The artistic profile in 2020 was Peter Albrechtsen, who focused on sound with this year's theme: 'Sensuality'.

Peter Albrechtsen had invited a number of inspiring people to the festival to talk about ways in which sensuality and stories can always merge based on sound.

"I also work with sound in different contexts. Not only do I make sound for films, but also sound for museums, for art installations, for podcasts, for concerts. Sound can speak to us on different emotional levels through a myriad of platforms, and I hope to show that with my events at the festival: To show how much we get out of listening. Listening to movies. Listening to sound. Listening to each other.”

Under the theme “courage”, the fiery and highly-current actress and director Marijana Jankovic drew the line with a personal program with cultural roots and love for the diversity as key points. Daring to stand out – and be yourself

"Since, I got the idea to write Maja, I have thought that I will use my background as a force and tell the stories that live in my heart. The lonely, the misunderstood and the alien must no longer be stored away", says Marijana Jankovic.

The motivation for the cooperation with OFF is found in Marijana’s love for diversity in particular:

"I sincerely wish that my role as an artistic profile will inspire others with the same background as me to dream big and use their voice. That’s what the world needs."

In 2018, we focused on the growing film environment in Denmark and on the film talents-soon-to-be. This is why the choice of 2018's artistic profile fell upon the alternative film education Super16.

Four students - director Mathias Broe, director Kristian Håskjold, producer Caroline Steenberg Dam, and writer Morten Mortensen represented Super16 during the festival.

Under the headline “Find Your Crowd – Find Yourself”, the Super16-collective presented a tailor-made section of the festival programme. Under this headline, they provided an insight into the hopes and dreams of future film and filmmakers. Among the topics were: the new wave in Danish animation, LGBT, improvisation in film, and the art of finding your own voice in the cinematic universe.

In 2017, we had the pleasure of not only one, but two artistic profiles. It was the actors, writers and couple, Rasmus Botoft and Lisbeth Wulff.

In 2016, the focus from Nesgaard was how films can play a role in criticizing our society. Botoft and Wulff had a focus on how the urge to create and produce art can overcome the biggest challenges, one can be faced with in regards to film production. Despite challenges something just has to be communicated, told and explained.

“There is something unstoppable about the good idea. The urge to tell stories that you just can’t hold back. It takes courage, a great portion of entrepreneurship, self-confidence and willpower to get your thoughts and ideas onto the screen,” says Botoft and Wulff and explains further: “Inspiration beats everything, it beats education and other differences, but it takes a lot of hard work and dedication to get something interesting out of a good idea.”

The artistic profile in 2016 was one of the most experienced figures in Danish film. It was previous principal at the Danish Film School, Poul Nesgaard. He brought his warm, curious and motivational being to the film festival in Odense, and he made a significant and inspirational mark on the program of the year.

The theme of this year was the Critical Voice of Art. With this headline, Poul Nesgaard created a series of talks and filmscreenings with a focus on the ability of film to comment and question the society we are all part of: How can the scandalous and offensive art be useful in order to dissect the world we live in, where reality often surpassed the fantasy?

Furthermore, he took us on a journey behind the curtain, to find and explore the core filmmaking, this being through his many years with close connection to many upcoming film talents. He took a look at the place where it all starts; in the head of the creative beings behind the films of tomorrow.

The theme of OFF15 was Love and War. A classical theme and a theme that is strongly represented in the history of filmmaking, as well as a fitting theme, since OFF in 2015 celebrated its 40th anniversary. A status was made on a passionate marriage with short films, we looked back on the last 40 years, and with great excitement we turned our eyes towards the future.

At OFF15, the artistic profile was Ellen Hillingsø. In a modern spirit she cut to the chase of the intense and amazing format that is short film. Love and War is a huge inspiration for storytelling about the human development and change, it was a journey into those overwhelming emotions and freedom through limitation. Where do we start and where do we end? There is only one darkness – ignorance. Let’s turn on the lights!

The artistic profile at OFF14 was the dynamic duo by the name of Wikke & Rasmussen. They got the challenge to make their mark on this year’s festival with the theme “The Fairytale in Reality”. It was the first time in the history of the festival, that the artistic profile consisted of two people.

