'OLEG AND THE WAR' IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL CURRICULUM

We’re so proud to announce that Oleg and the War (children’s version of The Distant Barking of Dogs) is being used as educational material in the Danish elementary schools. Thanks to UNICEF, The Danish Film Institute and Skoletjenesten, pupils now learn about children’s rights and the UN’s sustainable development goals, while making their own short films inspired by Oleg and the War.

See more here (in Danish).

FILMS AVAILABLE FOR SCREENING AT DRTV

We are happy to announce that a selection of films produced by Final Cut for Real are now available for screening at DRTV. The films are listed below and accompanied by a link to DR’s website. Enjoy!

Content on DRTV can only be accessed in Denmark.

The Distant Barking of Dogs

The Distant Barking of Dogs is director Simon Lereng Wilmont's first feature. It is set in Eastern Ukraine on the frontline of the war. The film follows the life of 10-year-old Ukrainian boy Oleg throughout a year, witnessing the gradual erosion of his innocence beneath the pressures of war. Through Oleg’s perspective, the film examines what it means to grow up in a war zone. It portrays how a child’s universal struggle to discover what the world is about grows interlaced with all the dangers and challenges the war presents.

The Act of Killing

Joshua Oppenheimer's Oscar nominated documentary The Act of Killing, explores the massive genocide that took place in Indonesia in the 1960s from the perspective of the perpetrators. The government of Indonesia was overthrown by the military in 1965, and more than a million people - communists, people of Chinese descent and intellectuals were executed. The movie is set in the city Medan on the island Sumatra. Here the filmmakers challenge the death squad leaders to dramatize how they participated in the genocide. The result is a surreal cinematic journey into the mass murderers ideas and fantasies about themselves and their victims. Simultaneously the movie presents us to a frightening and extremely corrupt regime, where the murderers have faced no judgement but instead are celebrated as heroes.

The Look of Silence

The Look of Silence, is a companion piece to The Act of Killing, The film follows a young optometrist as he attempts to bring the past into focus. The family discovers how their son was murdered during the Indonesian genocide - as well as the identity of the men who murdered him. The film documents the confrontation in the absence of any truth and reconciliation process, while the murderers remain in power.

Pervert Park

Pervert Park by Frida and Lasse Barkfors, is a film about the people no one wants as a neighbour. It follows the every day life of the sex offenders in a Florida trailer park as they struggle to reintegrate into society, and gives us a chance to understand who they are and how the destructive cycle of sexual abuse and silence can be broken.

Death of a Child

Death of a Child is Frida and Lasse Barkfors’ second film in a trilogy exploring social stigma. Pervert Park was the first. It is an exploration of the lives of parents who have caused their own children’s deaths. The film encompasses many different situations in life where tragedy hits and where someone is at fault, because of mistakes, accidents, neglect or mental illness. There is however something with what these parents have done that seem to trigger a specific social rage and condemnation. Because what kind of parent forgets a baby in a car?

Land of the Free

Land of the Free, directed by Camilla Magid, is a moving portrayal of life after prison in the US. In South Central, Los Angeles, we follow Brian, a 42-year-old man, just released after having spent his whole adult life in prison. On his own, he must adapt to a modernised and changed society. He has to tackle the challenges of the Internet, getting a driver's license, and finding love. The film tackles hard hitting cultural issues and works to show the humanity in a deeply troubling environment where the prison industrial system often targets and holds back people of color.

Håbet bag hegnet / Les Sauteurs

Les Sauteurs, a film directed by Estephan Wagner and Moritz Siebert in collaboration with the film's protagonist Abou Bakar Sidibé, is ultimately a film about making a film. It is Abou's portrayal of the human struggle for dignity and freedom on one of the World's most militarised frontiers. In northern Morocco lies the Spanish enclave of Melilla: Europe on African Land. On the mountain above live over a thousand hopeful African migrants, watching the land border, a fence system separating Morocco and Spain. Abou from Mali is one of them - the protagonist in front of the camera, as well as the person behind it. For over a year, he has ceaselessly persisted in attempting to jump the fence.

'THE DISTANT BARKING OF DOGS' NOMINATED FOR TVPRISEN 2020

We are very proud to announce that The Distant Barking of Dogs is nominated for Tvprisen 2020. The film, directed by Simon Lereng Wilmont, is nominated in the category for Best Documentary along with nine other nominees.

Tvprisen is an annual event arranged by the Danish Producers’ Association. An award show where the TV-industry acknowledges and celebrates the best Danish TV-programmes of the year.

The 2020 awards will be presented on January 18th at Tivoli Hotel & Congress Center in Copenhagen.