Benedikt Erlingsson - The Danish Woman

After his acclaimed 2018 film Woman at War, Benedikt Erlingsson thought he was done with stories about headstrong women bending the rules for a greater cause. But then The Danish Woman emerged.

“I knew I couldn’t make another film with the same concept, so a TV series was the perfect way to explore it further. If Woman at War had a ‘white witch,’ The Danish Woman is the ‘black witch,’” he says in this episode of Nordic Film Talks.

The series, premiering at Series Mania, follows a former Danish intelligence agent (Trine Dyrholm) who starts a new life in Reykjavik. She tries to help her neighbors but falls back on her old, often violent, methods. Erlingsson always envisioned Dyrholm in the role: “She can be a dragon and still sympathetic. That’s a dangerous magic only great actors have.”

The six-episode series premieres in 2026. While the chaotic creative process was rewarding, Erlingsson now looks forward to returning to a simpler arthouse film.



Host: Wendy Mitchell, filmwendy.com
Presenting partner: Nordisk Film & TV Fond, https://nordiskfilmogtvfond.com/
Audio producer: Karoline Balstrøm
Logo designed by: Tine Seerup
Music artist: Bail Bonds 
Title: Swimming Lessons