• World premiere
  • Nordic Competition
Online
In cinema
&

Empire

  • Frederikke Aspöck
  • 93 min
  • Denmark, Sweden, Spain
  • 2023
  • Fiction
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Pastel colors, stylized acting, and absurd humour in thought-provoking reinterpretation of the story of the last slaves in the Danish West Indies.

As a “free coloured” woman, Anna Elizabeth Heegaard is wealthy and owns her own slaves when she gets involved in a love affair with the Danish colony’s governor-general Peter von Scholten. During communal feasts, they discuss social reforms while a slave boy hangs above the table and cools the diners with a feather. And in the shadows, whispers begin of a slave revolt. Recently, Anna Neye staged a therapy session with Freud and von Scholten in a “therapeutic guidebook for white Danes”. As both screenwriter and actor, she now portrays how Heegaard is torn between political and personal motives in a fascinating portrayal of the psychological landscape of Danish colonial history.

- Jonas Holmberg

Language
Danish, Creole
Subtitles
English
Original title
Viften
  • Kolonialism
  • Rasism
  • Motstånd
  • Epok
  • Kostym
Director
Frederikke Aspöck
Producers
Nina Leidersdorff, Meta Louise Foldager Sørensen, Pernille Munk Skydsgaard
Screenplay
Anna Neye
Cinematographer
Linda Wassberg
Editor
Martin Schade
Music
Rasmus Bille Bähncke , Rasmus Groth Brandt
Cast
Claus Riis Østergaard , Nina Leidersdorff, Meta Louise Foldager Sørensen, Sara Fanta Traore, Anna Neye, Jesper Groth