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House band of the evening will be the DR Big Band, Denmark’s most popular jazz orchestra of international acclaim

Attending the award show are Their Royal Highnesses The Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary of Denmark, Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen and EU Commissioner Viviane Reding

When the 1,500 guests at the EUROPEAN FILM AWARDS CEREMONY 2008 take their seats at Copenhagen’s Forum on 6 December, the host of the evening will be popular Danish journalist, anchorman and TV-host Mikael Bertelsen. On stage with him will be the Danish Radio Big Band, Denmark’s most popular jazz orchestra.

Among the evening’s distinguished film guests, the audience and viewers can look forward to Dame Judi Dench, this year’s recipient of the “Lifetime Achievement Award” and the Danish Dogma brothers Søren Kragh-Jacobsen, Kristian Levring, Lars von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg who will receive the ”European Achievement in World Cinema 2008”. 

Other prominent guests include Their Royal Highnesses The Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary of Denmark, Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen, EU Commissioner Viviane Reding and Danish Minister of Justice Brian Mikkelsen. 

Produced by EFA Productions gGmbH in co-operation with DR and ZDF/ARTE, the show will be broadcast live on DR2, and will be transmitted in more than 40 countries, making the event one of the largest TV-events ever to be broadcast from Denmark. 

The European Film Awards 2008 are presented by the European Film Academy e.V. and EFA Productions gGmbH in collaboration with EFA08 ApS and the Copenhagen Film Festivals with the support of the City of Copenhagen, the City of Frederiksberg, the Capital Region of Denmark, the Danish Ministry of Culture, the Danish Film Institute, Wonderful Copenhagen, the Nordic Film Fund and the Danish film industry.

Profile on Mikael Bertelsen:

Mikael Bertelsen is best known as the TV host of popular Danish late night shows “The 11th Hour” and ”The Uncurrent News” at DR2 and has since his debut as a journalist in 1991 at DR made a string of satirical shows on both radio and TV including DR2’s Talkshow and Bertelsen at P1. For a number of years, he was also the arts and entertainment editor at DR2 where he was responsible for numerous hit shows. 

Profile on DR Big Band:

DR Big Band is the best big band in Denmark and belongs to the top of the international jazz elite, not least thanks to collaborations with conductors such as Ib Glindeman, Ray Pitts, Palle Mikkelborg, Thad Jones, Ole Kock Hansen, Bob Brookmeyer and Jim McNeely. Today, the artistic director of the band is internationally acclaimed star bass player Chris Minh Doky. Hundreds of famous conductors, soloists and arrangers have played with the DR Big Band over the years, among these Kurt Elling, Miles Davis, Van Morrison, David Sanborn, Stan Kenton, Stan Getz, Dizzy Gillespie, Manhattan Transfer, John Scofield, Toots Thielemans, McCoy Tyner, Maria Schneider, Martial Solal, Tom Harrell, Bob Mintzer, Mike Stern and Benny Golson. Throughout the years, the DR Big Band has also become not only a jazz band of international standards, but also the best show band in Denmark.