals.
PM LARS Løkke Rasmussen has met his counterparts from Ireland and the Netherlands to discuss Brexit. Meanwhile, a dispute over fishing could be brewing if Britain decides to take back control of waters used by Danish fishermen.
Dane drowned in Panama
South Korean extradition likely
A 21-YEAR-OLD Dane holidaying in Panama drowned on the island of Bastimentos on April 5. Kristoffer Bodholt was a survivor of the February 2011 boating accident in Præstø Fjord.
CHUNG Yoo-ra, the daughter of a confidante of the disgraced ex-president of South Korea, is close to being extradited to her home country following a ruling at Aalborg City Court on April 19.
ALLIED JOINT FORCE COMMAND BRUNSSUM
Honey trap threat to troops
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COVER
THE COPENHAGEN POST | CPHPOST.DK
28 April - 18 May 2017
New arrivals are assets not liabilities, argue proponents of integration Despite the tabloids’ best efforts to tip the nation’s balance in a negative direction, a new approach is beginning to pay dividends STEPHEN GADD
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NYONE following the Danish media will have noticed that the issue of integration is well and truly to the fore these days. Accentuate the negative LAST WEEK, Ekstra Bladet ran a series of in-depth articles on the Vollsmose housing estate in the suburbs of Odense – and perhaps not unsurprisingly, these have tended to focus on the negative aspects. The overall tenor of the tabloid coverage is that integration has not worked, people are afraid to go to the estate because of criminal gangs, religious fanaticism is on the rise, the residents are all on the dole – and politicians should ‘do something about it’. In the same vein, Metroxpress ran a cartoon featuring Dolph, the choleric blue hippopotamus, with the caption: “Dolph has the solution to the problems of the parallel society in Vollsmose! Let them vote for independence! They’ll have their caliphate – we’ll save money on social security benefits and also have a convenient opportunity for duty-free shopping!” As satirical as it was meant to be, it would appear to encapsulate the view of a lot of people today. New thinking required DAVID Munis Zepernick, who is standing for the Radikale party in local elections on November 21 for Frederiksberg Municipality, has other ideas. He believes constructive solutions are the answer and that newly-arrived foreigners – whether immigrants or refugees – are a potential resource rather than a millstone. Although he was born and grew up in Denmark, Zepernick has a maternal grandfather from west Africa and therefore has more first-hand experience of other cultures than most. One of his points is that immigrants are not allocated around the country in a fair manner. Rich municipalities such as Frederiksberg and
Gentofte have managed to avoid taking their fair share, pushing the burden onto the poorer municipalities west of Copenhagen (see factfile). “No municipality is better suited to addressing the challenges of integration than Frederiksberg,” Zepernick told CPH POST. “I don’t buy the argument that we should try to relocate refugees outside Frederiksberg because the housing price per square metre is higher in Frederiksberg than in practically all other municipalities – wealth cannot be an excuse.” Where there’s a will ... IT HAS been suggested that pushing immigrants out rather than trying to integrate them locally is one of the main causes of the ‘ghettoisation’, along with the attendant problems it creates, which the tabloids are so keen to dwell on. Zepernick points out that Køge and Solrød, two municipalities in the southwest of Copenhagen, have tackled things differently. They encourage foreigners arriving in Denmark that their skills can be adapted to Danish circumstances. The municipalities map their competencies and assign a career mentor to them and/or involve them in voluntary work from the very beginning. This is an excellent way, says Zepernick, to create success stories for the individuals involved and for the local community, as well as converting as many of them as possible into tax-paying citizens, contributing to the common good and becoming integrated into society because of that. It is also important, he said, to publicise these success stories to counter the general perception that every foreigner is an unwanted burden. There are, of course, undeniable problems regarding the successful integration of foreigners, and these should not be underplayed. Many refugees and newly-arrived foreigners have little or no education. They may also – in the case of refugees and migrants – be traumatised by their experience getting here. For them to become good taxpaying citizens there has to be a way to get them into the Danish labour market. At the moment, there is a
David Zepernick is prioritising integration in his bid to be elected
system that works quite well called ‘branchepakkeforløb’, which matches individuals with industries and companies where there is a demand for manual labour. Zepernick feels that this should be strengthened, as it does provide real jobs at real companies. … there might be a way SOME OF Zepernick’s ideas have been inspired by meeting Torben Møller-Hansen, the CEO of Foreningen Nydansker. Founded in 1998, the organisation aims to provide educational and vocational solutions to integrate immigrants into the labour market. One of the founders was Edvin Blomqvist, the former personnel manager of Haldor Topsoe, who got the idea thanks to a co-operation with the Danish Refugee Council to take immigrants as interns who turned out to be a success. Some even joined the company, and others got jobs elsewhere. So in collaboration with two other business people – accountant Niels Ole Ellegaard and Torben Lund – Blomqvist decided to shake up the industry and help get more immigrants into jobs. “At that time, there were few business people interested in this area. It was almost an empty arena that we entered,” he told CPH POST. “That’s why it was a rather sluggish start, as it was hard to get the attention of the business community.” A few telephone calls produced the first 10 members of the organisation.
“It was companies like IBM, Berendsen and Superfos that backed the initiative,” he recalled. “They were willing to take a risk and put their names to the project, even though we were basically starting from scratch. That was really decisive in the formation of the organisation.” It was an uphill struggle to convince companies to start with. After all, there were a lot of unemployed people, so why take a risk with someone who perhaps didn’t speak fluent Danish? There were also worries about whether the newcomers would cause friction at the workplace. So it was important to have an organisation that could advise employers in how to deal with people from other cultures and backgrounds and how best to integrate them. “To start with, we used most of our energy on influencing people’s attitudes – holding seminars, taking part in conferences and sending out information,” continued Blomqvist. “It was important to use the debate in society on mutual tolerance and try to angle it in a positive way – as well as giving companies relevant information and an insight into other firms’ experiences.” The signal was obviously picked up because, fairly quickly, the organisation grew to 150 members and continues to carry on this important work today. Targeting the young TAKING up the mantle, Zepernick believes it is vital to target the young and would like to see a two-fold strategy that includes
a job exchange to match young refugees with the jobs that local young people would have, such as in shops and supermarkets. The merit of this is to introduce foreigners to the Danish job climate from the start. He would also like to see people prepared to introduce young newcomers into the social life of the community, such as at sports clubs. This could be an important stepping-stone to learning the language and acquiring the necessary social skills to equip them for Danish society. Some places, such as Ringkøbing-Skjern Municipality in Jutland, are already doing this and getting good results. So if Zepernick and MøllerHansen have their way, maybe we will soon be reading positive stories about immigrants and refugees starting up small businesses, becoming successful at sport, and generally being regarded as valuable members of Danish society – rather than as a social and economic problem. IMMIGRANT POPULATIONS • In Frederiksberg, 10,708 of its 105,037 population are immigrants and their descendants – just 10.2 percent of the population • In Gentofte, the share is 6,367 of 75,805 – 8.4 percent • In Albertslund, west of Copenhagen, the share is 6,619 of 27,896 – 23.7 percent • In Brøndby, also west of Copenhagen, the share is 9,647 of 35,594 – 27.1 percent • In most rural municipalities, the share is minimal
NEWS
28 April - 18 May 2017
ONLINE THIS WEEK Religious symbol ban? REGION Syddanmark is close to banning its hospital staff from carrying visible religious, political and ideological symbols. In related news, Dansk Folkeparti is proposing a ban on religious headgear; night-time church openings are growing in popularity, and the Institute for Human Rights contends that the freedoms of religion and speech are being restricted.
Personal info concerns AN INVESTIGATION carried out by Ingeniøren reveals that public sector websites are sending sensitive personal data from users on to private companies, which can then be used for targeted advertising. The survey examined 86 websites and found that 47 sent information to third parties without giving the user the opportunity to give their consent.
All hail the pizza resistance! Inger Støjberg follows up on her cake disaster with a call for snitches
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HERE’S no doubt that the average Dane on the street, or at least the streets of Copenhagen, doesn’t like to read a story about a foreigner harshly treated by the establishment. And the government knows this too. It might approve of the Immigration Ministry’s tightening of regulations, but it doesn’t want to come across as heartless. The cynics will note that high-profile cases tend to get a reprieve.
Under closer scrutiny than ever before
abroad with spouses who are not EU citizens, although the government is expected to exempt highly-paid Danes from the requirements
ACCORDING to the economic council for labour movement, Arbejderbevægelsens Erhvervsråd (AE), the number of people living in poverty in Denmark more than doubled from 18,650 in 2002 to over 44,000 people in 2015. Experts blamed lower state benefits. AE used a definition of poverty rescinded by the government in 2015.
The hard luck stories IT WASN’T long before her critics had a human face to reflect the strictness of her 50 new rules. US citizen Mary Stewart Burgher, 60, who worked in Denmark from 1985 to 2015, was told she was being deported. According to the authorities, Burgher had no family ties keeping her in Denmark. And without a permanent residence
Europol deal approved
More military no-shows
Auction site hammered
More beds than hotels
THE EUROPEAN Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties has approved Denmark’s special agreement with the EU’s law enforcement agency, Europol. Some 51 members of the committee voted in favour of the new deal, while one abstained and one voted against. The EU Parliament is expected to greenlight the deal on April 27.
YOUNG Danes racked up 4 million kroner in fines last year for failing to turn up for their military service assessments. The non-appearance rate rose by 143 percent. One no-show merits a fine of 1,000 kroner, three a prison sentence. Danish Defence blames the digitalisation of the process and young people’s failure to read their digital post.
THE DANISH online auction site Lauriz.com has been widely panned for failing to spot that one of its 2016 sales was stolen property. Critics maintain this would not have happened had Lauriz.com subscribed to the international register. The stolen work, a painting by Carl Vilhelm Holsøe, was eventually flagged by Christie’s in New York.
THERE are now more beds available via Airbnb than at the country’s hotels, according to the trade association Horesta. Overnight stays booked via the rental portal rose from 1.7 million in 2015 to 3 million last year, as the number of hosts rose from 21,000 to 30,000. Horesta is among those calling for stricter measures to ensure the hosts always pay tax.
A 17-YEAR-OLD girl is currently standing trial at Holbæk Court for allegedly planning to blow up two schools: her previous school, Sydskolen in Fårevejle, and the Jewish Carolineskolen in Copenhagen. In custody for the last 15 months, she has been charged with attempted terrorism. A verdict is expected in May.
Poverty numbers double
Staying in summerhouses
Stone-droppers arrested
permit, because her work for the UN never required her to get one, deporting her is pretty routine – even though she owns a property. Burgher, unsurprisingly given that her story got picked up by most newspapers, has won a stay of execution, and now there is a steady stream of similar stories, from Quynh Doan, the highlyeducated US wife of a Dane who has two young children (5 and 7 – one is autistic) in Denmark, to a woman from Afghanistan with dementia. In the case of Doan, she has been caught out by the government’s removal of the 26-year rule, which made it possible for Danes living abroad to return with a foreign spouse, even though they had started a family abroad. Lars Kyhnau Hansen, a spokesperson for Marriages without Borders, told JyllandsPosten that he’s received a lot of enquiries from worried Danes
Teen’s terror trial starts
ONLINE THIS WEEK THE NUMBER of elderly people living in their summerhouses all year round has risen from around 15,000 a decade ago to a record 21,444, according to figures from Danmarks Statistik and Nordea. Pensioners have to own their summerhouse for eight years before they can permanently live there, but the new Planning Act could reduce this to one.
