Everything Is Relative

Colour, DIGIBETA
Denmark, 2008, 75 min
Section: Documentary Films in Competition

Synopsis

Is it possible to compare the anguish of a young Danish woman suffering from cancer with a family from Mozambique who have lost their home in a flood? Does an American soldier on his way to Iraq feel the same fear as a “modern slave” from Bangladesh worried about keeping his job in Dubai? Are our values, dreams and hopes essentially the same, or do they always mirror our diverse lifestyles? The makers of this Danish documentary film set off for different parts of the world to discover how much universal human traits are dependent on the given living conditions. This kaleidoscopic series of images presents stylised portraits of all kinds of people seen in situations eloquently illustrating the individual themes in the film, such as illness, love, happiness, time, loss or light. The filmmakers collected some fascinating material on their travels through Denmark, Mozambique, Japan, Thailand and the USA, which they used to compose a sensitive documentary piece about collective human qualities. Cleverly edited to create a remarkable visual compilation, the film is suitably interspersed with music performed by the Prague Symphony Orchestra.

About the director

Mikala Krogh (b. 1973, Denmark) graduated as a documentary director from the Danish National Film School in 2001 with the documentary MK. She worked for the radio for several years before making her debut, Epilog, in 1992. Select filmography: Fish Out of Water (Fisk uden vand, 2000), Detour to Freedom (Omveje til frihed, 2001), My Father’s Choice (Min fars valg, 2002). The film My Grandad’s Murderer (Min morfars morder – En film om tilgivelse, 2004) was awarded in Seville and Paris; the documentary Beth’s Diary (Beths dagbog, 2006) won Best Short Documentary at the CPH:DOX festival.