Nordic line up at IDFA 2024
ABOUT A HERO
IDFA Opening Film - International Competition, IDFA Doclab
After a local factory worker named Dorem Clery dies under mysterious circumstances, Werner Herzog travels to Getunkirchenburg to investigate his perplexing death. But Herzog, our narrator, is not who he seems, and the film is not what we expect…
A computer will not make a film as good as mine in 4500 years. – Werner Herzog
About a Hero is an adaptation of a script written by an AI trained on Herzog’s body of work. The fictional narrative it produced, ironically self-reflective, is intertwined with a series of interviews with artists, philosophers and scientists reflecting on the notion of originality, authenticity, immortality, and the soul in the age of AI.
Director: Piotr Winiewicz
Producer: Rikke Tambo, Mads Damsbo, Sam Pressman
Production companies: Tambo Film & Pressman Film
Sales: Tambo Film
Denmark, Germany, United States
THE BUILDING AND BURNING OF A REFUGEE CAMP
Frontlight / Dutch Premiere
A group of asylum seekers in Dublin pitch their tents on Sandwith Street, around the corner from the immigration office. This protest camp is a reaction to the decision of the Irish government to deny accommodation to 1400 asylum applicants. Camp residents Sami, Hasiballah and Simon show us around the little village they call home: this is where they eat, this is where they paint banners, and here are flowers planted in a pot.
This peaceful scene is soon disrupted by the arrival of the Irish anti-immigration activist Philip Dwyer, who uses livestreams on social media to call for the tent dwellers to be chased away. A group of progressive activists come to the aid of the asylum seekers, but an outburst of violence looks inevitable.
Phone footage of the increasingly intense confrontations alternates with easy-going conversations between the camp dwellers and the sympathizers who are protesting the lack of support in this fiercely divided country. The violent incidents mount up, and finally things really explode.
Director: Dennis Harvey
Production companies: MDEMC/Elisabeth Marjanović Cronvall, Elin Lilleman Eriksson, Marta Dauliute
Sweden, Ireland
HARD TO BREAK
IDFA Competition for Youth Documentary / Dutch Premiere
In their quest for connection and acceptance among their peers, two Finnish teens, 18-year-old Atte and 16-year-old Jonsu, suddenly find themselves entangled in the world of addiction and violence. As the light-hearted days of youth fade, they are faced with the harsh realities of adulthood.
Directors: Anna-Maija Heinonen, Krista Moisio
Production company: Polygraf
Finland
LIE TO ME
Best of Fests / Dutch Premiere
Fascinating and thrilling reconstruction of the rise and fall of the crypto currency company OneCoin. It all started in 2016 with OneCoin’s promise that it would become the world’s biggest crypto currency. Millions of people invested money, at least partly due to the charisma of the scheme’s leaders Sebastian Greenwood and Ruja Ignatova. They used notorious pyramid scheme tactics, holding gala style meetings to whip up enthusiasm among their members to draw their own networks into buying digital currency.
Director: Bår Tyrmi
Producer: Dag Mykland
Production Company: Hacienda Film
Sales: Java Films
Norway
LIFE AND OTHER PROBLEMS
Best of Fest
News about the young giraffe Marius made a big splash about 10 years ago. The Danish zoo where he lived was planning to euthanize him because it considered him redundant for its reproduction program. Marius’s predicament triggered outrage worldwide, not least among American conservatives.
Director: Max Kestner
Producer: Vibeke Vogel
Production company: Bullitt Film
Sales: DR Sales
Denmark
ONCE UPON A TIME IN A FOREST
Signed / Dutch Premiere
Finland consists largely of lakes and forests, but 90 percent of the woodland is used for commercial purposes, to the detriment of flora and fauna alike. Two young environmental activists, Ida and Minka, put their love of nature into action, working with Extinction Rebellion to fight for greater biodiversity and a sustainable future.
Director: Virpi Suutari
Production company: Euphoria Film
Sales: Autlook
Finland
TRANS MEMORIA
Best of Fests / Dutch Premiere
Victoria Verseau met Meril in 2012 at the Thai hotel where they stayed together before and after their gender affirming surgery. Years later she returns to the hotel room they shared. Meril has since died, having taken her own life. In and around the hotel, she and Athena and Aamina, who are now going through their own transitions, reflect on issues surrounding femininity, loss and death.
Directors: Victoria Verseau
Production company: HER Film / Malin Hüber
Sales: Outplay Films
Sweden, France
WITH GRACE
IDFA Competition for Youth Documentary / World Premiere
Grace, a witty 13-year-old girl, with big dreams and the rare gift of making everyone around her laugh, takes us back to her early childhood years with her close-knit, loving farmer family in Kenya: a time with lots of fun, but also a time when disaster almost split her family apart.
Directors: Julia Dahr, Dina Mwende
Producers: Natalya Sarch, Arne Dahr, Julia Dahr, Johanne Kristensen Sandvik
Production company: Differ Media
Norway, Kenya