Final Cut for Real

Patrimonium is an exploration of time, a film about the noble landed gentry, constantly renegotiating the borders between history and modernity. Through scenic tableaus and a strong sense for detail, the film paints a world of tradition and perfection, and in it, the human, with its efforts to fit in to the grandeur of an idea.

10 short documentaries which form a presentation of Denmark as part of a dialogue project in the wake of the Muhammed drawings. 10 reputable Danish filmmakers are invited to create 10 presentations of Denmark, in collaboration with second-generation immigrants with roots in the Middle East. Each film is shaped as this person's personal application to a relative or acquaintance in the Middle East. The assignment is: Give an important statement about your Denmark, with the intention of challenging and differentiating the image your relative or acquaintance has of Denmark. The strength of the films is in insight and reflection, rather than the dramatic news approach and is communicated through the personal approach to the subject. The 10 films are joined together into one film (duration 58:30 mins), and this film will be a quick and intense contribution to the debate following the publication of the Muhammed drawings.

Examining the violent death of the filmmaker’s brother and the judicial system that allowed his killer to go free, this documentary interrogates murderous fear and racialized perception, and re-imagines the wreckage in catastrophe’s wake, challenging us to change.

Recounted mostly through animation to protect his identity, Amin looks back over his past as a child refugee from Afghanistan as he grapples with a secret he’s kept hidden for 20 years.

An ancient legend about fallen angels and an invisible vagabond called Belzebub: this is not fantasy, but the myths of the North-Western Danish region of Thy. Sensually saturated cinematography is accompanied by narration in authentic Thybo dialect to retell the myths that have shaped the people north of the Limfjord and still influence them today. Testimonies from today’s residents of Thy describe inexplicable events, accidents and rituals, but central to all the stories is nature itself. The windswept landscape, which is just as beautiful as it is relentless. Vibeke Bryld re-enchants the nature of Northern Jutland as she lets her camera sweep across cornfields and hills, crumbling buildings and lush gardens, in a free and expressive account of the stories that bind a local community together. Here, nature is not something that needs to be understood, but felt.

A fisherman's son is offered the ultimate privilege to study at the Al-Azhar University in Cairo, the epicenter of power of Sunni Islam. Shortly after his arrival, the university’s highest ranking religious leader, the Grand Imam, dies and the young student becomes a pawn in a ruthless power struggle between Egypt's religious and political elite.

Twenty-five years after environmental collapse left the Earth uninhabitable, Mother, Father and Son are confined to their palatial bunker, where they struggle to maintain hope and a sense of normalcy by clinging to the rituals of daily life—until the arrival of a stranger, Girl, upends their happy routine. As tensions rise, their seemingly idyllic existence starts to crumble.

In this chilling and groundbreaking documentary, former Indonesian death squad leaders reenact their real-life mass killings in the style of various film genres. As they recreate their past atrocities, the line between reality and performance blurs, exposing the lingering impact of Indonesia's 1965-66 anti-communist purge and the unsettling psychology of its perpetrators.

Zimbabwe is at a crossroads. The leader of the opposition MDC party, Nelson Chamisa, challenges the old guard ZANU-PF led by Emmerson Mnangagwa, known as “The Crocodile.” The election tests both the ruling party and the opposition – how do they interpret principles of democracy in discourse and in practice?

7-year-old Sasha has always known that she is a girl. Sasha’s family has recently accepted her gender identity, embracing their daughter for who she truly is while working to confront outdated norms and find affirmation in a small community of rural France.

A defiant young visionary, part stand-up comic, part young Bob Dylan, part brilliant mind, leads a disruptive climate movement reinventing protest, channeling civil disobedience, and demanding a livable future.

Cairo, 2011. A police officer investigates the murder of a woman in a luxurious hotel in the days leading up to the Egyptian revolution.

50 % of the world’s population lives in urban areas. By 2050 this will increase to 80%. Life in a mega city is both enchanting and problematic. Today we face peak oil, climate change, loneliness and severe health issues due to our way of life. But why? The Danish architect and professor Jan Gehl has studied human behavior in cities through 40 years. He has documented how modern cities repel human interaction, and argues that we can build cities in a way, which takes human needs for inclusion and intimacy into account.

A temporary house for abandoned children near the front line in eastern Ukraine is run by a small group of social workers determined to provide comfort and safety. It may be humble and somewhat run-down, but this house is filled with love and offers up to nine months of refuge to kids whose fate will be determined by the system. During this short time, the caretakers try to nurture within them a sense of stability and normalcy.

The story of the turbulent youth of Roma, a 13-year-old street boy neglected by his family and the state, who becomes a poster boy for the Ukrainian Revolution in 2014.

Florida Justice Transitions is home to 120 convicted sex offenders. Like in many other U.S. states, sex offenders are not allowed to live within 1000 feet of places frequented by children. Because of this, many sex offenders live under bridges or in woods – or in Palace Mobile Home Park – known as Pervert Park. The crimes committed by the residents range from simple misdemeanors to horrendous acts unbearable to contemplate.

Heine came home from war, but he is still struggling for his life every day.

Seven-year-old Polina and her 13-year-old sister Nastia live and breathe ballet. Both of them are studying at the Boris Eifman Dance Academy in frigid Saint Petersburg. They’re currently awaiting their grades to find out if they’ve done well enough to be promoted to the next year, with Nastia lovingly guiding he little sister through the process. But in the meantime, Nastia also has to deal with the high demands that the academy places on its students. The gorgeously styled shots are sometimes calm, even clinical, and sometimes warm, lively and funny.

Ruben (10) is one of the best fencers in the club. He has won nearly every title in Denmark, so this season he has to face some of the toughest and most talented fencers in Europe. A lot is a stake for Ruben and he has to find the strength within himself to overcome his anxiety and control his temper if he is to win the big european championship. Ruben's best friend Marie is fencing too, and alongside the drama that is played out on the fencing piste, an even greater story is unfolding about a friendship between a boy and a girl in their early teens - a time when many things change.

In northern Morocco lies the Spanish enclave of Melilla: Europe on African Land. On the mountain above live over a thousand hopeful African migrants, watching the land border, a fence system separating Morocco and Spain. Abou from Mali is one of them – the protagonist in front of the camera, as well as the person behind it. For over a year, he has ceaselessly persisted in attempting to jump the fence.