BEN HAMILTON
Show the love! BARELY days after ending up with cake on her face, Inger Støjberg struck another bum chord with voters with her contention that Danish citizens should report people to the authorities who they suspect might be potential illegal immigrants. The minister of integration, immigration and housing cited the workers at your local pizzeria who are not speaking Danish, and social media quickly became awash with Danes showing their support for their local pizza man. Many shared the hashtag #anmeldenpizzabager, which shot up to number one on Twitter’s trending list for Denmark.
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Going underground NOT EVERYONE takes deportation lying down. Some 1,960 rejected asylum-seekers have disappeared, according to the Immigration and Integration Ministry – a high figure, but a long way short of the estimated 12,000 in Sweden. The ministry reckons about 5,000 refugees will seek asylum in Denmark this year, although so far only 650 have applied. But even if they get asylum, employment can be hopeless for many, according to the aid organisation Kompasset. One of its employees told an undercover Nigerian TV2 reporter to search for ‘black work’ on the internet as it would be impossible for him to get “legal work”.
THREE boys aged 15-16 were arrested on April 9 for dropping stones on a lorry from a footbridge over Avedøre Havnevej in the Copenhagen suburb of Hvidovre. No-one was injured and the vehicle sustained minor damage. The three boys were part of a group of ten who fled the scene. The stones in question were 3-5 cm large.
Public transport costlier WHILE the cost of driving is falling, public transport is getting more expensive, according to Danmarks Statistik. Between February 2013 and 2017, car prices fell by 3.1 percent, fuel costs by 14.1 percent, and car maintenance by 1.8 percent. Bus ticket prices, in contrast, increased by 2.6 percent and train tickets by 7.8 percent.
Under-18 ban proposed DANISH teens outdrink their European peers, but that could change as the regional chief health officer wants to ban shops from selling beer and wine to under-18s. Already prohibited in discos and bars, as is the sale of all drinks over 16.5 percent in strength, the change would bring Denmark into line with most European countries.
Dog owners on tight rein FAILING to keep a dog on a lead in parks and woods could result in heavier fines from May 1 onwards, warns Naturstyrelsen, the nature agency. Just 30 were fined 2,000 kroner last year, but the number of fines is expected to rise as stricter laws come in. As part of the initiative ‘Nice by nature – keep your dog on a lead’, there will also be more signs.
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NEWS
THE COPENHAGEN POST | CPHPOST.DK
ONLINE THIS WEEK Solar power within
28 April - 18 May 2017
Bad year for farm fatalities
THE FUTURE of solar technology may be integrated into the walls of buildings, gadgets and even textiles, thanks to researchers at the Sønderborg campus of the University of Southern Denmark, who are developing flexible solar panels based on organic, carbon-based materials, as opposed to standard silicon materials.
Self-driving ship boost
Viking hoard discovery OVER A hundred silver coins have been discovered in a field near Kalvehave Church in southern Zealand. Museum Sydøstdanmark has confirmed the treasure is from the Viking Age and consists of coins from England, Germany and the Netherlands. Once collected, it is believed the treasure will be displayed at Vordingborg Museum.
Cycling healthy! PRO-CYCLING groups have acclaimed a study of 264,337 Brits by the University of Glasgow that claims cyclists have a 40 percent reduced risk of dying early compared to those who only drive or use public transport. They have a 45 percent reduced chance of getting cancer and 46 percent less chance of getting a cardiovascular disease.
ONLINE THIS WEEK
Birch season starts
Be warned ... Boxer’s got his eye on you, and he might have MRSA
Agriculture accounts for a third of all workplace deaths
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GRICULTURE continues to be Denmark’s most perilous profession, with 11 of the 33 fatal workplaces accidents occurring in the sector in 2016 – a far higher ratio than the 1.5 percent of the population who work in the sector. Some of the deaths were gruesome. One worker was trampled by a cow, another asphyxiated in a slurry pit and another died in a liquid food tank after it was accidentally turned on with him inside. “Farmers work with dangerous equipment and large animals and they’re also working alone a great deal of the time,” Peter Hasle, an expert on working environments at Aalborg University, told Avisen.dk. “There’s nobody to help you to evaluate the risk or render assistance if you are injured.”
agriculture sector is the danger of pesticides, even though the results don’t tend to be fatal. On April 21, a large majority in Parliament passed a new agriculture bill that aims to improve the framework regarding pesticide use and reduce the impact it has on the environment. The four-year plan will aim to protect Denmark’s groundwater, better monitor pesticide distributors, and crack down on the sale of illegal pesticides. Furthermore, it will be possible to approve new pesticides that don’t pose a risk to groundwater.
farmland – 216,794 hectares – is organic.
THE BIRCH pollen season has kicked off in Denmark. So if you’re a new arrival to the region and have been encountering itchy eyes, sneezing fits, a runny nose and fatigue, there’s a good chance you’re among the estimated 25 percent who are allergic. While 50 is considered a high pollen count, the birch numbers can often run into the thousands.
New pesticide rules MORE PUBLICISED in the
More organic farmers NEVERTHELESS, increasing numbers of farmers are switching to organic produce these days – up 537 to 3,173 over the last year – and that is reflected in the amount of farmland dedicated to organic farming. From 2015-2016, the amount of land used for organic farming increased by 21 percent, so now a record 8 percent of all
MRSA spreads to horses IN OTHER agriculture news, the MRSA bacteria has now spread to horses, Politiken reports. This will be bad news for horse lovers as the bacteria has killed 46 people in Denmark since 2010. Two students at the DTU are working on a project to build a solar-powered cold store so poor farmers in a village in Sierre Leone can keep their produce fresh. The minister of development, Ulla Tørnæs, has announced that Denmark will set aside 30 million kroner to help Bangladesh tackle the effect of climate change on its agriculture, coastline and general infrastructure. After five months under quarantine, Danish chickens have finally been allowed outdoors now that the threat of avian flu HFN8 has passed. Exports of Danish poultry resumed in February. (CPH POST)
GUILT-FREE flying could be coming soon. Per Møller, a professor at DTU, claims he can produce cheap aviation fuel using renewables, reports Ingeniøren. The process can clean biogas so cheaply that the diesel, which is used to produce aviation fuel, could cost as little as 4 kroner per litre – only 1.11 kroner higher that the cost on the US spot market.
More efficient turbines
A bad night’s sleep
More doctor emails
Cancer breakthroughs
Learning about Mars
THE GOVERNMENT believes it can reduce the number of onshore wind turbines from 4,200 to 900 and not lose any power. Meanwhile, the Kriegers Flak offshore wind farm in the Baltic Sea, the country’s largest ever using 600 MW turbines, has been approved by the EU commissioner for competition, Margrethe Vestager.
A DTU BYG study reveals that a poor indoor climate in your bedroom, which is normally caused by a lack of ventilation, can severely affect the quality of our sleep. While a University of Copenhagen study reveals that evening or night shifts increases the likelihood of cardiac ailments, diabetes, Alzheimer’s or dementia by 26 percent.
DOCTORS received 6.1 million email enquiries from patients in 2016, according to Danmarks Statistik – double the number of 2010. And numbers could rise higher, as more doctors are prescribing medical cannabis to treat patients, reports DR. All the products come from Glostrup Apotek, the only chemist in Denmark to sell the medication.
RESEARCHERS at Aarhus University have developed a simple urine test to determine whether a man has prostate cancer or not, reports Videnskab.dk. Meanwhile, the same website reports that a team from the University of Copenhagen have managed to fight a deadly bladder cancer using an artificial malaria protein.
THE NATURAL History Museum (NHM) in Copenhagen has shelled out around 3 million kroner for a 44-gram piece of ‘Black Beauty’, a Martian meteorite that landed in the Sahara in 2011. At 10,000 US dollars a gram, the rock is valuable because it contains small pieces of the original crust of Mars, which the museum will now study.
THE GOVERNMENT wants to amend existing legislation to permit autonomous ships to enter Danish waters. The relevant minister, Brian Mikkelsen, believes it will reduce the number of accidents. According to a DTU report, autonomous ships have the potential to be safer than ones steered by humans, who cause roughly 60 percent of all sea accidents.
Lone measles case A WOMAN in her 20s was admitted to Aarhus University Hospital at the beginning of March with measles. She did not receive an MMR vaccination as a child (available since 1987), and it is believed she picked up the disease in Asia. There were just three cases last year, in contrast to Romania, where there have been 3,400 and 17 fatalities since February 2016.
Fewer painful injections? ONE IN five injections at a hospital needs to be repeated, causing patients pain and discomfort. But now two experts attached to Aarhus University have developed a method that uses an ultrasound scanner to ensure 99 percent of the injections are successfully carried out the first time, reports DR.
Cheaper fuel for flights?
NEWS
28 April - 18 May 2017
ONLINE THIS WEEK Human zoo
Cool role for Mads MADS MIKKELSEN, who has been cast in ‘Arctic’ as a man stranded in the ice-capped wilderness who must survive or die, could return to the role of Hannibal Lecter in a miniseries adaptation of ‘The Silence of the Lambs’. In other TV news, HBO Nordic will broadcast the return of ‘Twin Peaks’ from May 22.
Exhibition in con-artistry CRIMINALS scammed the National Gallery of Denmark for 805,000 kroner over the winter break. They sent employees emails from the account of the museum’s director, Mikkel Bogh, claiming he needed an urgent transfer of funds to an English bank account. ‘CEO fraud’ has cost Danish companies close to 200 million kroner since 2015.
That’s the last, Noel! APRIL was a busy month for Copenhagen Zoo. First it welcomed Nord, a male polar bear, a new mate for notoriously fussy Noel. And then two weeks later, it announced it might tear down its old elephant house, a redbrick building that has stood since 1914, to create space for its new panda enclosure. A decision is expected in May.
ONLINE THIS WEEK Small but beautiful EVAN GUEST
CONTROVERSIAL Danish artist Kristian von Hornsleth is charging people 100,000 kroner to follow the movements of a homeless person via GPS over the course of a full year. Homeless advocacy organisation WeShelter told Berlingske that the project rendered the homeless as little more than animals at the zoo.
Fake news killing April Fools Media blames Trumpism for lacklustre effort this year CHRISTIAN WENANDE
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F YOU FOUND yourself shaking your head in disbelief at the CPH POST that Donald Trump had picked eccentric golfer/booze hound John Daly to be Denmark’s next US ambassador, you can rest easy for it was but an April Fools’ gag. For over a century TRYING to pull one over your neighbour on April 1 has been a tradition for centuries in Europe, going back to the early 1600s, while the Danish media have been trying to dupe their readers since the early 1900s. One of the first was a Copenhagen newspaper trying to convince its readership that the sun had ‘slept in’ and was nine minutes late rising on the infamous day in 1914.
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AGERSKOV Kro og Hotel in southern Jutland has been voted the best small hotel in Denmark for the second time in a row. But it will need to downsize to be considered the world’s smallest. That honour befalls Hotel Central at Tullinsgade 1 in Vesterbro. It has only one room: just 2.5 by 3 metres in size.
Climbing the rankings Where it’s Groundhog Day on April 1 every day of the year
Hard to Trump this PERHAPS the best this year was Jobindex.dk’s ad for the vacant
US ambassadorial position, which called for a candidate to “promote good ‘The Apprentice’ rerun ratings well beyond Europe’s borders, but not as far as Mexico” and “unite Denmark and the US in the epic battle against Meryl Streep and Alec Baldwin”. The best candidate would be a “very, very, very amazing man” who “has a view on women that predates four score and seven years”, “has a great take on nasty people and no time for political correctness”, and who has “really big hands”.
