"We talked a lot about the current climate of political polarization. We wanted to do a movie that didn't offer any quick fixes or solutions, but that rather tried to explore the nuances," says director Frederik Louis Hviid about his and co-director Anders Ølholm's thoughts as they embarked on their first feature film 'Shorta'.
Now, several years later, Hviid and Ølholm are world premiering their action drama at the Venice Film Festival, in the International Film Critics' Week competition (2-12 September).
In our interview made on the occasion of the film's opening in Venice and in Denmark, the two writer-directors reflect on how the film's theme has become even more relevant over the years, the importance of music and creating the film's fictional ghetto Svalegården.
Actors Jacob Hauberg Lohmann, Simon Sears and the young debuting talent Tarek Zayat play the leads in 'Shorta':
We follow the two police officers Jens and Mike on a routine patrol in the Svalegaarden ghetto, when the news of Talib's death comes in over the radio. The exact details of what took place while 19-year-old Talib Ben Hassi was in police custody remain unclear. The news ignites uncontrollable, pent-up rage among the ghetto’s youth, who lust for revenge. Suddenly, the two officers find themselves fair game and must fight tooth and claw to find a way out.
The film is produced by Morten Kaufmann and Signe Leick Jensen for Toolbox Film with support from the Danish Film Institute, Creative Europe and DR. International sales are handled by Paris-based Charades. The domestic premiere is 8 October.
