The Promised Land (aka Bastarden): Mads Mikkelsen Week at FOMO Cinema

Welcome to RETURN OF THE MADS at FOMO Cinema Tbilisi. The original plan was one week. You 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

THE PROMISED LAND (BASTARDEN)

Nikolaj Arcel | 2023 | Denmark / Germany / Sweden | 2h07m | Danish, German & Swedish with English subtitles

Every great actor eventually finds the role that seems to contain all the others. For Mads Mikkelsen, there's a strong case that role is Ludvig Kahlen.

Denmark, 1755. Retired army captain Ludvig Kahlen arrives on the vast, barren Jutland heath with an impossible ambition. Armed with little more than determination and a royal commission, he sets out to cultivate land that everyone else believes is impossible to tame. If he succeeds, he'll earn the noble title he's spent his entire life chasing. If he fails, he'll disappear without a trace.

Standing in his way is Frederik de Schinkel, a wealthy and deeply sadistic landowner who considers the heath his personal domain. As the conflict between the two men escalates, Kahlen finds himself building an unlikely family from society's outcasts while discovering that some things are worth far more than status or recognition.

Directed by A Royal Affair filmmaker Nikolaj Arcel, THE PROMISED LAND is part historical epic, part frontier western and part character study. Like the great American westerns, it's fascinated by civilisation, wilderness and the extraordinary people willing to sacrifice everything in pursuit of an impossible dream.

Mads Mikkelsen has rarely been better. Kahlen is proud, stubborn, deeply flawed and almost incapable of expressing affection, yet Mads gradually reveals the humanity beneath his iron exterior with astonishing subtlety. It's the kind of performance that only becomes richer the longer you sit with it.

Premiering in competition at the Venice Film Festival and selected as Denmark's submission for the Academy Awards, THE PROMISED LAND stands among the finest European films of the decade. If you've somehow missed it until now, you're in for something very special.

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