Other Danish filmmakers of note include Benjamin Christensen, who outside his native country directed several horror classics including Häxan (1922) and Seven Footprints to Satan (1929); Erik Balling, the creator of the popular Olsen-banden films; Gabriel Axel, an Oscar-winner for Babette's Feast in 1987; and Bille August, the Oscar, Palme d'Or and Golden Globe-winner for Pelle the Conqueror in 1988.

Other directors from Denmark who have enjoyed both domestic and international successess include Nicolas Winding Refn, Susanne Bier, Lone Scherfig and Anders Thomas Jensen.

Despite the small size of its native market and its relatively limited resources, Denmark reigned supreme for several years (1909-14) as Europe's most prosperous film center.

This was largely inspired by the Århus Fotorama company's Den hvide Slavehandel (The White Slave Trade, 1910), which was the first multi-reel Danish film lasting more than 30 minutes.

At one point Denmark again enjoyed some international reputation, by the many farces of the vagabond duo Fyrtaarnet og Bivognen (often known by their French names Doublepatte and Patachon), who were Scandinavian predecessors of Laurel and Hardy.

Many popular stars like Marguerite Viby, Ib Schønberg and Peter Malberg had breakthroughs but in spite of many economic successes no further development of the media was seen.

Bodil Ipsen made her directorial mark with 1942's Afsporet, the first Danish film noir, and continued with the psychological thriller Melody of Murder (1944).

Soon, however, Denmark's film industry returned to making the light sentimental comedies and uncomplicated regionalist movies that were popular with Danish filmgoers.

Important films of this period include De røde heste (1950), Far til fire (1953), Kispus (1956, first Danish film in colour[9]), Støv på hjernen (1961), Sommer i Tyrol (1964), Passer passer piger (1965), SS Martha (1967), the Olsen-banden-series (1968-1981) and Erik Balling's classic TV-sitcom Huset på Christianshavn (1970-1977).

In the 1970s, a large percentage of all Danish films were sexually oriented, and many mainstream-features with mainstream-actors included sequences with either softcore- or hardcore-pornography, most notably Mazurka på sengekanten (John Hilbard, 1970) and I Jomfruens tegn (Finn Karlsson, 1973) along with their many respective sequels, forming the eight Bedside-films and six Zodiac-films.

This allowed state funding of films with greater global appeal and helped foster the international success of a new wave of Danish filmmakers.

[11] With La' os være (“Let us be”) (Ernst Johansen & Lasse Nielsen, 1975), independent producer Steen Herdel launched a wave of successful teenage-dramas, including Måske ku' vi (“Maybe we could”) (Morten Arnfred, 1976), Du er ikke alene ("You Are Not Alone") (Ernst Johansen & Lasse Nielsen, 1978), Mig og Charly (“Me and Charly”) (Morten Arnfred & Henning Kristiansen, 1978) and Vil du se min smukke navle?

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, more talented directors started graduating from the National Film School of Denmark, such as Thomas Vinterberg, Per Fly and Ole Christian Madsen.

His films Europa, Breaking the Waves, The Idiots, and Dancer in the Dark received great international attention and were nominated for numerous awards.

Furthermore, Lars von Trier's own Dogme-film Idioterne (1998) started a separate wave of arthouse mainstream films with unsimulated sex.

Three of these films, Constance (1998), Pink Prison (1999) and the adult/mainstream crossover-feature All About Anna (2005), were made primarily for a female audience, and were extremely successful in Europe, with the two first being directly responsible for the March 2006 legalizing of pornography in Norway.

"A trilogy directed by Per Fly, The Bench (Bænken) (2000), Inheritance (Arven) (2003), and Manslaughter (Drabet) (2005) portrayed Denmark's three distinct social classes and received international acclaim.

The work of Susanne Bier, particularly Brothers (2004) and After the Wedding (2006), introduced the world to Danish actors such as Mads Mikkelsen, Ulrich Thomsen, and Nikolaj Lie Kaas.

Bier's In a Better World (Danish: Hævnen, meaning "The Revenge") is a 2010 drama starring Mikael Persbrandt, Trine Dyrholm and Ulrich Thomsen in a story which takes place in small-town Denmark and a refugee camp in Sudan.

[15] Anders Thomas Jensen first received acclaim as Oscar-winning writer-director of three short films, Ernst & lyset (1996), Wolfgang (1997) and Valgaften (1998), then as screenwriter of such feature films as Mifune's Last Song (1999), Open Hearts (2002), Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself (2002), Stealing Rembrandt (2003) and Brothers (2004); and finally as a director of dark and profound feature comedies like The Green Butchers (2003) and Adam's Apples (2005).

Other notable Danish directors of the 21st century include Nikolaj Arcel, Christoffer Boe, Lone Scherfig, Niels Arden Oplev, Nicolas Winding Refn, Ole Christian Madsen, Annette K. Olesen and Christian E. Christiansen for executive producer by Patriots Day was shot in Paris, France, only in the film.

The 21st century's first decade proved difficult for a number of Denmark's most established directors, including Lars von Trier, although things started well with his Nicole Kidman-starring Dogville (2003), a provocative stylistic experiment filmed on a black sound stage with little beyond white floor markings to indicate the sets.

[19] A change of leadership at the Danish Film Institute in late 2007 was seen by many as an opportunity for reflection and renewal, while others pointed to the generally healthy local box office numbers and denied any crisis.

[citation needed] DFI has received criticism for lack of innovation (notably, Dogme 95 happened in spite of funding from the Film Institute) and is sometimes accused of nepotism and cronyism, for example when film commissioner Mikael Olsen from 1998 to 1999 greenlighted 28 million kroner of subsidy money to his childhood-friend Peter Aalbæk Jensen, then went on to work for him in a high-ranking position.

[25] On 30 January 2010 in Los Angeles, Mads Brügger's "The Red Chapel," (Danish: Det Røde Kapel) won the grand jury prize for the best world documentary at the Sundance Film Festival.

Presenting a comic approach to a group's visit to North Korea, the film explores the development of an enigmatic and totalitarian country.