Film adaptation of H.C. Andersen’s famous fairy tale of the same name from 1845. A little girl walks through the snow-covered streets on New Year’s Eve, trying to sell matches. Out of fear of returning home to her abusive father without having sold anything, she braves the cold and lights one match after another to keep warm. In the glow of the flames, she sees a series of dream scenarios that make her forget about the biting cold for a short while.
Director Karl Wieghorst was primarily a cinematographer and, together with Storm P., created Denmark’s first animated film about ‘The Three Small Men’ in the early 1920s.