Film about Facebook in Rotterdam

"Facebook has collected enormous amounts of information about all of us. And yet we know very little about Facebook." So says Jakob Gottschau, the director behind "Facebookistan" which will be making its international premiere at Rotterdam Film Festival running 27 January – 7 February. See full list of Danish films at Rotterdam below

Shining a light on Facebook

"Facebookistan," which screened at CPH:DOX in November, explores the paradox of our number one social media: encouraging us to share, it doesn't share back.

The film came about at a time when a friend of Jakob Gottschau had his Facebook account shut down because he had posted a 50 year old picture of some happy, nude hippies.

"He had a hard time getting any explanation from Facebook," Gottschau says. "The company basically didn't communicate with him at all. This sparked me to begin my research into Facebook, exploring how the company handles core democratic values like freedom of expression and privacy." With his film, the director aims to provide a new understanding of how Facebook governs the biggest public space for discourse in the world.

Jakob Gottschau has numerous documentary productions under his belt, both as director and producer. "Facebookistan" is produced by Gottschau and Felicity Willetts for Express TV-Produktion.

Norskov Photo: SF Film Production

New showings and well-travelled dramas

Making its international premiere is the television series "Norskov," created by Dunja Gry Jensen and directed by Louise N.D. Friedberg. The festival will be screening the first two episodes of this small-town police series about an officer who returns to the industrial town he left 20 years ago and is soon involved in a drug investigation that comes close to old friends and family.

Mads Matthiesen's new drama "The Model" will be presented in the IFFR Live section. The five films in this live cinema event will screen simultaneously in theatres all over Europe and on selected European VOD platforms. Matthiesen's drama about a young model and her struggle to make it in the Parisian fashion world is world premiering at the big Nordic festival in Göteborg starting on 29 January.

Part of the Danish line-up is Martin Zandvliet's warmly received "Land of Mine," premiering at the Toronto Film Festival in September and screening earlier this month at the Sundance Film Festival, and Anders Thomas Jensen's black comedy "Men & Chicken," which has also made it to a great number of festivals since it swept the Danish box office last February and proved to be the second most popular Danish film in 2015.

We Chose the Milky Way Photo: Catherine Coleman

Shorts and new talents

An ardent supporter of independent filmmaking and young talent, Rotterdam Film Festival has invited a number of Danish shorts and experimental works.

"Melon Rainbow" by Laurits Flensted-Jensen is a story about a girl who longs to be seen. His fellow 2015 graduate from Denmark's National Film School Eva Marie Rødbro is showing "We Chose the Milky Way," a documentary short about a group of young women who decorate themselves with artificial nails, white clothes and a fake tan before taking the limo to party in the city. The film premiered at CPH:DOX.

"Our Fathers' Sons" by Ulaa Salim, made at the National Film School of Denmark where Salim is currently a student, is about a son who seeks his father's approval. The film won a talent Award and an audience award at Odense Film Festival.

Finally, "Kwassa Kwassa" is an exploration of the idea of Europe through the story of a boatbuilder in the Comoro Islands, whose boats are used for fishing but also to transport migrants to the neighbouring French island of Mayotte. The fim is directed by Tuan Andrew Nguyen and the artist group SUPERFLEX.

Rotterdam Film Festival / 27 January – 7 February 2016

Overview of Danish films in Rotterdam

DOCUMENTARY

Facebookistan / Jakob Gottschau
International premiere
Section: Blind Spots

TELEVISION

Norskov / Louise Friedberg
International premiere
Section: Episodic/Epidemic

DRAMA

Men & Chicken / Anders Thomas Jensen
Section: Limelight

Land of Mine / Martin Zandvliet
Section: Limelight

The Model / Mads Matthiesen
Section: IFFR Live

SHORTS

Melon Rainbow / Laurits Flensted-Jensen
Graduation film 2015 / Fiction
Section: Short Stories: New Romantic

We Chose the Milky Way / Eva Marie Rødbro
Graduation film 2015 / Documentary
Section: Fountains of Youth 