Dismal overall AMONG this year’s other efforts, Politiken said it had corrected a spelling error and would in future be named Politikken, Midwest Jutland Police claimed it had trained dogs to sniff out drunk drivers, and Netto said it would open a silent store offlimits for children. All in all, there were fewer gags this year with a number of Danish media – including DR Nyheder, TV2 and Kristeligt Dagblad – choosing not to run an April Fools’ story due to the prevalence of fake news.
Poisonous marriage
Danish babies cry least
Deadly sincere
THE DANISH word ‘gift’ has two meanings. It is either an adjective indicating that an individual is married, or it is a substance damaging or lethal to living organisms: a poison. It may sound familiar to some, and now there is evidence that may shed some light on this literary oddity as a study by Rigshospitalet has discovered that the testosterone levels of men plummet after they get married. High levels of the hormone oxytocin, which is released during loving caresses and extended eye contact, could be to blame say the authors. (CW)
DANISH parents are “lucky” according to the Guardian because they experience the lowest rate of colic – when a baby cries for at least three hours a day – according to a meta-analysis of 28 previous studies. Colic was found among just 5.5 percent of infants aged three to four weeks, compared to 28 percent of British infants aged one to two weeks. Experts attributed the difference to lengthy maternity leave, more babies sleeping outdoors, high rates of breastfeeding, patience – and not bunging the baby off to the maternity ward the second it’s born. (BH)
THE MAYOR of Horsens took to Facebook to apologise with “deadly sincerity” for a morbid campaign to woo people to its crime book fair. Peter Sørensen said the city should have “remembered the nerves of people who do not love a good mystery” before they created fake murder investigation scenes. Some Danes could not stomach the sight of the dead bodies or bloody fingers and have called the campaign “distasteful”. “I am horribly sorry for that,” Sørensen apologised. “We should have ‘mur’derated ourselves a bit.” (LR)
READ THE REST OF THESE STORIES AT CPHPOST.DK
NOMA MIGHT be on a sabbatical but that hasn’t stopped Geranium and Relæ claiming places in the 2017 World’s 50 Best Restaurants list, which was topped by New York eatery Eleven Madison Park. They were respectively 19th (up nine spots) and 39th (up one). Meanwhile, Kadeau on Bornholm has cracked the top 100 for the first time, coming in 94th.
Roskilde finalises line-up ROSKILDE Festival, which has finalised its 2017 line-up with the addition of The xx, has started distributing its 2016 profit of 17.4 million kroner to charity. Meanwhile, after 12 years of planning, the festival has started the construction of a brand new folk high school that aims to attract young people interested in music, art, design and activism.
Viking Warrior is back MIKKEL Kessler stole the sports headlines in April by announcing his comeback at the age of 38. In other news, Caroline Wozniacki lost in the final of the prestigious Miami Open to Joanna Konta and Nikolaj Ehlers surpassed Frans Nielsen as the Dane with the most points in an NHL season. He finished with 64.
Rabbits! Not rats!
All the sevens for queen
Timely praise
Video game professor
Artmoney 20 years old
TRADITIONALLY we give each other chocolate eggs on Easter Sunday, but the home fans at Brøndby Stadion gave visiting FC Copenhagen a gift of five dead rats at their New Firm derby, a game FCK eventually won 1-0. After that sort of surprise, it’s safe to say Kinder Eggs were in short supply on the coach journey home.
EASTER Sunday was the 77th birthday of Queen Margrethe II, which posed a few problems to the Danish monarch as she traditionally celebrates the holiday at Marselisborg Castle in Aarhus, but her birthday at Amalienborg. Aarhus won the battle, as the queen, dressed in a turquoise coat, waved to well-wishers at midday from a castle verandah.
MARGRETHE Vestager has been named alongside the likes of Donald Trump, actor Riz Ahmed and Julian Assange as one of Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people in the world. The current European commissioner for competition was given a glowing write-up by her former government colleague Helle Thorning-Schmidt.
ESPEN Aarseth, a Norwegian professor at the IT University of Copenhagen (ITU), has been confirmed as Denmark’s first professor of computer game research. With 15 million kroner’s worth of EU research grants, there seems to be plenty of reason for Aarseth to look into a sector that has continued to grow in recent years.
ARTMONEY has celebrated its 20th birthday. Now used in over 50 countries, Danish traveller Lars Kraemmer developed the concept on his travels in north America, eventually deciding on a ‘currency’ consisting of 12 x 18 cm works of art at a fixed value of 200 kroner. Frederiksberg is considered the ‘Artmoney Capital of the World’.
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BUSINESS
THE COPENHAGEN POST | CPHPOST.DK
ONLINE THIS WEEK
28 April - 18 May 2017
Coop jumps on crowdfunding bandwagon ROCÍO LARA
Netto’s Brexit
ONLINE THIS WEEK
NETTO’S decision to withdraw from the UK (made well ahead of Brexit!) cost it 200 million kroner last year, although it still ended 2016 with a 500 million increase in its turnover to 58 billion kroner. Netto operated in the UK from 1990 to 2011, before returning again in 2014. It now intends to focus more effort on Sweden and Poland.
More Olympic exposure? THIS WEEK, the business minister, Brian Mikkelsen, visited Japan to further the countries’ maritime co-operation and set the stage for Denmark to raise its profile at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. Meanwhile, a new strategic partnership has been agreed with Mexico following PM Lars Løkke Rasmussen’s visit in early April.
Amchampagne moment
The Danish Amazon?
STEPHEN Brugger, the executive director of the American Chamber of Commerce, celebrated his 60th birthday in fine style at the organisation’s offices on April 19. Brugger, the head of AmCham Denmark for 15 of its 17 years in existence, has lived in Denmark since 1984. AmCham has over 250 member companies.
DANSK Supermarked intends to convert the Danish online store Wupti.com into the new Amazon. The supermarket owner, which bought the Wupti webshop in 2015, wants it to become a one-stop shop through which all Danish internet businesses can operate. Failure could see Amazon take a stranglehold like in France and Germany, it warns.
Double standards COPENHAGEN Municipality has warned that companies attempting to evade taxation by utilising tax havens shouldn’t be permitted to take part in public tenders. However, the state’s betting operator, Danske Spil, is thriving by making its casino games available to customers based outside Denmark via companies located in tax havens, reports Børsen.
Electric car boost THE PHASING in of registration taxes for electric cars has been postponed until 2019, unless 5,000 cars are registered before then, in a bid to address stagnating sales. So far in 2017, only 58 have been sold. Meanwhile, Engergikomissionen has warned that motorists need to start using electricity if green energy targets are to be met.
Ukraine’s potential AHEAD of a visit from the Ukrainian president, Dansk Industri contended that the country could be a lucrative market for Denmark in the future. In related news, exports to the UK have grown since Brexit, improving by 1 billion kroner in the second half of 2016. Exports to Ukraine and the UK were worth 1.7 and 37 billion kroner last year.
No longer just the domain of the startups and cottage industries, it would seem
A smart new way to involve companies and small investors, or a case of ‘caveat emptor’? CHRISTIAN WENANDE
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ANISH company Coop, which owns both a supermarket chain and a bank, is the latest to take the plunge into crowdfunding. With 1.7 million members, Coop has launched a crowdfunding platform offering two different products: supporting food or drink producers financially in exchange for certain extra benefits; and lending money directly to companies via a crowdlending platform in co-operation with Lendino.
ed into Norway and Sweden through a series of mergers. But perhaps the biggest boost came in February, when a group led by Norwegian billionaire and hotel kingpin Petter Stordalen decided to invest 4.46 million kroner into the project. Catch some friends IF IT’S friends you are looking for – an issue endured by many expats living in Denmark – then check out the new and improved version of the GuideCatch mobile app, which launched on April 5. Copenhagen-based GuideCatch is designed as a spontaneous social tool to connect like-minded people instantly and on demand, and the 2.0 version will be launched in Denmark, Berlin, London, Dakar and Accra.
their boat back on the high seas. Using Boatflex’s peer-to-peer sharing app, Europeans who own a boat – ranging from a kayak to a yacht – can rent them out to people who can’t afford the costs associated with owning one or who would simply like to experience the rush of being out at sea for a day.
Your sailing escape ANOTHER app that could boost your network in Denmark, or at least turn you into a real seafaring Viking, is the Danish startup Boatflex. With 1,400 boats already registered, Boatflex allows you to rent boats from owners looking to earn extra money and get
Helping refugees NOT EVERYONE hits the high seas for leisure. For refugees, for instance, much more is at stake. The Danish brothers Christopher and David Mikkelsen, founders of the popular refugee app Refunite, have been given the prestigious ‘Social Entrepreneur of the Year’ award by the World Economic Forum and the Schwab Foundation. Inspired by a chance encounter with an Afghan refugee, the app has revolutionised the search for missing loved ones and grown to become the largest database of missing persons fleeing either poverty or war. Run from Nairobi, Refunite employs 25 people and, as of now it has 600,000 users worldwide.
Playing straight in Russia
Interest peaking
Their robots can thrive
IT IS POSSIBLE to be successful in Russia without resorting to bribes, favours or other forms of corruption, Christine Jøker Lohmann, a consultant at Dansk Industri, told DR. As long as your staff understand the Russian mentality and your paperwork is in order, Lohmann contends it can be lucrative. Danish exports were worth 5.5 billion kroner last year.
PEAKON, the London and Copenhagen-based people analytics company, has received an injection of cash totalling 6.1 million euros. In other company news, fishery concern A Espersen is moving its production from Fredericia to Poland; and sausage skin manufacturer DAT-Schaub Group, a subsidiary of Danish Crown, has entered into a JV in Spain.
ODENSE Robotics, a cluster of 100 robot-related companies employing around 2,600 people, is optimistic that two of its companies – Kubu, whose robots help children learn, and Nordbo Systems, whose robots carry out assembly-line work – can prosper internationally. The cluster welcomed five new members last year.
Riding Airbnb’s coattails ANOTHER startup enjoying recent investment is Key Butler, a personal Airbnb rental manager that helps people renting out their apartments to accommodate guests by helping with receiving guests, key delivery, apartment cleaning and other activities. Since being founded in 2015, Key Butler has experienced rapid development and has expand-
Filling Uber’s void FOLLOWING Uber’s withdrawal from Denmark on April 18, the transport app Taxify has been quick to show an interest in filling the void. “It’s too early to talk about launch dates – we’re currently getting supply partners,” Martin Villig, the co-founder of Taxify, told CPH POST. Founded in Estonia in 2013, Taxify has a strong presence in eastern Europe.
Power of the press A MACHINERY factory from northern Jutland, which was mentioned in a New York Times article about a lack of skilled labourers in Denmark, has received 270 job applications since its publication at the end of February. Denmark has a shortage of skilled workers – especially in the iron and metal industry.
Overseas boost to R&D ACCORDING to Danmarks Statistik, foreign companies account for about 21 percent of Danish companies’ research and development – the equivalent of 7,763 full-time positions at 345 companies. Meanwhile, a new co-operative project involving four universities and Industriens Fond has been set up to make research more commercially relevant.
BUSINESS OPINION
28 April - 18 May 2017
TINY MAERSCHALK LIVING IN AN EXPAT WORLD Belgium’s Tiny Maerschalk, who has worked for the International Community networking platform since its foundation in 2008, knows how it feels to settle in a new country. Dedicated to improving conditions for new arrivals, here she shares her insights about the business issues that mean the most to internationals in Denmark.
