Cinemateket – an interview with Claus Kjær

So I got an interview with this awesome guy called Claus Kjær from something called Cinemateket. Here's what I wrote - I hope you like it;

Across ”Kongens have”, in the centre of Copenhagen lies a big house. Outside it might look like a regular house, but behind the old bricks and big window something fantastic happens everyday. The house holds experiences, impressions and dreams from all over the world.

’Cinemateket’ itself is a weird word. A mix between cinema and what we in Danish call bibliotek (’library’). But putting these two words together is not completely without meaning. ’Cinemateket’ shows movies. Both Danish and international. It is a cinema, but you don’t find any big American productions such as Avatar or Batman. At ’Cinemateket’ the more unknown movies get to come alive. Movies from all over the world is each month picked out and shown for the people interested in seeing them.

But the place is much more than just a cinema. Claus Kjær – the programme editor at ’Cinemateket’ – has agreed to tell me some more about what happens at ’Cinemateket’.

”We do show a lot of movies. There’s something here for everyone at every age. When we (himself and others) choose the movies, we make sure to pick out something for a broad fane of people, but also something a bit more narrow”. He points at the program in front of me, which he has given me just before the interview started. ”This month we have a lot of movies by Carl th. Dreyer, the biggest filmmaker in Denmark. But we also have a series of film by Maggie and Jake Gyllenhaal. And as always we have a kids’ cinema. So something for everyone”.

I tell Claus that I come from a very film-interested family, and therefore I already know some about ‘Cinemateket’, but that I have a feeling that not many people my age do.

“You’re right. Unfortunately a lot of people your age are not aware of how many interesting things there is to see and do at ’Cinemateket’. We don’t have, as the big cinema have, the budgets to do commercials in TV. We do have poster hanging around in the city though and programs lying around in cafés and commercials in the paper. But of course you would have to buy a paper to see them,” Claus laughs and adds: ”we actually have a lot of interesting events. Every Friday night a music film is shown – this month it’s about Johnny Cash. Or ’Sneakbar’ where young talents get the chance to show their movies. It’s film from ’Filmværkstedet’ (meaning ’Movie-workshop’) that lies on the top floor. And there’s a bar afterwards”. He smiles in the end and points at the program again. ”There are a lot of exciting events in various genres”.

I asked him what ’Filmværkstedet’ is. He told me it’s a place where you can come with an idea for a movie, and then if you sell it well enough you can receive some money and help to make it. So ’Cinemateket’ is not only for people who like to see movies, but also a place with opportunities to make movies.

”Downstairs we have something that’s called Film-x. Here everyone gets an oppotuneity to make a movie. It’s not real cameras and setting though, but it’s a fun way of trying to make one. You have to go into a soundsbox and put sounds on your movie and cut it yourself”.

So there happens a lot more than just showing movies. I tell Claus that I wasn’t aware of all the things he had just told me and that makes him eager to tell me more;

”We also have a sort of library where you can borrow all types of movies. Just like a regular book library. We also have a big archive. Here you can sit with the movies or get information about movies all the way back to 1906”.

It's obvious that Claus care greatly about ’Cinemateket’ and everything it has to offer. Therefore I ask him if I can get some more program that I can place in my school and such. Right away he find an entire bag and he sounds very exctited that I want to tell about it to other people. ’Cinemateket’ is an amazing house in the centre of Copenhagen and I hope that everyone who reads this will come and see what the house has to offer – whether you live in Denmark or visits our little country someday I’m sure that you will find something you’ll love.

Some of the movies that ’Cinemateket’ has to offer in May:

• Movies by Carl th. Dreyer
• Film of the month/ Jeanne D'arc
• Shanghai Dreams
• Gyllenhaals
• Kick off – now it’s soccer!
• Kids’ cinema

Events in May:

• Ebbe Rode 100 years
• Sneakbar (new movies from new talents)
• Psych-out (movies from the underground)
• Friday late night – Johnny Cash
• and much more..