Our Fathers' Sons / Ulaa Salim
Winner of the talent Award and Audience Award at Odense Film Festival
Film School film
Section: Avant-premières

Kwassa Kwassa / SUPERFLEX and Tuan Andrew Nguyen
In competition at CPH:DOX
Section: Short Stories: Words of Wisdom, Words of Strife

CO-PRODUCIONS

A Man Returned / Mahdi Fleifel
Selected for Berlin Film Festival 2016
Section: Reality Is Negotiable

CINEMART CO-PRODUCTION MARKET

Teenage Jesus / Marie Grahtø
Production: Amalie Lyngbo Hjort for Beofilm

Facebookistan

Jakob Gottschau, 2015

Vi deler alle frivilligt meget personlige oplysninger på Facebook og vi har ved at underskrive Facebooks "Terms of Service" tilladt firmaet at bruge vores oplysninger til hvad de måtte finde nyttigt.
Men vi ved faktisk meget lidt om Facebook - hvordan firmaet styrer verdens største offentlige debatrum, hvordan og hvorfor det censurerer sider, hvordan de markedsfører vores personlige data og hvordan og hvorfor de gemmer data, selv efter vi brugere har valgt at slette dem. Filmen undersøger paradokset gemt i dette sociale medie, som fremmer åbenhed og gennemsigtighed - og som tilskynder os alle til at dele, men som afslører meget lidt om sig selv til de 1,4 milliarder mennesker, der bruger Facebook.

Norskov 1

Louise Friedberg, Birgitte Stærmose, Søren Balle, 2015

En industriby i det nordlige Danmark, langt fra København. Politimanden Tom Noack vender hjem til den by, han voksede op i og forlod for snart 20 år siden. Her tvinges han hurtigt tilbage i gamle relationer, og da han involveres i en narkoefterforskning, der kommer ganske tæt på hans gamle venner og familie, må han tage stilling til, hvad hans opgave og ansvar i virkeligheden er.

The Model

Mads Matthiesen, 2016

Den unge, danske fotomodel Emma kæmper for det store gennembrud i den parisiske modeverden.
Hendes rejse til modeverdens centrum, Paris, og det glamourøse liv som topmodel udvikler sig dog til et sandt drama, da Emma møder den attraktive og noget ældre modefotograf Shane. Emma bliver stormfuldt forelsket, og med Shane ved sin side begynder modebranchens døre at åbne sig for hende.

Under sandet

Martin Zandvliet, 2015

Filmen udspiller sig i dagene efter Tysklands kapitulation, maj 1945, regnskabets time efter fem års besættelse. En flok unge tyske krigsfanger udleveres til de danske myndigheder og sendes efterfølgende ud til Vestkysten, hvor de beordres til at fjerne de over 2 millioner miner, som den tyske besættelsesmagt har placeret under sandet langs kysten. Med deres bare hænder, kravlende rundt i sandet, bliver drengene tvunget til at udføre det livsfarlige arbejde under ledelse af den danske militære kaptajn, Carl Leopold Rasmussen.

Mænd og høns

Anders Thomas Jensen, 2015

De to temmelig særprægede brødre Elias og Gabriel er bestemt ikke glade for hinanden. Men da deres far dør, finder brødrene ud af, at de er adopterede. På trods af deres tydelige uoverensstemmelser, beslutter Elias og Gabriel sammen at opsøge deres biologiske far og drager afsted til en lille isoleret ø, hvor faderen bor.

Melon Rainbow

Laurits Flensted-Jensen, 2015

Melon Rainbow er en ung pige som længes efter at blive set. Om dagen passer hun sit rengøringsarbejde i en boligforening for blinde mennesker. Om natten iscenesætter hun sig selv foran sin computer badet i neonlys.

Os der valgte Mælkevejen

Eva Marie Rødbro, 2015

Cremefarvede akrylnegle, lange nylonvipper og hår fra Indien. Hyggesokker og bamsestøvler, solkur og similisten. Alting her er ligeså ægte som de drømme du drømmer med åbne eller lukkede øjne.