You must be the spouse! TO AN EMPLOYER, a spouse can be seen as a ‘challenge’ who needs to be kept happy in order to retain the recruited employee. A spouse can also be a label or box you are unwittingly lumped into. As a new arrival once told me: “When signing up with the public authorities, the officer was addressing my husband, and then turned to me and said: ‘Oh, and you must be the spouse.’” Right then she became the ‘trailing part’. Happy partner = happy life WE ALL know the saying ‘Happy wife, happy life’, and companies are very aware that
SØREN BREGENHOLT 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. Away from the alliance, he is responsible for Novo Nordisk’s global R&D-based PhD and post doc programs, as well as research, innovation and educational policy.
Aiming to double exports THE GROWTH team is blazing a path towards a doubling of already very substantial Danish life science exports by 2025. Since the current export amount to about 107 billion kroner and account for about 17 percent of total Danish exports, this is not just a key Danish growth industry, it is ‘the’ key growth industry. Jobs, growth, tax revenues and the financing of future welfare depend to a substantial degree on the growth of the life science industry. Life science is key to wealth. But the life science industry
An empowering network SPOUSES strive for a meaningful life in Aarhus, and we have formed a social and support network to empower them to take action into their own hands. Spouse Community Aarhus is a group of strong, experienced people with the necessary resources that want to be seen has added benefits. If the recommendations are followed and Denmark decides to invest in and focus on, for instance, stronger public life science research, increased privatepublic sector collaboration on clinical research, better access to seed and venture capital, and adopting the idea that the local markets should serve as a showroom to increase growth in the international market – then we will not only get more wealth, but also faster access to new and better treatments. Consequently, life science is the key to both health and wealth. Local and global THE CHALLENGE is that the life science industry competes in a global market in which the winner takes most, if not all. As a home base for international life science companies, Medicon Valley plays an important role in this development.
“And you must be the spouse”
and heard. We seek to celebrate each person’s individuality, skills and culture while forming a community where people can make meaningful connections, kickstart their social life in a new
city, and seek professional and volunteer opportunities. We want spouses to be seen as an opportunity for both Danish society as a whole and the labour market, rather than as a challenge
UNSPLASH
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HE 17 GENERAL recommendations of the government’s growth team for a national Danish life science strategy have now been published. How they are executed will define if we and our children will be heathier and wealthier in the future.
the spouse and children’s wellbeing are crucial to retaining the employee. Uprooting your home life to relocate to a new city can be incredibly exciting and daunting all at once. For some, stepping into the unknown is an adventure, while for others, challenges such as language barriers and being away from their social and support networks can be overwhelming. The attempt to recreate a daily routine can be frustrating, with many finding it difficult to obtain work in their relevant field, even when highly-skilled and experienced.
UNSPLASH
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N DENMARK, the term ‘spouse’ is used to indicate the accompanying partner of an international employee, but it can also extend to an international relocating to their partner’s home country.
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Life science is ‘the’ key growth industry
Our talent pool, our academic institutions, our companies and know-how, and all other key elements needed for developing and manufacturing life science products must all be no less than world-class. In that way, the old saying “Think global – act local” works for wealth and health as well as for the environment. All eyes on the EMA STRENGTHENED DanishSwedish collaboration in Greater Copenhagen is part of the local
action needed. Medicon Valley Alliance will continue to contribute towards that dimension of the basis for growth. A very concrete example is the efforts to get EMA relocated to Copenhagen after Brexit (emacph.eu). If successful, this would result in 900 additional life science jobs in the region and undoubtedly stimulate further growth. But to accomplish that, let’s start by doing our homework, make the necessary priorities and act locally.
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OPINION
THE COPENHAGEN POST | CPHPOST.DK
28 April - 18 May 2017
Let’s have a peaceful May 1
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Keeping on keeping on NOW WE see the Front National, Alternative für Deutschland and even Nye Borgerlige in Denmark seemingly having reached the zenith of their influence, and populations quietly going about their business in spite of sporadic terrorist attacks. Hiding behind fences is futile when local ‘hearts and minds’ still become radicalised from time to time. The biggest challenge for the
Straight, No Chaser
Western countries – and thus to Denmark as well – is therefore to focus on the integration and assimilation of elements who feel frustrated. The political process has morphed into a non-constructive, hostile attitude, with the government and opposition competing in austerity measures to please the voters. Positive politicians wanted OUR POLITICIANS should use their May 1 speeches to address the problem in a humanitarian and constructive way. The latest estimate is that the government spends 30 billion kroner per year on integration, but this has been done in a counter-productive fashion. Border controls, which anyone involved will tell you are a joke, are tying up the police capacity and keeping them from other tasks. The media have played a somewhat shady role by misusing the word ‘crisis’ for problems that just need a calm hand to be solved. We urge a May 1 attitude that does not include the misuse of crises and joyfully unites us all in appreciation of the world being a more and more manageable place to live in. We should stretch out helping hands in solidarity instead of using the ostrich tactic of hiding our heads in the sand. (ES)
CIS SUMMER SCHOOL JUNE 19 - 30 2017
WOULD YOU LIKE TO LEARN ABOUT 3D PRINTING, PLAY VOLLEYBALL, JOIN AN ART CLASS, DO JAZZ DANCE OR LEARN HOW TO MAKE A MOVIE ? The 2017 summer school at Copenhagen International School is available for children aged 4 to 17. Check out the different classes and programs we offer at cis.dk/student-life The Summer School Program is also suitable for all children who would like to upgrade their English language skills.
TO LEARN MORE OR TO REGISTER PLEASE VISIT CIS.DK, OR CONTACT ALEKSANDRA ACHIAM (ALEKSANDRA.ACHIAM@ CIS.DK) OR CHRISTIANE CONRADT-EBERLIN CCE@CIS.DK
An Englishman abroad, Stephen has lived and worked in Denmark since 1978. His interests include music, art, cooking, real ale, politics and cats.
UNSPLASH.COM
NTERNATIONAL Workers’ Day this year will hopefully be a nice spring day. The world is not fully at ease, but it appears to have Syria and North Korea under control, as well as the refugee headache in the Middle East. The problems are not over, but seem less intense. The African tragedy, with migrants drowning in huge numbers, will also have to be controlled somehow. Illegal people traffickers must be put out of business and the Arab Spring movement should have another go at it. The G7 countries must help, now that politicians all over the industrialised world are daring to tackle the problems again after having picked up on their electorates’ increasing fears and temporarily retreated into reaction and isolationism.
STEPHEN GADD
And just like that, it isn’t ‘appening for Uber in Denmark anymore
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HERE ARE times when it seems the world as we know it is racing towards the abyss at a furious rate of knots. Now seems one of them – we have the chaos of Brexit, the mind-numbing horror-show that is Trumpism, and Danish politicians celebrating with cake when they put the boot into defenceless people. Weal turning sour ON THE other hand, it seemed as if a ray of light momentarily pierced the Stygian gloom the other day when Uber decided to throw in the towel in Denmark. Some people will miss them – they have had over 300,000 users in the two and a half years in which the company has existed here. The idea of a mobile app that can hook you up with a part-time taxi driver in your vicinity is a good one. However, like Airbnb, these apps are in the vanguard of the headlong rush towards the ‘gig economy’ and zero hour contracts. As well as being unfair competition for hotels and taxis – sectors that are highly regulated – they also provide a golden opportunity for ‘forgetting’ to pay tax and thus contribute to the common weal. The rise of wage slavery IN THE UK in March this year, there were 910,000 workers on
zero hour contracts. These are an insidious practice whereby you have a contract but no minimum working hours guaranteed. You are, however, legally obliged to be available for work. As they have no fixed income, it is nigh-on impossible for these workers to get bank loans to buy property. And as if being poorly paid wasn’t enough, they are forced to take their chances on the open market for rented accommodation and, in the no mercy world of supply and demand, generally pay through the nose for it. Britain’s Trade Union congress estimates that the UK government loses up to 4 billion pounds a year in lost tax revenues from people in the ‘gig economy’ who are self-employed but paid very low wages. After a long court battle, Ryanair was thwarted in getting its cut-price employment model accepted in Denmark. We can’t afford to take our eye off the ball – or off the free-market fanatics of Liberal Alliance who approve of such things. Free market in freefall FOR MANY years now, politicians in both the UK and Denmark have been increasingly in thrall to the free market and increasing economic liberalisation. The mantra from the Thatcher/Reagan era is trot-
ted out that constant growth is good, and the trickle-down effect of giving the super-rich even more disposable income will benefit society as a whole. Lest we forget, liberalisation has also given us two bank crashes that taxpayers picked up the tab for. There is also precious little evidence that giving the very rich even more benefits society. Are we prepared to go down the low pay/self-employed/zero hour contract road as well? It is obvious why employers like these schemes – they don’t have to pay tiresome things such as national insurance contributions for their workers or give them any paid holiday. However, it is less clear why anyone would like to work this way, given the choice. Ironically, people on these low-paid contracts are also told how lucky they are to be ‘self-employed’ – well, they have the freedom to starve at least ... If the union movement had not been emasculated in the 1980s and 90s in so many Countries, perhaps we wouldn’t be in this mess now. So look upon the demise of Uber as a wake-up call, Denmark, and let’s put a stop to this insidious trend – while we still have something left worth saving. What’s needed is less rampant greed and more good old-fashioned solidarity.
OPINION
28 April - 18 May 2017
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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.
An Actor’s Life IAN BURNS
Fashion Jam JENNY EGSTEN-ERICSON
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The Road Less Taken JESSICA ALEXANDER
Mishra’s Mishmash MRUTYUANJAI MISHRA Ahhhh, but ‘Mus’ or ‘Mouse’. Either way, you’re calling your son a rodent
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ture.
HERE’S an ongoing battle in our home: a titanic struggle of blood and cul-
Civil war MY WIFE and I fight over whether our son is more British or Danish. We monitor him closely for signs: a constant state of embarrassment? British. A fundamental inability to queue? Danish. A major blow for Blighty was struck recently when he decided he prefers white bread to rye. Good job. Rye bread is ghastly. It’s like eating a coaster. This small victory almost makes up for Brexit. It almost compensates for the fact Britain is being run into the ground by a kestrel-faced harpy hell-bent on destroying political diversity with an unwanted snap election she promised wouldn’t happen. It’s a strange time to be British post-Brexit. I am sad and angry, and I appear to be taking my frustrations out on Denmark’s proud culinary traditions. At a time of division and uncertainty, the victory of bland British white bread over the far healthier Danish rye is all I have to preserve the remains of my cultural identity. Flying the flag for a country on
the brink. A glimmer of hope when all hope is gone. Danish hospitality MELODRAMATIC I know. I apologise. I’m tired. I haven’t slept properly for nearly a year and a half. We moved to Denmark to give our then-unborn child a quality of life we could no longer afford in London. Sure enough, when the time came to deliver, I was blown away by Herlev Hospital’s free post-natal ‘hotel’. There was a PlayStation in every room. Seriously. Where does the Danish taxpayers’ money go? It’s so expectant fathers can play Grand Theft Auto. The massive hospital was impressively empty: a pristine and spacious warehouse of gleaming, vacant wards. Along vast corridors rows of unused beds, still wrapped in production-line plastic, wait patiently for patients. A stark contrast from the crumbling UK hospitals under the malnourished NHS, where you must fight for the luxury of a bed in which you may accidentally be left in a service lift. For a day. Okay, that last part is an exaggeration. Sort of. Point is, if this was a sign of what lay ahead for us as new parents in Denmark, we’d moved to the right place.
