Room 304

Colour, 35 mm
Denmark, Croatia, 2011, 88 min
WP – World premiere
Section: Official Selection - Competition

Synopsis

Director Birgitte Stærmose’s multi-layered drama takes place over the course of three days in a Copenhagen hotel and revolves around a mysterious gunshot. The protagonists are several characters whose diametrically opposed life stories gradually intertwine, both accidentally and intentionally – a lonely flight attendant comes to the hotel looking for love; a couple of immigrant hotel employees are seeking revenge; a desperate hotel manager; a woman whose husband has left her; a reception clerk who keeps trying (in vain) to smile more when welcoming guests; and many others. The leitmotifs of this multicultural movie include intimacy, forgiveness, and human frailty. Stærmose succeeds in skillfully articulating the movie’s visual style in concord with the individual stories of the protagonists, who feel constricted not only by their own lives but also within the closed walls of the hotel. Of making her debut, the director said: "I have always been fascinated by hotels as a secret place outside of time and space. What happens behind all those closed doors?” Her picture provides one possible answer.

About the director

Birgitte Stærmose (b. 1963, Denmark) graduated in film and media arts from Temple University in Philadelphia. She has shot several short films which have won prizes at foreign festivals (Sundance, Berlin, Rotterdam), including Now, Look at Me (2001), Small Avalanches (2003), Letters from Denmark (2006), Principles of Attraction (2006), and Sophie (2006, ARTE prize). Her first documentary, Out of Love (2009), received a Special Mention at the Berlin film festival. Room 304 marks her debut in features as a director. At present she is cooperating with well-known dramatist Peter Asmussen on the script for her next movie Julie’s Face, inspired by August Strindberg’s theater play Miss Julie.