Asta Nielsen

Based on a conversation with the contemporary classic actor Poul Reumert in the spring of 1968, Asta Nielsen is interviewed in her home in Copenhagen by the actor Axel Strøbye. She tells about her career as the world’s first movie star in the period until the twenties, and about the time that followed in which she divided her life between the theatre and an anonymous life in Denmark. The story is illustrated with characteristic quotations from a number of the most famous Asta Nielsen films: ‘The Abyss’, ‘Engelein’, ‘Die Freudlose Gasse’, ‘Lulu’ en ‘Hamlet’. The festival also presents the silent classic “Mod Lyset” (1918) by Holger-Madsen starring Asta Nielsen.