Bleeder: Mads Mikkelsen Week at FOMO Cinema
Thursday 16. July at 21:30 - 23:08
FOMO Secret Cinema, Tbilisi
Welcome to RETURN OF THE MADS at FOMO Cinema Tbilisi. The original plan was one week. Our guests had other ideas.
After an overwhelming response to MADSNESS, I'm extending the retrospective with another week of films, exploring the performances, directors and collaborations that helped turn Mikkelsen from Denmark's best-kept secret into one of the defining screen actors of his generation.
He's worked with Nicolas Winding Refn, Thomas Vinterberg, Susanne Bier, Anders Thomas Jensen and some of the biggest directors in international cinema, balancing arthouse cinema with global blockbusters.
This time we're digging a little deeper. We'll revisit some familiar faces, discover a few hidden gems and trace the remarkable second act of a career that's only become more adventurous with time.
BLEEDER
Nicolas Winding Refn | 1999 | Denmark | 1h38m | Danish with English subtitles
Released three years after PUSHER but before Refn became internationally associated with stylised violence and neon noir, BLEEDER remains one of the most intimate films either Refn or Mikkelsen ever made.
Set in the same working-class Copenhagen that would define much of Refn's early career, the film follows two parallel stories. One concerns Leo, a quiet video store employee whose relationship slowly deteriorates into fear and violence. The other follows Lenny, an awkward and lonely film obsessive searching for human connection through cinema, friendship and increasingly uncomfortable conversations about love.
Mads Mikkelsen appears here in only his second feature film role as Lenny, but much of what would later define his screen presence is already visible. The physical stillness. The awkward charm. The sense that kindness and danger are somehow occupying the same body at the same time.
Refn would go on to make DRIVE, ONLY GOD FORGIVES and THE NEON DEMON. Mikkelsen would become an international star. BLEEDER captures both men before any of that happened. For anyone curious where one of Europe's great screen partnerships began, this is where to start.
FOOD AND DRINK POLICY: FOMO Cinema Lounge Bar opens 1 hour before the first screening of the day and closes at 02:00, serving a wide selection of beer, wine, cocktails, and non-alcoholic refreshments including coffee and tea, as well as fresh hot popcorn! Outside food is allowed in the bar but not in the cinema. No alcohol from outside allowed. All guests are invited to arrive early and stay late!
LOCATION: FOMO Secret Cinema, Bazari Orbeliani, Tbilisi. A five minute walk from Liberty Square metro.
HOW TO FIND FOMO: Enter Bazari Orbeliani via Atoneli St above Carrefour and take the stairs on your left to Level 1. Signage on the door. You can also check our Instagram story highlights for a video showing exactly how to find us: https://www.instagram.com/s/aGlnaGxpZ2h0OjE3OTMzMTA2Mjk0MDI5MjM1
FOMO Secret Cinema • Bazari Orbeliani, 0105 Tbilisi, Georgia