Tiny dictator FAST FORWARD 15 months and our little boy is a beautiful bundle of energy, curiosity and charm. He has his mother’s good looks and his father’s inability to sit still. I love him unconditionally, but there are times when I want to exchange him for a child that just sits quietly staring at a wall during the day and doesn’t wake up at night screaming into the darkness at nothing. Parenthood is wonderful, but no-one tells you how hard it can be. Not even other parents. As much as I hate to admit it, nursery came as a welcome respite. In London this can cost a stomach-churning £2,000 per month – significantly more than we pay for an excellent nursery in Copenhagen. That they can rein in my son, a tsunami in a nappy, is testament alone to their skill and professionalism. Of course, because all nurseries are essentially huge petri dishes of bacteria, we’re all ill. All the time. I’ve been reassured this only lasts 18 months, so we’re going to batten down the hatches, embrace hygge and weather the storm of sickness. Time to stock up on the essentials. We just need to agree on what bread to buy …
IN 3 ISSUES
‘Mere te’ Vicar? DARREN MCCALLIG
Crazier than Christmas VIVIENNE MCKEE
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Straight Up ZACH KHADUDU
A Dane Abroad KIRSTEN LOUISE PEDERSEN
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THE COPENHAGEN POST | CPHPOST.DK
28 April - 18 May 2017
ABOUT TOWN
PHOTOS BY HASSE FERROLD
The royalty (left-right) were out in force in April. French ambassador François Zimeray was at hand to bestow Princess Marie as a ‘grand officier’ of the Légion d’honneur on April 7, one of France’s highest honours. Princess Mary Joined forces with Søren Pind, the education and research minister, to officially open Experimentarium on April 24. Countess Alexandra handed over a diploma to the winner of the ESU Public Speaking Competition on April 5. And finally, Sue Hansen-Styles (right – left), English-language theatre royalty of course, has been overseeing Why Not Theatre Company’s run of ‘Mr Tesla Played’, which concluded on April 26 – pictured with her is Serbian ambassador Dragana Ivanovic (second left – Nikola Tesla was originally Serbian) and the play’s author Tanja Mastilo (centre right)
Former PM Helle Thorning-Schmidt was back at her own stomping ground on April 21 for a special unveiling of her new portrait by artist Ditte Ejlerskov (centre – left), which will adorn the walls of Folketinget, the Danish Parliament. Following its unveiling by Parliament’s speaker Pia Kjærsgaard (centre – white blouse), the portrait was hung up in Vandrehallen alongside the mugshots of other former Danish PMs, including Anders Fogh Rasmussen (right – yellow tie), who was also in attendance along with Margrethe Vestager (right – red scarf ), the current EU commissioner for competition
It’s been a busy spring for the embassies. Egyptian ambassador Salwa Moufid (left – top row, right) hosted an International Women’s Club charity lunch to raise funds for the Aswan Heart Center in southern Egypt at her residence on Strandøre in Østerbro on March 23. Bangladeshi ambassador Muhammad Abdul Muhith (centre – second left) hosted his country’s national day celebrations at Nordatlantens Brygge on March 27. And Greek ambassador Efthalia Kakiopoulou (right – right) welcomed guests to her national day celebrations at her Hellerup residence on April 27
Muscular bodybuilder/actor Kim Kold was one of the guests of honour at the premiere of Fast & Furious 8 owing to his appearance in the sixth instalment
The Royal Society of St George Denmark held a celebration at Peter Liep’s Hus in Klampenborg. Among those present were society president Simon Mears
The International Club Copenhagen’s gathering on April 5 learned about the activities of local Italian private institutions at the residence of Italian ambassador Stefano Queirolo Palmas (second left)
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COMMUNITY
THE COPENHAGEN POST | CPHPOST.DK
OUT AND ABOUT
ALL PHOTOS: HASSE FERROLD
H
UNDREDS turned up to Parliament’s annual citizenship day on Sunday dedicated to welcoming and celebrating all those who were given Danish citizenship over the course of 2016.
28 April - 18 May 2017
short distance that exists between politicians and citizens in the nation. Pia Kjærsgaard (centre right), the speaker of Parliament, told those gathered that Denmark was full of opportunity and it was up
to the citizens themselves to make the most of those opportunities. Among the other dignitaries taking part in the celebration were the foreign minister, Anders Samuelsen (left), the justice minister, Søren Pape Poulsen, and
the integration minister, Inger Støjberg (right), who was, perhaps surprisingly given her harsh immigration stance, mobbed by new Danes eager to say hello and have their photo taken with her. CHRISTIAN WENANDE
biggest youth club in Denmark. Most of the players are aged 6-14, but one day the club will hope to have teams representative of all the different school years.In the meantime, it is making a serious impact in the junior divisions.
Hundreds turned up at its special rugby day at Gentofte Sportspark on April 6 where many newcomers to the sport learned about the game. Pictured left-right are Max Andersen (Canada/DK, under-
8s); (group photo) Alex Turgis (France, u-14s), Matthew Keogh (Ireland, u-14s), Søren Søby Lund (DK, u-16s), Anton Goode (NZ/ DK, u-12s – he’s on our team!) and Ryan McNeill (Northern Ireland, u-12s); Callum Morrison
(Scotland, u-8s); Jemilla Lister (Australia, u-14s); and Oscar Delany (England/DK, u-6s). Turn up to training at 09:30 on Saturday or visit gentofterugbyklub.com to find out more. DAVE SMITH
ALL PHOTOS: GENTOFTE RUGBY KLUB
With dignitaries such as Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen (centre left) and singer Caroline Henderson (centre) present, the purpose of the day was to mark the importance of gaining Danish citizenship and displaying the
A
RUGBY union revolution is ongoing in Gentofte. Barely a year into its existence, Gentofte Rugby Klub has seen the number of its members grow to over 100 representing 20 different nationalities, which makes it the
DELL’S OFFICIAL FLICKR PAGE
MCAMCAMCA
PIXABAY
A women’s-only networking opportunity! If you’re looking for opportunities, connections and inspiration, then join the Women in the Creativity Industry event! (May 10, 17:00-19:30; Wilders Pl 13A, Cph K; free adm)
Curious about climate change and its repercussions? Listen to Climate Reality Project leader Heather Thomas, who trained under Al Gore (May 17, 19:0021:00; Books & Company, Sofievej 1, Hellerup; 50kr)
Warm vibes, cocktails, networking, DJs. Interested? Then go to the Student x Business bar. Be ready to make new friends and feel the vibe! (last Sat of each month, 20:00; FUGU, Gammel Strand 42, Cph K)
LORENA
Interested in learning or improving your language skills? Blabba Language Exchange offers immersion in Japanese, French, Korean, Spanish, German, Russian, Chinese and more! (May 11, 19:30-22:30; Starbucks, Nordre Fasanvej 25, Frederiksberg; free adm)
Synapse – Life Science Connect is hosting the inaugural Copenhagen Life Science Summit. Six prominent, skilled, visionary professionals will elaborate on subjects relevant to life science (May 5, 08:30-17:00; Festsalen, Fiolstræde 44, Cph K; 50kr, synapse-connect.org)
Darkness into Light is a 5km suicide awareness walk/ run from which all the proceeds go to charity. Support a good cause and get some exercise while you do it! (May 6, 04:00; adults 185kr, discounts 111kr, kids free adm; Gl Kongevej 10, Cph V; register at dil.pieta.ie)
MILENARIUS
FLICKR_DG EMPL
PIXABAY
Come and enjoy a sunny Sunday at the Hørsholm Golf Open House event. Learn about golf and more! (April 30, 10:00; Hørsholm Golf, Grønnegade, Hørsholm; free adm; hoersholm-golf.dk)
PIXABAY
EVENT FACEBOOK PAGE
COMING UP SOON
AmCham DK and the Danish American Business Forum are offering a seminar to gain insight into how to set up your business in the US (May 5, 08:00-11:30; Dansk Erhverv, Børsen, Slotsholmsgade 1, Cph K; free adm)
Connect with other startup entrepreneurs and investors to discuss ideas, technologies and more (April 28, 18:00; Japanese Tower at Tivoli, Vesterbrogade 3, Cph V; startupeventslist.com) ANDREA DOMINGUEZ
28 April - 18 May 2017
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HISTORY
THE COPENHAGEN POST | CPHPOST.DK
28 April - 18 May 2017
Physician’s son, painter, performer, producer, provocateur, pornographer Welcome to the colourful world of Jens Jørgen Thorsen, the filmmaker who nearly gave the world the Jesus porno CHRIS DOLPHIN
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S ONE OF the more controversial and enigmatic figures of the Danish art world of the 20th century, Jens Jørgen Thorsen was a man of endless distain for authority and censorship. The Nazi Occupation of Denmark, which hung over his early adolescence, provided a cornerstone to his unyielding passion for challenging the status quo and creating art that demanded individuals to engage. Situational changes BORN IN Copenhagen in 1932, Thorsen studied art history and architecture at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts. In the years following his studies he found work as a painter, bricklayer, writing reviews for a newspaper and a museum assistant, and he even published a book, ‘Modernism in Danish Painting’. It is unclear when exactly Thorsen started to become disillusioned with the mainstream art world of his time, but by the early 1960s he found himself a part of the growing situationist movement in Denmark. While the beatniks in New York were hounding away at their typewriters, across the ocean Thorsen and other artists across the continent were more proactive – on the road to the anarchy that would briefly threaten the status quo in May 1968 in cities such as Paris. Influenced by the ideas of the global modernist movement, the Scandinavian Situationists felt compelled to make art that reflected their own attitudes towards manufactured design and modern lifestyles. SPUR’s new signing AFTER being rejected from the International Situationist Congress, a group of radical German artists calling themselves SPUR attracted the attention of Thorsen and he eventually joined their ranks. SPUR then established itself in Drakabygget, a community that claimed to be populated by “poets, farmers, butchers,
Jesus eventually got his day with Pontius Pilate, but in a porn-free version in 1992 that Thorsen (inset) perhaps cheekily called ‘Jesus comes back’
writers, dentists, doctors, artists, art-historians, truck drivers, transvestites, nuclear physicists, journalists, exhibitionists, hairdressers, sociologists, nymphomaniacs, and so forth”. Provocative to the core, it seemed Thorsen had found his tribe. It was amongst these eccentric characters that Thorsen began to refine his art and more specifically what would become his defining medium: film and generating international controversy. Crosses to bear THORSEN was adamantly opposed to art that simply highlighted domesticity. It was not enough, Thorsen believed, to point out, as the modernists had, the consumer lifestyle that was coming to define Scandinavian Europe. He saw art as his duty, his cross to bear if you will, and method to wake the average person from their slumber in what he regarded as a sleepwalking world. “To turn a person into a spectator is to cut off his balls,” he observed, although his actions earned him the labels of ‘holy fool’ in the art world and ‘anarchist’ in the eyes of the public. It is here, largely, that the story of the Jesus porno begins. In the years following his exile from the situationist movement, Thorsen commenced a campaign of outdoor actions. This includ-
ed him walking through Odense accoutered in worn robes and bearing a heavy cross as well as organising a number of controversial film screenings. With the intent of “liberating individuals from their spectatorship”, Thorsen helped to curate and orchestrate art that was shocking and subversive. In this task “pornography was Thorsen’s weapon of choice”. It was through pornography that Thorsen found a means of creating consistently disruptive and triggering art. Immaculate erections THE PRELUDE to the revelation of the Jesus porno may have come in the form of a painting on the wall of a Danish train station – one in which a crucified Jesus was depicted as having an erection. After the release of his 1970 film ‘Stille dage i Clichy’ (‘Quiet Days in Clichy’), he released a statement about the next film he desired to produce. The statement was as follows: “Of course we could, in connection with Catholicism – which when it comes down to it lives off pornography – aim our guns at the pope, but I believe the best way to give the pope a forceful kick in the ass is to turn up the heat on Jesus. He has always interested me, although the use of Jesus as an authority figure repels me. In
the film when Jesus rises up out of the grave, he’ll ball a farmer girl: a nice blonde girl. That by itself signifies in my opinion what Jesus ought to stand for, instead of standing for the repression of life and eroticism.” Danish Christian organisations were quick to rally against Thorsen after his statements made headlines on television and in print. Almost immediately in response to his critics, Thorsen ran with the idea and the Jesus porno was born. Outrage from every orifice IN 1973, THORSEN applied for funding for a film loosely titled ‘The Sex Life of Jesus’. He received 600,000 kroner from the Danish Film Institute (DFI), and public outcry swelled. Some 5,000 Christian demonstrators took to the streets of Copenhagen, while others wrote to politicians and newspapers to put a stop to the film. The Danish public at large was putting pressure on their politicians. They wanted the film gone. Outside Denmark the country found itself in the hot seat. Having just abolished censorship, it became a cautionary tale for other Western democracies if they were to follow suit. The pope was at one time quoted as referring to Denmark as a “nest of sinfulness” and the Catholic journal, Neue Bildpost, demand-
ed that the Danish queen put an end to the whole affair. Victory in defeat ONLY A few months after securing funding for his project, the DFI informed Thorsen that it had to rescind its offer. So before he had even begun filming, Thorsen found himself in heated legal battles with the DFI and the state. Over the next three years, ongoing anti-Thorsen demonstrations, court cases and political maneuvering proved to be the death of the project. Thorsen even attempted to bring his project to Sweden and Britain, but found his project barred in both countries. By 1976 the project was little more than vapour – Thorsen had tried everything, but the system had won out. It was a bitter irony. In a way the film had done everything he ever wanted a work of art to do: provoke people into action, force them out of complacency and even engage the political theatre, but at the cost of the art itself. This article draws heavily on (and uses translations provided in) ‘Jens Jørgen Thorsen: The Jesus Chronicles’, a chapter in the book ‘Scandinavian Blue: The Erotic Cinema of Sweden and Denmark in the 1960s and 1970s’ by Jack Stevenson, which is available to buy at Amazon.com and other online retailers.
