Reuniting 10 years after their Oscar-nominated collaboration on A Royal Affair, Danish filmmaker Nikolaj Arcel and Mads Mikkelsen have their sights set on the Academy Awards once more with their historical drama, The Promised Land. As part of Collider's FYC Screening Series at Landmark Theaters, the duo kicked off our awards season event with a special event, followed by an exclusive Q&A hosted by Editor-in-Chief Steve Weintraub.

Ahead of the screening, The Promised Land was shortlisted for Best International Feature Film alongside features like J.A. Bayona's Society of the Snow and Hlynur Pálmason's Godland. It's little wonder with Mikkelsen's performance and cinematographer Rasmus Videbæk's sweeping camerawork, which Arcel says, "surpassed my dreams of what could be possible on a budget that we have." This Danish Western pits real-life Captain Ludvig Kahlen (Mikkelsen) against the formidable Jutland heath he wishes to tame, and the sinister and greedy Frederik de Schinkel (Simon Bjenneberg), who claims ownership over the land.

Check out the video above, or you can read the full transcript below to find out how filmmaking in Hollywood differs from Denmark's industry, including the full creative license for Arcel to claim on his adaptation. Mikkelsen discusses how much involvement he has from script to screen with movies outside the U.S., the challenges he's always willing to tackle, his dream project, and teaming up again with Hannibal showrunner, Bryan Fuller, for his feature debut, Dust Bunny. The duo also talk their 10-year friendship, why The Promised Land being shortlisted is so important, and tons more.

#MadsMikkelsen #ThePromisedLand #Hannibal

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