At the festival, this years theme was portrayed through the colorful glasses Wikke and Rasmussen have used in their long careers: with everything from dream scenarios to surreal song games, to technicolor kitsch. The two gentlemen has always been somewhat 'OFF', out of this world in Danish film and in the TV-world. In 2014, they celebrated their 30th anniversary as play mates, and as a double artistic profile at OFF14 they made sure nothing was as it seemed…

As the artistic leader for OFF13, Kathrine Windfeld proclaimed that the festival in 2013 should have a female point of view, with focus on women both in front and behind the camera.

Quote from Kathrine Windfeld:

“The short film is a playful and free media. The end result of this are some very personal and interesting film stories, and the thing with the short film is that this is where most comes out as instructors.

But there is a lack of women in the film industry and, as a consequence, also a lack of film made by and about women in the movie theaters. This year there will be a specific focus on awareness, strength and attraction of female film talents. I’m very excited and happy to contribute to the creation of a platform for the film talents of the future, the platform OFF is. Welcome to Odense International Film Festival from a “female point of view”.”

Martin Strange-Hansen (1971) is a film instructor and writer. He made his debut as instructor from the Danish Film School in 2001 with the graduation film ‘Feeding desire’, with Jesper Asholt as the main actor. The film script was written together with Flemming, and it was based on a short story called ‘My wife doesn’t get me’ by Finn Søeberg. It created a lot of attention, and in 2002 it was rewarded by the American Film Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science with a Student Academy Award (a so called Baby-Oscar), as the best foreign produced school film. The same year he wrote and instructed the short film ‘This Charming Man’, starring Martin Buch. ‘This Charming Man’ received the Oscar for Best Short Film.

Kaspar Munk (1971) won the award of Best Children and Youth Film at Odense International Film Festival, with the short story film ‘Forsvunden’, and in 2009 he was part of the international jury at OFF. Kaspar Munk therefore has a thorough knowledge and familiarity with the festival in Odense, and the tradition he needs to transmit and recreate together with the regular staff at OFF.

In 2010 the short film veteran and motion picture debutant, Kaspar Munk won the yearly honorary reward from the Danish Child and Youth filmclub, this was for his compiled short film productions and his first motion picture ‘Hold me tight’. ‘Hold me tight’ has won several international awards, among others in Rome for the Best Debuting Film and in Tallinn for the Best Motion Picture. The same film also got Kaspar Munk the prestigious Danish award ‘Robert’ for the Childen and Youth Film of the Year.

Mikkel Munch-Fals (1972) is a Danish film instructor, writer and TV host. Mikkel Munch-Fals graduated as cand. mag. in film science at the University of Copenhagen. Since 2001, he has worked for Nimbus Film as a writer and film instructor. In the period of 2002-2003, he was a comic drawer at the newspaper ‘Politiken’.

In 2007, his short film ‘Partus’ won the Danish equivalent for ‘Oscars’ called ‘Robert’ for the Best Short Film. In 2008, he got hired by DR2 as a host for the program called ‘Premiere’. The same year he got the award for best TV host, by the readers of ‘Politiken’. He wrote and instructed the motion picture ‘Nothing's all bad’ in 2010. It was an ensemble film about sex and loneliness, starring Bodil Jørgensen, Sebastian Jessen, Mille Hofmeyer Lehfeldt and Henrik Prip, together with a handful of some of the well-known actors in Denmark. The film was seen by few people in the movie theaters, but was still in the official selection at many international film festivals.

In 2006, Cecilia Lidin started working as the artistic leadership of the festival. In this time, there had been established a partnership with ANIS (Animationssammenslutningen) and two special awards for animation films were added to the festival, together with the new animation jury. Unfortunately, the Video Clip Cup had to be disbanded. Instead, the Talent Camp for young filmmakers was established and is to this day still part of the festival.

In 2009 Birgitte Weinberger started as the head of the festival, while Lidin (head of festival and artistic leader from 2006-2008) stayed at the festival as the artistic leader for one more year. Hereafter, the title “Chief of Program” and later on “artistic profile” were introduced, in order to have a new artistic profile and chief of program every year as an external part of the festival.