RESTAURANT
28 April - 18 May 2017
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You’ve got munchies, she’s got tacos. That’s the Chicago way! HIJA DE SANCHEZ
Slagterbodrne 8, Cph V (other outlet: Toverhallerne, Frederiksborggade 21, Cph K); open Mon-Thu 11:00-20:00, FriSat 11:00-22:00, Sun 11:00-18:00; tacos 74kr, chips 20kr, Dos Equis beer 45kr; hijadesanchez.dk CHRIS DOLPHIN
W
HETHER you’re Sting, Jean-Michelle Basquiat or Sergio Leone, sometimes you need to return to your roots for inspiration. Often it is in these decisions that true artists find the vision for their most celebrated work. And some are already saying you can add Rosio Sanchez to that list. After resigning as head pastry chef at the world-famous Noma back in 2015, Sanchez embarked on her fist solo venture, opening a taco stand in the heart of Copenhagen. She was following what she describes as a “craving” to recreate the authentic Mexican food of her home on the south side of Chicago. Just like her daring counterparts, there is plenty of risk and reward to be had. The taco revolution ALTHOUGH Copenhagen is famed for its culinary prowess, like most of Europe it seems to have completely missed the taco craze of the last decade that swept through the United States. Luckily, Sanchez is stepping up to the plate to bridge that gap with her authentic Mexican taquerias. With rich ingredients from the Mexican heartland and her ever tenacious, inventive attitude, Hija de Sanchez is dishing up fantastic lunchtime options. The Vesterbro location – a small storefront tucked into a maze of outlets that make up the meatpacking district – is perfect for a lazy afternoon spent at its outside seating in good weather, people-watching and taking in the atmosphere of one of Copenhagen’s trendiest area. Most of the customers opt for takeout, which is just as well as it can quickly become crowded if more than five customers are in the restaurant at once, as seating and standing room is limited, even if the view of the white tile kitchen is charming. Then again Crowdedness is, in the eye of the holder, and very
possibly dependent on our cultural background, and where some observe discomfort and claustrophobia, others see cosiness and closeness. Tastes of her childhood REGULARS will quickly learn that Sanchez will never rest on her laurels. Taking a note from her former experiences at Noma,
she is always finding new and inventive ways to ‘spice up’ her ever-changing menu. Many of the dishes are remembered from her childhood, although the ceaselessly imaginative chef never shies away from breaking the mould and pushing the boundaries on what some would consider to be a bulletproof formula.
On the day I stopped by sunny Vesterbro, there was a mix of pork, chicken, and vegetarian options. I opted for the latter, a fried egg taco layered with avocado, cilantro and red onion, served on a crispy shell, and took my plastic plate adorned with smiling suns out into the real thing. Sanchez has achieved some-
thing that I believe is incredibly rare at most restaurants or at least at establishments with such an affordable price range. Paying just 74 kroner for a slice of somebody’s childhood seems like a pretty fair trade to me. Whether it’s taking out or dining in, Hija De Sanchez can’t help but leave you satisfied.
K
18 INOUT: MUSIC
THE COPENHAGEN POST | CPHPOST.DK
28 April - 18 May 2017
May 24, 21:00; Amager Bio; 295kr
May 31, 20:00, Royal Arena; 480kr
ARTIST’S FACEBOOK PAGE
ANDREA DOMINGUEZ
POP
May 9, 20:00; Royal Arena; 395kr THE AMERICAN singer-songwriter has been stealing hearts for years with his cynical lyrics but romantic melodies. And not just the public’s hearts, as he has been romantically involved with Jennifer Love Hewitt, Jennifer Aniston, Jessica Simpson, Katy Perry and Taylor Swift (check our her song ‘Dear John’), and it’s fair to say many of these dalliances haven’t ended well, although they have fuelled his output. But while he might be best known for his poor decision making, impolite manners, filthy mouth and massive
the concert is on a Tuesday night, ‘Who Says’ we can’t enjoy ourselves in the company of Mayer. (AD)
BRUNO MARS
May 18, 20:00; Royal Arena; 480kr You know the songs; you know the lyrics. The Honolulu native is leaving the “island in the Pacific” to promote a new album, 24K Magic. Including songs like ‘That’s What I Like’, the dancefloor will be our new home. (AD)
POP
SHAWN MENDES
May 21, 19:30; Forum; 410kr This one is for your daughters, as Denmark’s teeny-boppers have really taken to the Canadian who started his career by posting song covers on Vibe. Now Mendes is a regular on the Billboard Top 100 and bedroom walls all over. (AD)
HIP-HOP
FELIX DE LUCA
May 27, 21:00; Vega; 135kr Danish hip-hop artist Felix de Luca has been turning heads, both home and abroad, with his slick American accent and bad boy attitude. De Luca actually learned English listening to rap music from the age of five. (AD)
INSIDE OUR NEXT ISSUE, OUT 18 TH MAY! A DOUBLE CPH POST SPECIAL!
ROMANIA AND RELOCATION SUPPLEMENTS!
Read all about amazing Romania and relocation to Denmark
ARTIST’S FACEBOOK PAGE
POP
ARTIST’S FACEBOOK PAGE
HELGI JONSSON
May 12, 20:00; Bremen Teater; 195kr Despite this Icelandic singersongwriter’s best efforts, he is best known in Denmark for his work with his wife, the pop singer Tina Dickow. Still, he has also managed three solo albums. (AD)
ego, he has won seven Grammys. Touring to promote his eighth album, Search for Everything, this is a return to form for Mayer, whose biggest success to date probably came with the song ‘Your Body is a Wonderland’. Described by many as a blend of all the genres in which Mayer has been exploring all these years, it has topped the US album charts. According to Live Nation we can expect a concert “comprised of full band, solo acoustic and John Mayer Trio sets of music”. The date its getting closer, so get ready to immerse yourself and ‘Dance in a Burning Room’, ‘Wait On the World to Change’, and even though ARTIST’S FACEBOOK PAGE
SINGER-SONG
ARTIST’S FACEBOOK PAGE
DEATH BY UNGA BUNGA
May 6; 20:00; Musikcaféen, Huset KBH; 70kr The Norwegian garage rock band have been busy since their formation in 2010, releasing four albums. The last of these, Pineapple Pizza, made a few best overlooked album lists. (AD)
ARTIST’S FACEBOOK PAGE
GARAGE ROCK
JOHN MAYER
check out the band’s latest album, Spirit (2016).
ARTIST’S FACEBOOK PAGE
WAS IT really 25 years ago that she first came to our attention as Brad’s girlfriend Beth in the Aussie soap opera Neighbours? Sexy as hell, it was inevitable she’d follow in the footsteps of cast members like Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan and launch a pop career. However, she opted for less cheese, biding her time somewhat before releasing the mega hit ‘Torn’ in 1997 – a song first released as ‘Brændt’ (Burned) in 1993 after it was unwisely translated for Danish singer Lis Sørensen. Twenty years later, she now has five albums behind her. Her most recent, Male (2015), is a collection of covers – a safer option after Come to Life bombed in 2009 upon its Australian release and was not released in the UK, the two-time Brit Award winner and now British citizen’s main market. So tear yourself away from your prior commitments and join Imbruglia on her 2017 Acoustic Tour. (AD)
IT’S NOW been 37 years since this vital electronic British band came into our lives, and their legacy continues to gather strength. As a major influence on the likes of Deftones, The Killers, Coldplay, Lady Gaga, Nine Inch Nails, Linkin Park, No Doubt, Marilyn Manson and many others, they have arguably never been as important.
The numbers speak for themselves: 100 million record sales, 71 music videos, 54 singles, five Grammy nominations, a Brit award, and an Ivor Novello Award for their main songwriter Martin Gore (also guitar, keybords and vocals), it’s no wonder that we just can’t get enough of this band. Visiting Copenhagen on their Global Spirit Tour, they will be supported by indie rock duo The Raveonettes on the Danish leg of their tour. So come and discover why Q magazine named Mode one of the 50 bands that changed the world, or simply
ARTIST’S FACEBOOK PAGE
NATALIE IMBRUGLIA DEPECHE MODE
PIC
INOUT: EVENTS
28 April - 18 May 2017
AGRICULTURE & CATTLE SHOW
May 26-28; Roskilde Dyrskue, Darupvej 19; 240kr, kids 100kr; roskildedyrskue.dk CLAUDIA MAIER
THE ANNUAL show is a great opportunity to see Denmark’s best livestock
INT MUSEUM DAY
specimens and agricultural machinery. Farmers and other professionals from the agricultural sector mingle with country residents and city folk interested in taking a look at 2,000 different kinds of livestock and special exhibitions on hunting, forestry and food products, along with a children’s animal show. There are also plenty of tastings, competitions and demonstrations. Last year it had almost 90,000 visitors.
