Vibeke Vogel

Life and Other Problems

The meaning of life, death and everything else? The possible answers are plenty in Max Kestner's adventurous film, which starts when the death of a giraffe at the Copenhagen Zoo goes viral from Hollywood to Chechnya.

And the King Said, What a Fantastic Machine

From the first camera to 45 billion cameras worldwide today, the visual sociologist filmmakers widen their lens to expose both humanity's unique obsession with the camera's image and the social consequences that lay ahead.

Revir - Everything You Hold Dear

Susie and Sune are sister and brother. They have bought an old farm to pursue Susie’s dream of building her own business. She is a conservator and makes her living by stuffing animals, while he commutes for hours every day to do his job. She goes hunting, but he never really gets his hunting license. She wants a new hunting dog, he wants a new roof. ‘Revir’ is a sensitive tale of an unusual sibling bond against the dark backdrop of their shared upbringing, which the two adult siblings are forced to confront when their mother unexpectedly announces her arrival. Peter Hammer has a sure eye for all the little rifts and ingrained habits that shape any sibling relationship, as ‘Revir’ works its way towards a dramatic and existential turning point in Susie and Sune’s lives.

Just Before Death

Fourteen years ago, her husband died after a period of illness. The couple spent their last years at Bispebjerg Hospital. Today, Wivel returns to the same hospital to make an autobiographical and reflective film about life and death – and to portray the staff who work in this particular difficult field. What is it like to go to work every day to care for people whose lives are running out? What thoughts do you have? And how do you make the last chapter of another person’s life a good, vibrant time? Doctors and nurses share their thoughts on the philosophical, personal and practical dimensions of their work when we sit in on their meetings.

Prince of Dreams

Erik was born as a girl but always felt like a boy. As an 18-year-old, he began the process of gender reassignment. This is where ‘Dream Prince’ starts too. Shot over a full 10 years and with no filter. Isolation, bullying and anxiety have followed Erik throughout his life, while he has struggled with recognition from his surroundings and himself. Now he is 27 years old and decides to go on a pilgrimage to the end of the world, the Camino de Finisterrae, to finally find peace with himself. With his beloved girlfriend Martyna as a guardian angel, the journey forces Erik to confront the demons of the past. Jessica Nettelbladt’s trustful portrait tackles a difficult topic with seriousness but also with warmth, humour and love. A film about identity, mental health and healing, which goes beyond Erik’s own story.

Love Bound - When Your Child Becomes Mentally Ill

One out of ten in Denmark suffers from mental illness and it is the most common health condition of them all. Yet, due to the taboo and stigmatisation of mental illness, it is still under prioritized and as a result the welfare system is pushed to its limits. The care of the mentally ill instead falls upon relatives, most often parents and they become the lifeline and primary carer. When a family member gets sick it affects everyone in that family and especially those who love them. LOVE BOUND unconvers the unconditional love, which governs the relationship most parents have to their children and that must somehow be altered, when a child is suffering from mental illness.

Daddy

Brendan, an American anthropologist, used to wander the planet exploring human nature in all its forms and beauty. But today, he has to embark on a very different project. After falling in love with a Danish woman, he ends up a stay-at-home dad of two toddlers in Copenhagen, and his own boring life as a caregiver becomes his only object of study. Once unable to conform to a conventional lifestyle, he now discovers the few joys and many hardships of child rearing, as well as the bizarre culture of hygge that surrounds him. Abandoned by his mother as a kid, Brendan swore to never inflict the same trauma on his children, but he suddenly understands the prison she found herself in: “We need to find another word than love for this,” he ponders. Filmed over five years, this tragicomic diary is a relatable, taboo-free look at the exquisite torture of parenthood.

Winter's Yearning

In 2006, the American aluminium company ALCOA decides to build their plant in Greenland. The massive billion dollars’ project is the opportunity for Greenland to become financially independent from Denmark. The film zooms in on the isolated fishing town Maniitsoq as the years pass and the local inhabitants are put on hold – waiting for the American Dream.

The Raft

In 1973, five men and six women drifted across the Atlantic on a raft as part of a scientific experiment exploring the origins of violence and sexual attraction. Nobody expected what ultimately took place on that 3-month journey. Through archive material and a reunion of the surviving members of the expedition, this film tells the hidden story of the project.

We Could Be Heroes

Moroccan paralympic gold medalist Azzedine Nouiri is no longer looking for the longest throw, but to overthrow the system that keeps athletes with different abilities marginalized as destitute second-class citizens.

Stay Behind: My Grandfather's Secret War

Did Ida's grandfather live a double life as a secret agent during the cold war? Ida and her father believe that their beloved father and grandfather worked directly for the CIA during the Cold War in Denmark.

Sumé: The Sound of a Revolution

A successful rock band from Greenland? Yes, it's not a lie. In 1973, the Greenlandic Sumé released a debut album, which record time made it to all the households on the icy island. But Sumé's success was not just due to their catchy beat rock, but also to the band's ability to put words to the zeitgeist, where Greenlandic culture was slowly fading away

The Agreement

'History is always made in the middle of the night. And when it happens, you are so damned tired, that you couldn't care less,' says Robert Cooper, an EU peace negotiator whose job it is to get Serbia and Kosovo to reach an agreement about peaceful coexistence. National pride and compromise are on everyone's lips, and much is at stake: Kosovo wants to come closer to independence, the Serbs have been promised EU membership if they can reach an agreement, and the EU tries to strengthen its credibility. But how far is each party willing to go? It is the unique characters that make this fascinating film about a delicate political game so vivid and loveable. The stoic, Serbian negotiator has a great passion for rock music, his colleague from Kosovo does not want to miss out on his daily visit to the hairdresser, and Cooper himself has a closet full of ties - one for every conceivable occasion.

My Good Enemy

Sensitive 12-year-old Alf is the low man on his class' totem pole, and he's sick of it. Forming a secret, Machiavellian alliance with another student who also has grown weary of being bullied, he hatches a plan to throw a wrench into the well-oiled gears of the school social order. Everything seems to go according to plan, until Alf discovers that turning the tables on his tormentors has its own dire consequences.

The Journals of Knud Rasmussen

Based on the journal of Knud Rasmussen's "Great Sled Journey" of 1922 across arctic Canada. The film is shot from the perspective of the Inuit, showing their traditional beliefs and lifestyle. It tells the story of the last great Inuit shaman and his beautiful and headstrong daughter; the shaman must decide whether to accept the Christian religion that is converting the Inuit across Greenland.

Max by Chance

This is the story of Max, the director's own story, playfully animated within the realms of documentary. Max's story goes back several generations to sailors, industrialists and Summer of Love hippies, all of whom are depicted with whole-hearted love and equal amounts of irony.

Burst

A couple shares an intimate moment in their bedroom. His attempts to arouse her go seriously wrong, resulting in a series of emotional, physical and hydrological explosions.

While the Cat's Away

When a young pedantic daughter is at work, her mother transforms into a passionate dancer, using their overfilled flat as a stage. A heartwarming comedy about prejudice, self-respect and dreams fulfilled.