Nils Malmros

Nils Malmros (born 1944), a Danish film director and screenwriter, is considered a leading auteur of realism in Danish cinema. Malmros is noted for his detailed focus on the common growing pains of adolescence and the loss of innocence, which he draws from his childhood experiences growing up in Århus, Denmark. His most notable films form a trilogy about schoolchildren in 1950s Århus: Lars-Ole 5c, Boys and Tree of Knowledge. The latter film, 1981's Tree of Knowledge (Kundskabens træ), is one of ten films listed in Denmark's cultural canon by the Danish Ministry of Culture. Malmros, self-educated as a filmmaker, is formally trained as a surgeon. In his film Facing the Truth (At kende sandheden), he performed all of the film's brain surgery sequences himself. Malmros is a 4-time recipient of the Bodil Award for Best Danish Film and a 3-time recipient of the Robert Award for Danish Film of the Year.