Lone Scherfig

• Birth name:

  Lone Wrede Scherfig

• Date of Birth:

  2 May 1959 Copenhagen, Denmark

Like her celebrated great uncle, writer Hans Scherfig, Lone Scherfig masters the art of subtle characterization. Scherfig gets under the character's skin to reveal the impulses of good and evil, while the plot evolves without strain. Though a light humor prevails, there is a pervasive sense of the tragic in her characterization. Scherfig's films are concerned with the lot of ordinary, rather eccentric people.Born 1959 in Denmark, Lone Scherfig graduated from the Danish Film School in 1984 and h... more

Like her celebrated great uncle, writer Hans Scherfig, Lone Scherfig masters the art of subtle characterization. Scherfig gets under the character's skin to reveal the impulses of good and evil, while the plot evolves without strain. Though a light humor prevails, there is a pervasive sense of the tragic in her characterization. Scherfig's films are concerned with the lot of ordinary, rather eccentric people.Born 1959 in Denmark, Lone Scherfig graduated from the Danish Film School in 1984 and had her debut as a film director with Kaj's fødselsdag (1990) (The Birthday Trip). The film was selected for Panorama in Berlin and New Directors, Museum of Modern Art, New York, and won the Grand Jury Prize and both acting awards in Rouen. For a couple of years Scherfig wrote and directed short films and worked in radio and stage performances and directed episodes of different television series. In 1998 Scherfig's next feature film appeared: the touching children's comedy, Når mor kommer hjem (1998) (On Our Own). This film was the recipient of the Grand Prix at the Montreal Film Festival and the Cinekid Prize in Amsterdam.In 2000, Scherfig got her international breakthrough with the romantic dogme95 comedy, Italiensk for begyndere (2000) (Italian for Beginners), for which she received the Silver Berlin Bear. The film adheres to the Dogme95 rules by abolishing props, lighting and costumes from the set. This film was not only a success with critics, it was also a mega-hit with audiences. Scherfig followed up with her first English-language film, Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself (2002), shot in Scotland though initially conceived as a Danish film. The director considers it her most complete work.Most recently, Scherfig released the Danish comedy Hjemve (2007), which was shunned by critics, and completed An Education (2009) based on Nick Hornby's screenplay.