THE COPENHAGEN POST | CPHPOST.DK
May 18; various venues in Cph CHRIS DOLPHIN
WITH OVER 145 countries and 35,000 museums participating, International Museum Day is a growing celebration to raise awareness, the organisers explain, of how “museums
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are an important means of cultural exchange, enrichment of cultures and development of mutual understanding, co-operation and peace among people.” This year’s theme is ‘Museums and contested histories: Saying the unspeakable in museums.’ By embracing the taboo, this day aims to highlight what brings us together as humans. DAVID MCQUILLING
SEAMUS MCGILL
FESTIVAL
EVENT
LEDREBORG LIVING
May 25-28; 125 kr; ledreborglivsstil.dk
WELCOME to Denmark’s largest lifestyle fair. The event presents the latest in interior design, wellness, handcrafts and much more over the course of the long Whitsun weekend. Set in an idyllic location, the event is perfect for all, with many activities for
CLEAR your schedule and palate, as the old locomotive factory space, which is close to Dybbølsbro S train station, has a 9,000 sqm hall finished in a raw
COPENHAGEN MARATHON
May 21, 09:30-12:30; starts at Islands Brygge, Cph S Join 100,000 spectators and watch over 12,000 entrants run 26 miles around the city in the Telenor Copenhagen Marathon, an annual race since 1981. Explore the diverse, liberal and multicultural atmosphere that characterises each of the city districts. (CD)
ACTIVITY
OBSTACLE RUN
May 14, 12:00-18:00; Cph K, TBC; 500kr, obstaclecityrun.com Eight kilometres with high walls, tyres, ramps, ropes, cars, and other tricky obstructions wind through central Copenhagen. This race offers an exciting twist on a run with friends or solo, and a good opportunity for the public to watch. (CD)
SPECTACLE
WWE LIVE
May 14, 19:30; Royal Arena, Hannemanns Allé 20, Cph S; 370kr Pro-wrestling is coming to SMACKDOWN Copenhagen. Featuring the superstars of the WWE world – such as AJ Syles, Dean Ambrose and women’s champ Becky Lynch – WWE Live offers electrifying and familyfriendly entertainment. (CD)
MIGUEL DISCART
SPECTACLE
and rustic style that can accommodate up to 3,500 people. More than 70 breweries will treat the attendees to 1,000-plus unique foreign and Danish brews served from 80 different stands. The festival will also feature the delights of the Højt Skum restaurant, where it is possible to buy hot meals prepared with beer. (SG) OBSTACLECITYRUN.COM
ROLLER DERBY KAMP
May 6, 13:00-18:00; DGI-Byen, Cph V; free adm Copenhagen, Helsinki, Stockholm: six teams from three Nordic capital cities will duke it out over five hours of track action – a battle to the end from which only the fiercest, fortitudinous, fastest females will prevail. Discover why this is so popular. (CD)
CPH BEER FESTIVAL
May 18-20, open Thu 16:00-23:00, Fri 13:0023:00, Sat 13:00-21:00; Lokomotivværkstedet, Otto Busses Vej 5A, Cph SV; entry: 125kr, beer tokens: 12.50kr; ale.dk
KRISTIAN MOLLENBORG
SPECTACLE
COPENHAGEN ROLLER DERBY FACEBOOK PAGE
COP RUN CLASSIC
May 2, 18:30; Østre Anlæg, Cph Ø; 125kr, coprun.dk Are you up for the challenge of the COP Run Classic in a city park? Prepare for hills, narrow pathways and winding trails in this thigh-burning relay. Set your own pace, but be prepared to wheeze. This race promises to leave you breathless. (CD)
EVENT FACEBOOK PAGE
ACTIVITY
the whole family. Adults can take to the treetop adventure trails and try various therapies, while your children can choose between sitting on a pony, visiting the mini circus, splashing around in the water with the funballz and playing with the model train. Various distributors will display products in areas such as food, home and garden, and health and wellness. (CM)
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INOUT: KIDS
THE COPENHAGEN POST | CPHPOST.DK
28 April - 18 May 2017 JIM PENNUCCI
CORNERS OF EUROPE/ FLICKR
ACTIVITY
ACTIVITY
EXPERIMENTAL ART AT SMK
April 30, 11:30-16:30; Statens Museum for Kunst, Sølvgade 48-50, Cph K; 30kr + museum entrance; smk.dk EASTER is over but that doesn’t mean the kids can’t have an egg-cellent time. It’s time to conduct some bizarre experiments, and for that we are going to use sand, curry and paint!
ART SUNDAY AT LOUISIANA MUSEUM
Yes, curry … and don’t worry about the mess! And that’s not all, as there is a large list of fun materials waiting to be transformed into crazy art. And, of course, you can always take a tour of the museum and explore its magnificent halls and play a large selection of boardgames. Are you interested? Then come with the whole family and find out more! (AD)
Sundays 11:30-13:30; Louisiana Children’s House, Gammel Strandvej 13, Humlebæk;125kr, kids 20kr; louisiana.dk PREPARE to be amazed at the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art and take in their collections of not so conventional large and small sculptures by famous artists like Cesar,
who made a big copy of his own thumb in bronze, or Alberto Giacometti, whose bust could fit into in a matchbox. Bring the children and enjoy Art Sunday and afterwards, if the family feels like doing something else, the youngest can draw on their imagination and creativity in the museum workshops. There tends to be limited space, so don’t miss this chance! (AD)
ACTIVITY
BLÅ MANDAGE all Mondays in May, 12:00; 135kr; bakken.dk ANDREA DOMINGUEZ
IT’S TIME for rides, fun and adventures! Lots of special activities are waiting to welcome you at Bakken. It’s been a tradition for generations that newly-confirmed children come
and enjoy a Monday or every Monday of the month, as all 32 rides are open from 12:00 and waiting for you and your celebratory family and friends. Get ready for a great day with lots of speed! But if you get a bit tired, you can take a break and enjoy pizzas, sandwiches, salad … whatever you want! On these special May days, there are special treats, discounts and free passes to celebrate this time of year. Come and find out more! (AD)
Various dates, 16:00-18:30; various venues; ages 11-18; bibliotek.kk.dk THIS IS the perfect opportunity for your kids to release their creativity and imagination. Who knows? He or she might be the next Karen Blixen. Forfatterspirerne (author’s spirits) is a writing club exclusively for children and adolescents.
WILD
May 3-24, various times; Anemoneteatret, Suhmsgade 4, Cph K; 125kr, children 50kr; anemoneteatret.dk This is a brand new puppet show for the whole family. The magical story of the friendship of a little girl, Frida, with a wise tree will melt your heart. It’s a story full of adventure, values and fun! (AD)
ACTIVITY
CAPOEIRA
May 11, 15:45-16:30; Absalon, Sønder Blvd 73, Cph V; 50kr This Brazilian martial art has a large following here, so maybe it’s time you found out what all the fuss is about. Your kids will love the dancing and air kicks, release some serious energy, and learn about movement and co-ordination. (AD)
BRUNCH
MOTHER’S DAY AT HARD ROCK
May 14, 10:00-15:00; Hard Rock Café, Rådhuspladsen 45-47, Cph V; over-10s: 160kr, under-10s: 99kr Celebrate the queen of your house with brunch at the Hard Rock Cafe to start her special day! All the moms receive a glass of prosecco and a goodie bag and are invited to check out the Mors Dag Pop Up Shop. (AD)
PIXABAY
PERFORMANCE
A professional writer once a week coaches the children and teaches them how to improve their writing skills. The club also enables children with a shared interest to get to know each other, share their texts and give each other feedback. It’s a perfect chance to get them involved in a different world, have fun and meet new friends. The season is ending, so hurry up and sign up! (AD) ANURADHA SENGUPTA/ FLICKR
FAMILY GROOVE
April 29, 11:30; Folkehuset Absalon, Sønder Blvd 73, Cph V; 50kr Have fun and feel the groove with your kids as they dress up as their favourite characters and hit the dancefloor. The best thing is that you can do no wrong, so time to unleash all your embarrassing moves, Daddy-O! (AD)
WRITERS CLUB
EVENT FACEBOOK PAGE
ACTIVITY
LORI YERDON/ FLICKR
MOVIE MORNING
Every day, 10:00; various venues; 45kr; cinemaxx.dk If you feel like taking a break and doing something relaxing with the little ones, why not head to Cinemaxx. At its MinimaxX mornings, there’s a selection of movies carefully selected for the youngest (fun, but not scary and not too long!) (AD)
PETE SOUZA
FILM
STAFF SGE WHITNEY HUGHES
ERKAN
FUN
INOUT:MUSEUM
28 April - 18 May 2017
Away break in the world of actors, architects and artists TANIA-VALENTINA COCESIU, COPENHAGEN MUSEUMS AND ATTRACTIONS
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EAD NORTH of Copenhagen this season to make the most of the mild weather and longer days to embrace some culture.
While there’s more than enough for a week’s worth of exploring, if you’re crafty you can first plot a course to the Karen Blixen Museum in time for its 10am opening.
Then head to Helsingør and take in two of Denmark’s most compelling buildings – Kronborg Castle and the new Maritime Museum of Denmark – either
side of a lunchtime of fish and chips perhaps. And then finally, dash along the coast to the fishing settlement of Gilleleje to admire Nakkehoved Lighthouse as the sun sets. Bon voyage!
Copenhagen Museums & Attractions
BE A GUEST IN HAMLET’S HOME Kronborg Castle, Kronborg 2C, Helsingør; open daily 11:00-16:00, from June: 10:0017:30, no admission in final 30 mins; 90kr, under-18s free adm; kongeligeslotte.dk
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O YOU WANT to feel like travelling back in time by immersing yourself in a Shakespearian universe? At northern Europe’s largest Renaissance castle,
Kronborg has been famously immortalised as Elsinore in the English writer’s play, Hamlet, and has plenty of cultural offerings. Enter the castle and admire the timeless beauty of the Kronborg Tapestries, a Danish royal family history woven in silk and yarn. Nevertheless, the highlight of the castle’s interior is represented by a 60-metre long ballroom, embellished with paintings, gildings, brass chandeliers and an elegant marble
floor. Follow actor Beate Bille as the royal housekeeper on a guided tour as she inspects the castle before King Frederik II hosts a sumptuous party. This history lesson is not complete until you wander around the Casemates, dreary underground passages that saved the lives of many during wars, and gaze at the statue of Holger Danske, a Danish mythical hero who, as the legend depicts, lies asleep right under the castle.
MARITIME HISTORY AND MODERN ARCHITECTURE Maritime Museum of Denmark, Ny Kronborgvej 1, Helsingør; open Tue-Sun 11:00-17:00, 110kr, under18s free adm; info@mfs.dk; mfs.dk
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ESCRIBED as a cutting edge cultural venue by the New York Times, the Maritime Museum of Denmark sits in front of Kronborg Castle. The awardwinning museum has been listed by
the BBC and National Geographic among the world’s greatest new museums, and it’s an attraction that should be on the must-see list of every architecture and history enthusiast. None other than Bjarke Ingels Group was behind the majestic project, transforming an old concrete dry dock into a new type of urban composition. However, it is not only the mind-boggling
architecture that will astound you, as its content will also certainly live up to your expectations. Its eight permanent exhibitions depict 600 years of Danish maritime history in an innovative and interactive way, from displaying the sailors’ most common items on board to presenting a world of navigational instruments and an exquisite collection of model ships.
WAY OUT OF AFRICA Karen Blixen Museum, Rungsted Strandvej 111, Rungsted Kyst; open Tue-Sun 10:00-17:00, closed Mon; 75k, under-14s free adm, guided tours by appointment; blixen.dk
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AVE YOU ever wondered what the writer of Babette’s Feast and Out of Africa’s home and final resting place looks like? The Karen Blixen Museum, located about 30 minutes north
of Copenhagen, is the beautiful dwelling where the Danish writer was born and to which she returned after her 17 years in Africa. Explore the life and work of Karen Blixen together with her original scripts – charcoal drawings and African paintings as well as biographies and letters are presented in a serene and intimate atmosphere. The rooms where Karen lived are almost intact, while some of the furniture
was brought from her African farm, such as Denys Finch Hatton’s favorite chair and the chest she was given by her butler, Farah. Designed according to Blixen’s wish, the site is a woodland bird sanctuary with a vast flower garden and grove. At the foot of a picturesque hill, you will find Karen Blixen’s grave beneath a large beech tree.
