Asta Nielsen: pioneer of cinema and first European film star, tragedienne and comedienne, writer and artist. As a working-class child and single parent, she works her way up from the bottom - and consciously stages herself as the first role model for independent women and queers. We retell the story of this singular phenomenon with her own words and film clips.
Documentary on the rise and fall of the Danish silent film industry.
A compilation of scenes from Shakespeare adaptations made in the earliest days of cinema, including versions of King Lear, Twelfth Night, Hamlet, Richard III and The Merchant of Venice, as well as less frequently filmed plays such as Henry VIII and The Winter's Tale.
Asta Nielsen is often considered the 'first international movie star', and was an explosively popular female lead through the 1910s and 20s. Though born in Denmark, she mostly worked in Germany and starred in over 70 films, usually directed by her husband Urban Gad. She was known for her boyish looks and had her breakout in the erotically charged 'Afgrunden' (1910).
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