Award show moves outdoors and triples audience capacity

As tradition dictates, Odense International Film Festival concludes with a grand award show. But this year, it’s taking on a whole new scale. The celebration moves outdoors to Amfipladsen at Brandts Klædefabrik, creating space for more than 1,500 festivalgoers to come together under the open sky.

For years, the grand finale of OFF – Odense International Film Festival has taken place inside Magasinet at Kulturmaskinen. Here, statuettes have been lifted, speeches delivered with trembling voices, and filmmakers from around the world have gathered to celebrate the final, magical moments of the festival week. But this year marks a major change.
In recent years, interest in the closing award ceremony has grown significantly, with many missing out on the experience. This year, the festival opens up the celebration by moving the ceremony to Amfipladsen at Brandts Klædefabrik – inviting the city, the summer evening, and everyone who wants to be part of the tribute to this year’s films and filmmakers. The new setting accommodates approximately 1,500 standing guests, compared to Magasinet’s 400 seated guests – a substantial expansion that excites Lars Christian Lilleholt, City and Culture Councillor of Odense Municipality:
“Odense International Film Festival is not just an industry event. It’s a festival for all of Odense and for anyone curious about storytelling and the sense of community film can create. I’m therefore delighted that even more residents are now invited to join the finale as the award show moves outdoors under the open sky. At OFF, we’ve already seen Amfipladsen host fantastic, well-attended concerts and Open Air screenings, so I can easily imagine the award show becoming a true city-wide celebration,” he says.

An award show that brings people together

This year, the statuettes will find new hands under the open sky, cheers will echo between the buildings, and the festival week will come to a close right where the city and the festival meet. The new format also excites the festival’s organisers:
“We’ve been really looking forward to sharing this news. For a long time, we’ve wanted to give our major award show more room to grow, as we’re seeing tremendous interest from film teams, guests, audiences, and volunteers—and now we finally have the opportunity to do just that. As always, we’ll roll out the red carpet and fire up the confetti cannons, and I hope even more people will join us to celebrate short films and fill Amfipladsen with love, confetti, and applause,” says Katrine Holst Anderson Vesterskov, Project Manager and Head of Programme at OFF – Odense International Film Festival.
OFF Awards takes place on Saturday, August 29 at 19:00. A wide range of awards and qualifications will be presented across six competition categories, as well as the pitching competition Pitch Me Baby. During the evening, the five short films from the Danish Competition that will receive Robert Award nominations from the Danish Film Academy will also be announced.
Tickets are free, but must be booked in advance via OFF’s ticketing system at filmfestival.dk/tickets. The full festival programme will be released and ticket booking opens on Tuesday, June 9 at 09:00.