On December 16 Camilla Nielsson’s Sundance-winning documentary President, produced by Signe Byrge Sørensen and Joslyn Barnes, had its U.S theatrical premiere, distributed by Greenwich Entertainment.
The film was warmly received by the press, reviewed by The New York Times and Los Angeles Times, both highlighting the film as riveting and outstanding, being “one of the year’s best nonfiction films”!
Each of the reviews can be found here:
The New York Times
Los Angeles Times
Flee directed by Jonas Poher Rasmussen and produced by Monica Hellström has received two prizes at this weekend’s European Film Awards!
The awards ceremony took place in Berlin on Saturday, December 11, 2022. Due to Covid-restrictions, Jonas received the awards for Best Documentary and Best Animated Feature virtually. It is possible to watch the entire awards ceremony and see Jonas’ speech here.
The European Film Awards have been presented annually since 1988 by the European Film Academy to recognise excellence in European cinematic achievements. We are all super proud and happy at Final Cut for Real!
We're so happy to announce that Simon Lereng Wilmont’s new feature documentary A House Made of Splinters, produced by Monica Hellström, will have its world premiere in January, as part of the World Documentary Competition at Sundance Film Festival 2022. The film has been selected along with 9 other documentaries from around the world. This year Sundance will be a hybrid between online and in-person attendance taking place from January 20 to January 30 2022 in Salt Lake City, US.
A House made of Splinters is a follow-up to Wilmont’s debut feature The Distant Barking of Dogs, both films showing the lives of children in war-torn Eastern Ukraine. The film from 2017 won a string of awards, including for best first film at IDFA. A House Made of Splinters follows a small group of strong-willed social workers who strive tirelessly in a special kind of orphanage to create an almost magical safe space for kids to live in while the state authorities and courts decide the future fate of the children and families.
Click here to browse through the full lineup at the Sundance website.
Or read DFI’s coverage about this exciting news here!
We are so excited that Jonas Poher Rasmussen’s animated documentary film ‘Flee’, produced by Monica Hellström and Signe Byrge Rasmussen has won the Gotham Award for Best Feature Documentary Monday night at the awards ceremony in New York City.
‘Flee’ wasn’t the only Final Cut for Real production represented at the awards ceremony. Camilla Nielssons's award-winning film ‘President’ was competing in the same category. We wish both of our directors a huge congratulations on their honorable achievements!
The Gotham Awards ceremony was held on November 29 and is one of the leading honors for independent film and television and provides acknowledgment to groundbreaking independent films and television series.
Hip hip hooray and congratulations to, Janus Billeskov Jansen, who is turning 70 today!
Debuting in the 1970’s, Janus has for more than five decades been among the best Danish editors and a key figure in the Danish film industry. With more than 100 film titles on his resume and an impressive share of prominent film awards and nominations, Janus is a true gem and an inspiring colleague for all of us at Final Cut for Real. Through his long career he has collaborated with leading film directors such as Nils Malmros, Bille August, Søren Kragh-Jacobsen and Joshua Oppenheimer on both feature and documentary films. Lately he has been editing this year's Danish Oscar candidate ‘Flee' by Jonas Poher Rasmussen.
We wish him the most wonderful birthday!
We are super proud that ‘Flee’ directed by Jonas Poher Rasmussen, produced by Monica Hellström & Signe Byrge Sørensen is nominated in nothing less than seven categories at the 15th annual Cinema Eye Honors!
Furthermore, Camilla Nielsson’s ‘President’ produced by Signe Byrge Sørensen is nominated in the category for Outstanding Achievement in Production!
The Cinema Eye Honors are recognizing outstanding artistry and craft in nonfiction or documentary filmmaking and include awards for the disciplines of directing, producing, cinematography and editing. The ceremony will take place at the Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria, Queens on January 13, 2022.
On Thursday evening, following the annual documentary seminar at the Danish Film Institute, DOKDAG 2021, director Camilla Nielsson received the Roos award, which acknowledges an extraordinary contribution to Danish documentary film.
The selection committee (Head of the Danish Film institute Claus Ladegaard, Head of the Documentary Unit Ane Mandrup, and last year’s recipient KG Film’s post production guru Anders V. Christensen) gave the following motivation:
“At a time when democracy is being challenged in several Western countries and our neighbours on the other side of the Baltic Sea are curtailing independent courts, Camilla Nielsson's film reminds us that democracy is a fragile entity that is extraordinarily difficult to build. Political rulers do not readily relinquish power, and Zimbabwe's recent political history is the narrative of a sham democracy and the consequences when institutions are not free and independent.
