LOSING LOVE THE LONG DISTANCE RUNNER THINktank ON european fILm Anders Morgenthaler’s feature film debut, Princess, Henning Camre leaves the DFI in June after a good Why the new technologies will not be the salvation of screened in Directors’ Fortnight, Cannes 2006. His nine years as CEO. His strategic vision has outlasted the European film industry. Essay by Jonathan Davis on new live action drama, Echo, is about a mentally individual work appointments and will inevitably the digital Armageddon of super-high speed internet, unstable divorced man, who runs away with his son. continue to inspire beyond this one. digital multimedia broadcasting on mobile phones etc. PAGE 3-5 PAGE 27-31 PAGE 32-34 l1l fILm IS PUBLISHED# BY THE DANISH 57fILm INSTITUTE / mAY 2007 PAGE 2 / FILM#57 / CANNES SPECIAL ISSUE l1l FILM#57/ CANNES ISSUE INSIDE 259/4-25<+ :./41:'4154+;856+'4,/23 :.+254-*/9:'4)+8;44+8 $QGHUV0RUJHQWKDOHU¶VIHDWXUH»OPGHEXW3TKPEGUU :K\WKHQHZWHFKQRORJLHVZLOOQRWEHWKHVDOYDWLRQRI +HQQLQJ&DPUHOHDYHVWKH'),LQ-XQHDIWHUDJRRG VFUHHQHGLQ'LUHFWRUV¶)RUWQLJKW&DQQHV+LV WKH(XURSHDQ»OPLQGXVWU\(VVD\E\-RQDWKDQ'DYLVRQ QLQH\HDUVDV&(2+LVVWUDWHJLFYLVLRQKDVRXWODVWHG QHZOLYHDFWLRQGUDPD(EJQLVDERXWDPHQWDOO\ WKHGLJLWDO$UPDJHGGRQRIVXSHUKLJKVSHHGLQWHUQHW LQGLYLGXDOZRUNDSSRLQWPHQWVDQGZLOOLQHYLWDEO\ XQVWDEOHGLYRUFHGPDQZKRUXQVDZD\ZLWKKLVVRQ GLJLWDOPXOWLPHGLDEURDGFDVWLQJRQPRELOHSKRQHVHWF FRQWLQXHWRLQVSLUHEH\RQGWKLVRQH LOSING LOVE 6'-+ 6'-+ 6'-+ A contestant at Cannes with his feature film debut,Princess , Anders l1l Morgenthaler is now ready with a second feature film, the new live ,/23/96;(2/9.+*(?:.+*'4/9.#57,/23/49:/:;:+3'? action drama carrying the title Echo. PAGE 3-5 NO WORmS IN THIS APPLE Sarita Christensen, Danish ‘producer on the Move 2007’ is looking for new ways to create a better, more inventive children’s film culture. PAGE 6-7 Echo THE HUmAN STAND “If we could start defining our society in terms of humanity, certain conflicts would be a bit easier to ignore,” Daniel Espinosa says, in reference to his second feature Outside Love. PAGE 8-9 EYE fOR AN EYE Omar Shargawi’s Go in Peace Jamil (working title) explores the psychological mechanisms behind a highly volatile religious conflict. PAGE 10-11 Outside Love THE mAkING Of A GENIUS fILm #57 / cannes ISSUE Jacob Thuesen’s Erik Nietzsche The Early Years is a winning comedy May 2007 about an unknown filmmaker we all know. PAGE 12-13 PUBLISHED BY Danish Film Institute IN TRUTH, AN INCREDIBLE LIE EDITORS Agnete Dorph Stjernfelt, With freedom of expression comes an obligation to listen, Susanna Neimann Morten Hartz Kaplers says, referring to his political satire AFR. PAGE 14-15 EDITORIAL TEAm Lars Fiil-Jensen, Vicki Synnott TRANSLATIONS Glen Garner THE fANTASTIC DESIGN Rasmus Koch Studio Erik Nietzsche The EarlyYears “I like it when a film leaves bodily reality behind. Films are fantastic, TYPE Cendia, Millton, Underton exactly because they can do the fantastic,” Ole Bornedal says. PAGE 16-17 PAPER Munken Lynx 100 gr. PRINTED BY Schultz Grafisk A/S CIRCULATION 10,500 Obstacles ARE GIfTS ISSN 1399-2813 Compassion and trust are key in Lone Scherfig’s comedy COVER Henning Camre, CEO, Danish Film Institute Just like Home, a film with an unconventional form of production Photo: Jonathan Bjerg Møller that aims for spontaneity. PAGE 18-19 SCENES fROm A mARRIAGE FILM is published by the Danish Film Institute (DFI). 8 issues annually, 3 are in English and “Marriage is all about hitting first and hitting hard. Everyone knows it, published prior to the festivals at Cannes, AFR but no one wants to say it,” paprika Steen says about her second film. PAGE 20-21 Amsterdam and Berlin. All articles are written by freelance film critics UNfREEING THE CAmERA and journalists. “Danish cinema is starting to face the problems posed by the free camera style. With Boe, Staho, and von Trier, some new solutions The Danish Film Institute is the national agency are emerging. These directors recognize that too much freedom responsible for supporting and encouraging film and cinema culture. The Institute’s operations inhibits creativity.” Essay on Danish Cinema by David Bordwell. PAGE 22-26 extend from participation in the development and production of feature films, shorts and documentaries, over distribution and marketing, THE LONG DISTANCE RUNNER to managing the national film archive and the Henning Camre leaves the DFI in June after a good nine years as CEO. cinematheque. The total budget of the DFI 2007 Just Like Home His strategic vision has outlasted individual work appointments and is DKK 368 m / EURO 49 m. will inevitably continue to inspire beyond this one. PAGE 27-31 Subscriptions: [email protected] THINkTANk A discussion on why the new technologies will not