The 12th Filmfest Hamburg takes place from September 23 to 30, 2004 in the cinemas ‘Metropolis,’ ‘CinemaxX Dammtor,’ ‘Abaton,’ ‘Ufa-Palast Grindel’ and ‘3001.’

The 12th Filmfest Hamburg will open with the German premiere of the Danish gospel comedy ‘Oh Happy Day’ by film and theatre director Hella Joof.

After a bus accident the Baptist preacher Jackson (Malik Yoba, ‘Smoke’) and his choir from Harlem get stranded in a provincial Danish town. Housewife Hannah (Lotte Andersen) is to blame for this, since she ran her bike into gospel choir’s touring bus. As a result, choirmaster Jackson is injured and needs to take a rest amidst suspicious Danes. He ends up not only shaking up the local church choir but also Hannah’s life.

Hella Joof’s cinema debut, the love story ‘Shake It All About’, took the lead at the Danish box office in 2001 and was the film critics’ darling. With ‘Oh Happy Day’ Joof made an exciting comedy which brings together the apparently incompatible: the Danish province and the American gospel music.
“It’s a great honour for me that ‘Oh Happy Day’ is the opening film of Filmfest Hamburg. It is just wonderful to get the opportunity to show one’s work to people in another country,” says Hella Joof.

Director Hella Joof, the actresses Lotte Andersen (Hannah) and Ditte Gråbøl (Grethe) as well as the actor Malik Yoba (Jackson) are expected to attend the opening night of Filmfest Hamburg. Rick Astley, pop icon of the 80s, who composed parts of the film’s soundtrack, will also be present at the opening.
The premiere of ‘Oh Happy Day’ takes place on September 23, 2004 at
19.00 h in the cinema CinemaxX Dammtor.
The film, which is distributed by MFA, will be released in Germany on December 30, 2004.