Camilla Nielsson’s method is the NOW, the observing now, where the audience experiences what she experiences behind the camera. She insists on being present when the action unfolds over several years, closely following the task of writing a new constitution in ‘Democrats’, or uninterrupted for several months as during filming of the presidential election in Zimbabwe in ‘President’.
At the same time, she has a completely unique ability to capture the intense drama in political negotiations, in the polite exchanges and administrative processes, which helps to make her film fundamentally thrilling from start to finish.
Camilla Nielsson invests all of her cinematic talent and all of herself to give audiences access to Zimbabwe's political reality as it unfolds for the people, far from the Western press and election observers.
Camilla Nielsson is uncompromising and fearless - both during filming, when she risks everything to capture systematic repression, and after filming, when she sues Robert Mugabe, who banned her film in Zimbabwe.
With 'Democrats' and 'President', Camilla Nielsson writes history. She writes Zimbabwe's recent political history, she writes film history with her unique approach and her epic observant political thriller method, and she writes the history of democracy, thereby making it relevant to anyone who either longs for democracy or takes democracy for granted - and this is why she receives this year's Roos Award. “
Of course we at FCFR wholeheartedly agree with the selection committee’s decision and motivation, and congratulate Camilla with the award - it is extremely well deserved!
Previous recipients of the Roos Award includes Signe Byrge Sørensen, producer at Final Cut for Real, Janus Billeskov Jansen, editor and head of the board of Final Cut for Real, and frequent FCFR collaborators Jon Bang Carlsen, Niels Pagh Andersen, Lars Skree, Henrik Bohn Ipsen and Anders V. Christensen.
Click here to read more about the award in this article from the Danish Film Institute (in Danish)
We are so proud and happy that Jonas Poher Rasmussen’s animated documentary film ‘Flee’ has won the Nordic Council Film Prize 2021!
The Prize is shared by film director and screenwriter Jonas Poher Rasmussen, screenwriter Amin and producers Monica Hellström and Signe Byrge Sørensen from Final Cut for Real and Charlotte de la Gournerie from Sun Creature. The award was announced Tuesday evening November 2, during the live broadcast of the awards ceremony from Copenhagen.
As part of their motivation, the Nordic jury states:
“It is not often that aesthetic, political and humane dimensions combine in a such sublime and artistic piece of film as in 'Flee'."
"We find that 'Flee' tells a necessary, relevant and touching story about how all people, regardless of their ethnicity, background, age or sexual orientation, have the right to a happy childhood and a safe place to call home. The film was created before many people in Afghanistan recently had to flee from civil war and its relevance has only increased in the wake of these events. But the director manages to not become self-pitying or sentimental in their way of storytelling."
We are extremely proud that the Danish Oscar committee has chosen ‘Flee’ directed by Jonas Poher Rasmussen, produced by Monica Hellström & Signe Byrge Sørensen as Denmark's official Oscar entry for the 2022 International Feature Film category.
'Flee' was selected from a shortlist of three Danish films. In the press release from the Danish Film Institute the chairperson of the committee, Claus Ladegaard, among other things states: "'Jonas Poher Rasmussen directs with tremendous empathy and Amin’s story is hard to shake. The film’s finely balanced use of animation, music and live action gives us a real sense of the horror and cynicism of Amin’s journey to Europe – while not ignoring the beauty, humour and hope of his story. This makes 'Flee' an unusually nuanced film with social and existential depth.”
The Academy will be announcing the 15 films that have a chance to become one of the five nominees in the International Feature Film category on December 21. Until then we’ll be crossing our fingers!
Click here to read the entire press release from the Danish Film Institute.
DOK Leipzig took off yesterday and this year Final Cut for Real has 3 films in the programme.
‘Flee’ by Jonas Poher Rasmussen and ‘Our Memory Belongs to Us’ by Rami Farah are screening in the Audience Competition, and ‘Hush’ by Vibeke Bryld is being exhibited in large installation along with 9 other VR/XR experiences.
Screening times for FLEE:
26.10.2021 - 20:30 - Schaubühne Lindenfels
29.10.2021 - 17:00 - CineStar 4
30.10.2021 - 18:00 - Regina 1
Click here to read more and book tickets
Screening times for OUR MEMORY BELONGS TO US:
28.10.2021 - 18:00 - CineStar 2
30.10.2021 - 21:00 - Cinémathèque
31.10.2021 - 20:30 - Regina 4
Click here to read more and book tickets
The films will be show
DOK Neuland is located at the Museum der Bildende Kunst in the center of Leipzig.
