Lone Scherfig

Lone Scherfig
Scherfig at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival
Born	(1959-05-02) 2 May 1959 (age 57) Copenhagen, Denmark

Lone Scherfig (born 2 May 1959) is a Danish director, writer and producer who has been involved with the Dogme 95 film movement and who has been widely critically acclaimed for several of her movies, including the Oscar-nominated film An Education (2009). Scherfig's movies are generally romantic comedies, including her film One Day (2011), based on the David Nicholls novel. Through both experimenting with creative constraints and her astute attention to detail, she has come to be recognized as a blossoming talent in the film industry.

Scherfig graduated from the Danish Film School in 1984, and began her career as a director with the television film Margrethes elsker in 1985. Previously, she had been involved in the advertising business and had won awards (including the Lion d'Argent) at the Cannes International Advertising Film Festival. Her directorial debut in film came with Kaj's fodselsdag. The film was critically successful and garnered her the Grand Jury prize and the Club Espace Award at the Rouen Nordic FIlm Festival. For a period of time following such success, Scherfig wrote and directed a few short films and worked with both radio shows and the stage. In 1998, she directed the film Nar mor kommer hjem, which was the recipient of the Grand Prix at the Montreal Film Festival and the Cinekid Award in Amsterdam.

Scherfig found her international breakthrough with the film Italian for Beginners (2000), which was critically acclaimed and won several awards, including the Jury Grand Prix Silver Bear award at the Berlin International Film Festival. Hailed as a feel-good movie, the film is consistently preoccupied with themes of hope, happiness, and choice. It is credited as the most profitable Scandinavian film to date.

The film, following the creative constraints of the Dogme 95 movement, is set almost entirely on location within a small space, uses sound only found at the source, and it's shot on video. The film involves several characters and their various romantic or otherwise interactions that unfold across this limited setting. As opposed to many other Dogme 95 films, Scherfig's is rather upbeat and comedic, and has been noted for its rather amusing tone.