Heidi Elise Christensen

Dreaming Arizona

Where does the dream begin and reality end? In Dreaming Arizona, this is the question both for the central figures and for the viewer. Known for his staged documentaries, Danish director Jon Bang Carlsen has five American teenagers from a small town in Arizona reenact their own lives—past, present and future.

Elsewhere

An ancient legend about fallen angels and an invisible vagabond called Belzebub: this is not fantasy, but the myths of the North-Western Danish region of Thy. Sensually saturated cinematography is accompanied by narration in authentic Thybo dialect to retell the myths that have shaped the people north of the Limfjord and still influence them today. Testimonies from today’s residents of Thy describe inexplicable events, accidents and rituals, but central to all the stories is nature itself. The windswept landscape, which is just as beautiful as it is relentless. Vibeke Bryld re-enchants the nature of Northern Jutland as she lets her camera sweep across cornfields and hills, crumbling buildings and lush gardens, in a free and expressive account of the stories that bind a local community together. Here, nature is not something that needs to be understood, but felt.

Songs of Repression

At the foot of the Andes Mountains in Chile lies an idyllic German colony called Villa Baviera. However, the beauty of the place – formerly known as Colonia Dignidad – hides a grim past. Systematic child-abuse, medical experiments, torture chambers and mass graves are part of its history. Today, 120 inhabitants still live their lives in the colony which has since changed its name to Villa Baviera and where a disturbing blend of religious fanaticism and extreme conservatism still holds sway.

The Distant Barking of Dogs

Hnutove, Donbass, eastern Ukraine, 2015. Young Oleg lives in a war zone where anti-aircraft gunshots and missile attacks often resonate dangerously near. Although many inhabitants have already left this dangerous area, he remains with his grandmother, who has cared for him since his mother's death, because they have nowhere to go. They are just waiting for the war to end.

Oleg og krigen

The film follows 10-year-old Oleg, whose life has been turned upside down by the ongoing war in East Ukraine. Oleg lives with his beloved grandmother Alexandra in a small house in a village on the frontline. Most people have left the village, but Oleg and Alexandra love their life together there and want to stay on and take care of each other. But life is becoming more and more difficult and the war does not seem to end.

The Look of Silence

An optician grapples with the Indonesian mass killings of 1965-1966, during which his older brother was exterminated.

The Look of Silence

An optician grapples with the Indonesian mass killings of 1965-1966, during which his older brother was exterminated.