It’s open everyday from 10am to 6 pm (10-12 am with accreditation only)
Entrance is free of charge.
Three films from Final Cut for Real have been selected for the “Best of Fests” section at IDFA 2021:
Our Memory Belongs to Us, directed by Rami Farah and co-directed by Signe Byrge Sørensen, Raising a School Shooter, directed by Frida & Lasse Barkfors, and Flee, Jonas Poher Rasmussen.
IDFA 2021 takes place in Amsterdam 17th – 28th November.
Click here to read more about OUR MEMORY BELONGS TO US on IDFA’s website
Click here to read more about RAISING A SCHOOL SHOOTER on IDFA’s website
We are proud to announce that Camilla Nielsson’s Sundance winning documentary film President has been selected as one of the 7 works featured at the Magnificent 7 Documentary Film Festival 2021 in the Serbian capital Belgrade.
The selected films have been screened at the Kombank Cinema in Belgrade from the 2nd to the 6th of October and President will be screened as the closing film tonight.
To read more about the festival and the full line-up, click here: http://www.magnificent7festival.org/en/filmski_program.php
Our Memory Belongs to Us by Rami Farah and produced and co-directed by Signe Byrge Sørensen screens at Centre Pompidou this Sunday nigth as part of a series dedicated to the Arte slot "La Lucarne". Commissioning editor Rasha Salti is moderating a Q & A with director Rami Farah.
Read more about the screening here: https://www.centrepompidou.fr/fr/programme/agenda/evenement/JTHK2Fd
Photo: Alex Oliveira / ©A.M.P.A.S.
We are extremely happy that that Danish Oscar committee has chosen ‘Flee’ as one of three films that are candidates for the title as Denmark's official entry for the 2022 International Feature Film category.
The three films are 'Flee' by Jonas Poher Rasmussen, produced by Monica Hellström & Signe Byrge Sørensen for Final Cut for Real, and Charlotte de la Gournerie from Sun Creature Studios, 'Margrete – Queen of the North' by Charlotte Sieling and SF Studios Production, and 'The Shadow in My Eye' by Ole Bornedal and Miso Film.
The official candidate will be announced 25 October, so until then we’ll be crossing our fingers!
Click here to read the press release from the Danish Film Institute
This week, the awards for the 18th edition of Millenium Docs Against Gravity, Poland’s largest film event, were handed out and we are extremely grateful that Flee, by Jonas Poher Rasmussen, received 3 awards, the Grand Prix Millennium Award, Best Film on Psychology and the Lower Silesia Grand Prix, and that the directors of Songs of Repression, Marianne Hougen-Moraga and Estephan Wagner, received the Amnesty International Poland Award.
The jury statements for the awards were as follows:
Flee - Grand Prix Millenium Award 2021
“Our unanimous winner is „Flee” by Jonas Poher Rasmussen. This film speaks about a real, extremely important subject in an artistically powerful, compelling, and complex way. The original form, the sincerity of the main character, the lack of sentimentality and its strong emotional content make it not only an attractive movie for the wider audience, but also an important statement about the real situation of today’s refugees, helping us to understand their destiny and choices and evoking deep empathy. Far beyond the usual limits of documentary storytelling, this powerful film speaks about the importance of being allowed to live in truth.”
Flee - The “Zwierciadło” Magazine Award for the Best Film on Psychology 2021
“There are many reasons why „Flee” deserves an award. Now this dramatic story resound sin a particularly shocking context, with the Taliban regaining full power in Afghanistan. We decided to select this film mainly because of its excellent portrayal of the birth of shame: being ashamed of who you are. The protagonist begins this story as a regular kid running around the yards of Kabul with his Walkman--and then suddenly the old Kabul is gone and he begins running away, goes into hiding, pretends to be someone else. Shame is not an innate emotion--it's acquired, born of how others treat us. Flee forces us to consider whether we could be these "others" too.”
Flee - The Lower Silesia Grand Prix, 2021
The film which receives the Lower Silesia Grand Prix is also a reflection of the most topical matters and the message which we noticed in many of the competition masterpieces. We are awarding the documentary we have chosen for high sensitivity and evocative nature of the narrative, oscillating on a broad emotional scale, its psychological aspect, taking up a tough subject in a remarkable way and last but not least – for not allowing us to lose hope.