SPOT THE LIGHT BETWEEN THE SEAS Nakkehoved Lighthouse, Fyrvejen 25A, Gilleleje; visits by appointment; 6181 5803, erd@museumns.dk
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RAVELLING around the north coast of Zealand, in the area around the authentic fishing village of Gilleleje, you will discover the lighthouse of Nakke-
hoved. Learn about the rich history of the Danish lighthouse – its development from the era of Frederik II in the 16th century to its present automation. You will come upon thought-provoking facts. Do not miss the chance to climb to the top: the view is absolutely spectacular! The elegant natural elements of the
lighthouse were motifs for many artists throughout the ages. The slow sunsets over the sea are compelling, as crimson colours create a momentous atmosphere around the lighthouse. Come and discover with your own eyes why the idyllic scene from the lighthouse served as artistic inspiration!
FOR MORE INSPIRATION FROM THE MUSEUMS, VISIT COPENHAGEN MUSEUMS & ATTRACTIONS AT CPHMUSEUMS.COM
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THE COPENHAGEN POST | CPHPOST.DK
28 April - 18 May 2017
Can crabby Charles or risky Ritchie lift the curse of Arthur? BEN HAMILTON
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HE EVIDENCE suggests Queen Elizabeth II hates her eldest son Charles, who is just 22 and a half years her junior. Nothing would give the 91-year-old monarch more satisfaction than outliving him and denying his ‘Edward VII moment’ on the throne, and now she has an extra incentive as she won’t want to miss the final episode of The
Crown – if she does she’ll be buried in it.
NETFLIX
Third time lucky? HOW ELSE do you explain her decision to send him to Gordonstoun, a notorious school on the coast of northeast Scotland? While it was predictably posh for a future king – part of the curriculum is learning to sail the school yacht – it was also mercilessly tough (‘God only knows’ why David Bowie sent his son there). Until recently, all children started the day with a long run and a cold shower – Prince Charles himself called it “Colditz in kilts”. And then there’s his name – clearly Liz has had it in for him since birth: a labour of hate, perhaps? She named him after the only English king to be executed – Charles himself has said he will probably call himself George VII instead of Charles III because of the negative connotations. And then there’s his second name: Arthur. Talk about tempting fate! The only two previous heirs to the English throne called Arthur both died before they
could accede. Arthur, the grandson of Henry II, is still a missing person. Aged 15 or 16, he was presumably bumped off by his uncle, the evil King John of Magna Carta and Robin Hood fame, in around 1203. Also a mere teen when he died was Henry VIII’s elder brother Arthur, although he did find time to wed and bed Catherine of Aragon and tell the servants he was thirsty “for I have been in the midst of Spain last night” – a clincher in his brother’s divorce case from the same woman over 30 years later. Hardly a Ritch pedigree CAN THE same be said of films about the legendary king – or at least those that followed John Boorman’s sumptuous Excalibur. It’s 36 years since the British director picked up and owned those reins, and the failure of the likes of First Knight (Richard Gere a shocking choice as Lancelot), Arthur the King (ditto Malcolm McDowell as Arthur), Prince Valiant (look away now Katherine Heigl) and Guinevere (Sheryl Lee a few years after playing Laura Palmer!) would suggest Guy Ritchie has his work cut out in King Arthur: Legend of the Sword (Not Released Yet Worldwide; out in Denmark on May 11). The trailer doesn’t exactly fill you will confidence. Sons of Anarchy fans have forgiven Charlie Hunnam for his crimes against East London, but not supporters of West Ham United. Still, his Arthur says mate a lot – or at least that was my take from his portrayal of a likely lad who could have just stepped off a bus in any dilapidated town in modern Britain.
Meanwhile, The ‘dynamic’ direction of Guy Ritchie, meanwhile, – who was lucky to work again after he followed Swept Away with Revolver – looks like it will quickly become annoying. As entertaining as the Sherlock Holmes films are (and even The Man from UNCLE), Madonna’s ex should leave the period pieces to the pros and stick to making films about low-lifes in east London, but not cast Charlie Hunnam! The one saving grace is that Ritchie has the help of several actors from Game of Thrones (Littlefinger and Roose Bolton, for example), which is just as well as he is ripping the series off, although enough trademark Ritchie oiks and posh totty have wormed their way in to guarantee you’ll be praying for Mordred to quickly kill Arthur and eliminate the possibility of a sequel. Fine offerings, good fits THAT BOAT has already sailed for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 (NRYW; April 27), yet another Marvel film, which always seems to guarantee box office clout – but given the positive reception the first instalment got in 2014, it’s no surprise to see its return. On top of that, it’s got lots of guns for the boys and a cast that seems to tick every possible box for female fans: Chris Pratt (20s), Bradley Cooper (30s), Vin Diesel (40s) Kurt Russell (50-60s), Sylvester Stallone (70s +) and … err … Miley Cyrus (teens), who voices the character of Mainframe. Staying mainstream, Ridley Scott’s follow-up to Prometheus, the keenly-awaited Alien: Covenant (NRYW, May 17), will be previewed in the next issue,
but there are two other notable releases that are both safe bets according to the critics. Royalty Hightower is a name to watch out for following her standout performance in the 2015 coming-of-age film The Fits (90 on Metacritic; April 27) – as is debutant director Anna Rose Holmer – about a young American tomboy who swaps boxing for a girls’ dance team afflicted by a series of apparently contagious seizures. And Lone Scherfig is emerging as a safe pair of hands if you want something frightfully British rendered as if it’s been viewed through a voyeur’s eyes. Their Finest (76; May 4), the story behind the propaganda films that kept the nation’s spirits raised during the Blitz, is her fourth such film in less than a decade and sees her again hook up with Sam Claflin following The Riot Club, with Gemma Arterton and Bill Nighy also starring. So long, but no farewell ELSEWHERE, both Husets Biograf and Cinemateket are inviting you to singalongs this May. Husets Biograf wants you to do the time warp again at its screening of The Rocky Horror Picture Show (April 29, 20:00; 60kr). And Cinemateket is screening a sing-a-long version of The Sound of Music (May 6, 12:00 & May 14, 13:45; 150kr) that includes coffee and apple strudel during the interval. Apparently, one of Queen Elizabeth’s favourite things is reminding her son he’s 60 going on 70 and won’t be climbing the mountain to her throne anytime soon.
EDIBLE CINEMA: TASTE ‘PERFUME’
May 16th-18th: ‘Perfume: The Story of a Murderer’ is the thrilling second installment of the sensory experience called “the ultimate marriage of film and food”: Edible Cinema. We present some 50 films with English dialogue or subtitles every month. See what’s on at cinemateket.dk or visit us in Gothersgade 55
INOUT:TV
28 April - 18 May 2017
THE COPENHAGEN POST | CPHPOST.DK
VICTORIA DR1, MAY 6, 20:45, MAY 7, 20:00
PICK OF THE WEEK
For her encore she’ll play a tune on his jacket and make sweet music all night long (if it wasn’t the Victorian Age)
HANDSOME Clive Standen (Rolo from Vikings) has chopped off his locks and landed the lead in Taken – taking over from Liam Neeson as the movie franchise takes the familiar path to the small screen. It’s average by all accounts. Marginally better is the 2015 UK series Jekyll & Hyde (DR3, April 28, 20:00), which sets the 19th century novel in the 1930s. It’s not a good fit. Neither is three wives! The Polygamists: Three Wives, One
COMING SOON Casting an outrage apparently
(DR2, April 28, 21:40) and Inside Tatler: A Guide to British Posh (DR2, May 10; 20:00); all eyes are on Ukraine for the Eurovision semis and final (DR1, May 9, 11 & 13, 21:00) and Paris for the final round of the French Presidential Elections (DR2, May 7, 19:00); we’ve got S5 of Call the Midwife (SVT2, May 14, 20:00); and don’t miss World’s Fattest Man: A Love Story (DR3, May 1, 22:40) – we’re betting it’s about a deep-fried Mars Bar. (BH)
3+, April 30, 22:30 & May 1, 22:00 Taken
WITH 75 on Metacritic, this miniseries about the British Black Panther movement starring Idris Elba (which is on HBO Nordic) certainly has its fans, but also its detractors. Many have voiced opposition to Guerrilla’s lead female character not being black, even though she’s based on a real Asian woman, which is more than you can say for the rest of it.
Set in 1973, the production values are excellent, and even though a lot of it never happened, the sentiment expressed (by 12 Years a Slave screenwriter John Ridley) is very real, even if the reaction has been incredulous. Elsewhere, it’s been a strong month for new series, with no less than seven scoring more than 70 on Metacritic. Initially staying in
Britain, Margaret Atwood’s’ feminist tale The Handmaid’s Tale (93) follows a woman fighting to be heard in a totalitarian society. The War of the Roses saga continues with The White Princess (71) – no, not a new cast member for S2 of Guerrilla, but Henry VII’s queen. Or maybe that disgruntled lot would enjoy Dear White People (84), a TV adaptation of Justin
ALSO NEW
Simien’s 2014 film about young black students striving for equality at an Ivy League college. Elsewhere, we have the divorce aftermath comedy Brockmire (79); the ‘your mother’s the new intern’ comedy Great News (70); and Bryan Fuller’s new series American Gods (86) starring Ian McShane as a demi-god – we already believe it! (BH) TMV 23
LAURA HALE
SPORT OF THE WEEK K6, May 7, 17:00 EPL: Arsenal vs Man Utd
K6, May 4 & 11, 20:00 EL: Celta Vigo vs Man Utd
FILM OF THE WEEK DR1, May 12, 21:15 About Time
The eight-episode first season (a second is out in the autumn) begins with the young queen (Jenna Coleman from Doctor Who) acceding to the throne upon the death of her uncle and then mainly deals with her courtship by Prince Albert (Tom Hughes) and friendship with the PM, Lord Melbourne (Rufus Sewell). Apparently Coleman’s eyes are the wrong colour and frame-byframe meticulous doctoring has been carried out to render them blue to ease the pain of the pedants. ANDREA DOMINGUEZ
Husband (DR2, May 14, 19:55) wins the confidence of a small Mormon community who open up about what it’s like to be henpecked by three women at once. The monogamous majority will be accused of Sour Grapes (DR2, May 1, 00:45), a doc about fraudulence in the wine industry that has its moments, as does fashion industry film The First Monday in May (SVT2, May 1, 21:35). Elsewhere, it’s raining posh series with Too Posh to Parent
GORDON FLOOD
FOR MANY moons, Arsenal vs Man Utd was a title decider. This season it will decide fifth place, so how seriously will United take it sandwiched in between their Europa League semis? Elsewhere, we’ve got the final session of the World Snooker finals, the Champions League semis (3+, May 2-3 & 9-10, 20:00), and the Russian and Spanish GPs (3+, April 30 & May 14, 12:30). (BH)
CLEARLY this is the new drama that Britain’s ITV has been banking on to replace the void left by Downton Abbey, and like the mega-hit it’s mostly an assembly of unknowns who can really make audiences believe in them. An average 7.7 million viewers tuned in each week to follow the progress of Victoria, a queen whose life we now know better than our own thanks to all the countless films and TV series.
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SVT2, May 4, 23:15 Blackthorn
SVT2, May 5, 22:15 Beautiful Boy
Eurosport, April 30, 20:00 World Snooker: final session
SOMEBODY needs to introduce a rule for time travel fiction. Like no travelling for romance – it’s too easy. With 7.8 on the now message board-less IMDB, a lot of people enjoyed About Time, but it’s too easy! And so is imagining somebody didn’t die (Butch Cassidy in Blackthorn) or ripping off another story (Beautiful Boy – We Need to Talk about Kevin). (BH)
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