Jaws at Spanien Public Baths

In 1965, Aarhus Festival is born. In 1975, the film world's first blockbuster 'Jaws' deserted the beaches. In 2025, we celebrate the two anniversaries and make the swimming pool a slightly less unsafe place when we screen Steven Spielberg's shark classic in Badeanstalten Spanien.

On Friday 29 August, we kick off Aarhus Festival 2025 and this year's Open Air programme with an extraordinary film screening with lots of bite and bathing atmosphere when we show 'Jaws' in Badeanstalten Spanien.

Steven Spielberg's film about a small seaside town off New York terrorised by a bloodthirsty giant shark and whose last hope is the local sheriff, a marine biologist and an old sea dog, premiered way back in 1975, but still stands today as one of the ultimate summer blockbusters and collective horrors.

Perhaps because the mechanical shark that was originally supposed to pop up every now and then didn't work, which meant that the shark took on a more economic and mysterious character in the film. But mostly because a then 28-year-old Steven Spielberg presented one of the best examples in cinema history of how to build tension and discomfort to raise the hairs on the back of your neck.

So get comfortable in the bathing ring in the large pool - and feel yourself anxiously wondering if something sinister might be lurking in the 180 centimetre depth.

Because once John Williams' iconic score ("Duunnn dunnn... duuuunnnn duun...") kicks in and we look up from the killer shark's perspective at adults and children (!) floating helplessly in the water, water is probably not the coolest element to be in - even in the cosiest swimming pool in town.

For this exclusive screening of 'Jaws', audiences can expect a little extra "spice" to create just the right backdrop.

Note: Persons under the age of 16 must be accompanied by an adult.