It is also a film which shows the great broadness of documentary. At the same time, it is a universal tale about human memory and trauma. This masterpiece builds bridges and provides a way for a wider audience to understand the issues which polarize every day. The film is “Flee” by Jonas Poher Rasmussen.
Songs of Repression - The Amnesty International Poland Award 2021
“For its important lesson about the complexities of social mechanisms governing the world, the darkness in the depths of human nature, and the vagaries of our psyche, imparted through the tale of a small community. The directors employed simple formal means to capture universal truths about mechanisms of control, dependence, evil, manipulation, and the consequences of violent upbringing (as well as upbringing for violence) in their story of a seemingly Utopian, isolated German community in Chile. The ease with which evil takes over individuals and entangles societies is as terrifying as the permanence of its influence. This film doesn’t limit itself to portraying the community—it goes further, delving into the consequences of living alongside evil and depicting the complexity of the reality we live in. The tale of the German community in Chile becomes a mirror of human history—one that’s worth looking into ourselves.”
We are happy to announce that Camilla Nielsson’s Sundance winning documentary film President will be distributed in North America by Greenwich Entertainment, aiming for a US theatrical release in December 2021.
Deadline.com has interviewed director Camilla Nielsson and she says the following about the release: “A film like President is only possible when many, many people in front of and behind the camera agree to collaborate on all levels. […] I think you can see clearly from the film, the intense and dangerous challenges that were presented in a situation where transparency and accountability are suppressed by those seeking to maintain an unjust status quo. The Zimbabwean crew members cannot be named in the credits for security concerns right now, but it is our shared goal to situate the people in the film in an ethical relationship with the people viewing it. We’re really excited that Greenwich will be bringing the film to theatres in the US, bringing people together to share and reflect on the lived experience of others working so hard for the establishment of strong democratic institutions, while some Americans are currently attempting to break their own.”
We are proud and happy to announce that ‘Flee’ and ‘Our Memory Belongs to Us’ have been selected for the Camden International Film Festival 2021.
The 17th edition of the festival will be held at venues in Maine from September 16-19 and online from September 16-26, 2021. The Camden International Film Festival is recognized as one of the top documentary film festivals in the world and the program features 37 feature and 33 short films from 30 different countries.
‘Flee’ , directed by Jonas Poher Rasmussen and produced by Monica Hellström, is chosen as the Closing Night Film and ‘Our Memory Belongs to Us’ , directed by Rami Farah and produced and co-directed by Signe Byrge Sørensen, is highlighted by Filmmaker Magazine as one of the notable films of the selection!
Click here to read more about the full festival lineup (Filmmaker Magazine)
Flee by Jonas Poher Rasmussen has been nominated for the Nordic Council Film Prize 2021 and is among the 15 shortlisted documentaries for the European Film Awards.
The Nordic Council Film Prize is awarded this year for the 18th time and is one of the most prestigious film awards in the Nordic region (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden). The winner will be announced on November 2nd, 2021 at the Awards Ceremony in Copenhagen in conjunction with the Session of the Nordic Council.
Click here to read more about the prize and the five nominees
The European Film Awards have been presented annually since 1988 by the European Film Academy to recognize excellence in European cinematic achievements. Nominations will be made public on November 9th and the 34th European Film Awards will take place in Berlin on December 11th, 2021.
Click here to see the full selection of shortlisted documentaries.
We are happy to announce that Our Memory Belongs to Us by Rami Farah and co-directed by Signe Byrge Sørensen has won the Human Rights DOX award at the 20th jubilee edition of DokuFest in Kosovo.
The jury stated that they “decided to recognize a film that spoke to the documentary relevance of personal and collective remembrance when marked by enactment of defiance to state violence. […] Through both a staged screening and reconstruction of events the retelling and performance of memory we are invited to ask questions about the documentary film as a vehicle of remembrance.”
Click here to read more about the announced winners of the 8 categories
Raising and School Shooter by Frida & Lasse Barkfors and Flee, by Jonas Poher Rasmussen are among the 14 Nordic films selected to compete for the Best Nordic Documentary Award at Nordisk Panorama 2021. The festival takes place 16. - 21. September in Malmö, Sweden, and is a major event for the Nordic documentary industry.
Flee was selected for Cannes 2020, and premiered at Sundance in January 2021, where it won the Grand Jury Prize, and has since then won several awards.
Raising and School Shooter premiered at CPH:DOX in April 2021, and is the third film in Frida & Lasse Barkfors’ trilogy on social stigma, following “Pervert Park” and “Death of a Child”.
Click here to read more about the festival and to see the full programme.
