Ben Hamilton
December 3rd, 2020

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Before Rudy, the dream was Denmark

Bulgarian actress Maria Bakalova is a rising star, albeit in virtual Hollywood, since her standout performance in the second Borat movie in which Rudy Giuliani propositions her in a hotel room by massaging his testicles. 

However, despite her getting her big break in the US, her biggest love is Danish cinema, she recently told Indiewire. 

In good company
In fact, she visited Denmark on holiday just two years ago with the intention of “staking out the offices of Zentropa” in a bid to work with its co-founder Lars von Trier. 

The ritual fertility dance scene in ‘Borat 2’ suggests she would have been a good fit for a director who included a blood orgasm in the script of ‘Antichrist’. 

Giving up on the dream
“I said: ‘That’s it, I’m moving to Denmark, and I’m going to do my best work there,” she recalled, but then Hollywood came calling, and she had to give up on ‘the Danish dream’.

Nevertheless, she continues to watch from afar, saying of ‘Druk’ that it made her “remember why I love cinema”, and recalling how ecstatic she was when her idol, the actress Trine Dyrholm, started following her on Instagram.

Hopefully next time she comes over, the expression ‘Tivoli is open’ won’t indicate the former mayor of New York is loosening his flies.

Susanne and Sofie in the ascendancy despite disappointment
The reaction to the final episode of the six-part miniseries ‘The Undoing’ starring Hugh Grant and Nicole Kidman, which was made by Danish director Susanne Bier, can be best described as all-round exasperation. Bier, who did not write the story, told Collider it had been fun to confuse viewers and “lead them astray with small flashbacks” – the kinds of red herrings that ‘Forbrydelsen’ (‘The Killing’) employed. Rather aptly, the star of that series, Sofie Gråbøl, has a potentially  breakthrough role in ‘The Undoing’ as the chief prosecutor. 

Apparently mys is going to topple ‘hygge’ – believe it when we see it
Forget ‘hygge’ this Christmas, proclaims an article in the New York Times. Instead embrace the Swedish equivalent of ‘mys’.  Pronounced ‘mees’, it apparently means an atmosphere that is even cosier than hygge. Before you dismiss it as a chance to sell even more books … well, you’re probably right. Meanwhile, the NYT article went on to profile the best Stockholm stores to stock on your next ‘mys’ session. 

Never mind the Grammys, Denmark was blinded by The Weeknd
The Weeknd was recently snubbed by the Grammys, but he’s welcome in Denmark anytime, as ‘Blinding Lights’ was the most streamed song of the year on Spotify. However, he was only the third most streamed artist behind rappers Gilli and Branco, and his album, ‘After Hours’, also played second fiddle to the pair’s collaboration on ‘Euro Connection’. Seven out of the top ten artists were rappers. All were men.

Top acts confirmed for next year’s sold-out Roskilde is “cautious optimism”
US bands The Strokes, Faith No More, Deftones and Haim, as well as the American rapper Megan Thee Stallion, are among the acts already confirmed for the 2021 Roskilde Festival. In total, the festival has released 29 music acts as well as 12 entities that will be taking part in the art and activism program. “We are cautiously optimistic,” said the festival. “We want to show there is something to look forward to.” Danish singer Jada has been confirmed as the festival’s opening act on the Orange Stage. Roskilde 2021 has already sold out of full-festival tickets. Some one-day options will go on sale in the new year.

You heard it here first: Baywatch has spoken
US actress Pamela Anderson has personally reached out to Danish PM Mette Frederiksen to ban mink farms. In an open letter, she wrote: “Like many, I was alarmed to hear that a new, mutated type of coronavirus – one that can have ‘violent, negative consequences for the whole world ‘ – has been found on Danish mink farms, and that this type has infected several people. The situation is critical. As honorary director of PETA, I hope you will respond by banning mink farms in Denmark, which will protect the health of the population and protect countless animals from miserable lives and violent deaths.”