be the salvation of the European film industry. PAGE 32-34 DANISH fILm INSTITUTE Gothersgade 55 DK-1123 COpEnhagen K, DEnMARK NEWS T +45 3374 3400 new Film Institute CEO / Winning director’s second feature film / [email protected] / [email protected] Everybody’s Dancing Three animation feature films in progress. PAGE 35 NEW FEATURE FILM / ECHO / MORGENTHALER / FILM#57 / PAGE 3 Echo. Photo: Bjørn Bertheussen LOSINGLOVE Animation is much easier than live action, Anders that I don’t have room for everything. That’s a pretty morgenthaler says. His first feature, the animated interesting thing to find out.” Princess, screened in Directors’ fortnight, Cannes Though Morgenthaler had to make a decision about the last year. His new drama, Echo, is about a mentally direction he wanted to go, Echo still is not an easy film to unstable, divorced man who runs away with his son categorise. Co-written by Morgenthaler and Mette Heeno, the because he cannot stand the thought of losing him. film is about a divorced police officer, Simon (Kim Bodnia), who absconds with his six-year old son, Louie (Villads Milthers BY Christian mONGGAARD Fritsche), because he is afraid of losing him. Laying low in an isolated summerhouse, they pretend that they are on island sur- Anders Morgenthaler likes Korean movies. The way Korean rounded by crocodiles and deadly pirates and need to stay out filmmakers mix up the genres inspires him. Making his own of sight. But Simon is haunted by nightmares that are driving films, the 34-year-old Danish director tries to have room for him close to the edge, threatening their fragile idyll. Nor does going in different directions. This allows him to make different it help that there seems to be someone else in the house with films in the cutting room later – or one film that does differ- them, an echo of something that happened a long time ago. ent things. Even so, there comes a point when he is forced to acknowledge the limitations of that method. BORDERLINE ABSURDITY “I had to make a decision,” he says about his new film, Echo. Echo is part thriller, horror movie and social realism, and His first film, the animated Princess, screened in last year’s Morgenthaler does his best to keep his audience guessing, in Directors’ Fortnight sidebar in Cannes. terms of both plot and genre. “The first rough cut of Echo was two hours and 10 minutes “I see how it surprises people when what they think is one long and I plan to put that on the DVD instead of a commen- thing really is something else entirely,” he says. “The film has a tary track. It’s radically different from the final film, which certain recognisability. It has elements of both standard social- runs 82 minutes. Out of left field, a Polish cleaning crew realism and standard thrillers. But then the recognisability starts comes in and starts acting wacky,” Morgenthaler says. “ When cracking.” I make a film, I need to use some moves that are close to what To Morgenthaler the script is only a guide and perfection I like to see in a film, but back in the cutting room I find out of craft does not interest him. “This is my first live-action film PAGE 4 / FILM#57 / NEW FEATURE FILM / ECHO / MORGENTHALER and I had to try out different things, so I pulled out all the stops who plays a geek on the show, was waiting in his taxi when a and filmed all sorts of things,” he says. “I think I will be more man and his child get in and tell him to take them somewhere. consistent the next time, though that might also mean I won’t At some point, Mygind realises that the man is running away have room for so many things. I want to try and hold onto the with his child. I remember writing it down in the middle of idea that a film can go in many directions, veering into horror the night, but I didn’t take it any further at the time. Still, it was on the soundtrack, say, and returning to social realism in other an interesting idea, running away with your child. How does a scenes with intimate character portrayals.” person feel when he’s in the eye of the storm? How do they feel Morgenthaler got the idea for Echo 10 years ago, long before once they get away? Echo doesn’t have a single cop scene or any he started Princess. “Once, while the TV series Taxa (1997) was outside pressure where you cut to a parallel story.” running, I had a dream that Peter Mygind (the Danish actor, ed.), A SUPER Classic Character “The film has a certain Echo is a film about losing love, the director says. It’s about a recognisability. It has elements of father who cannot survive losing his son. “Simon is a cop and should be a moral guardian. He’s someone who shouldn’t be both standard social-realism and able to lose control, but he completely loses control.