Archive of films R / R

Denmark
2010, 90 min

Section: Another View
Year: 2010

Devoid of the clichés generally employed in films about life behind bars, this hard-bitten drama was shot in an actual prison. Like the protagonist, who suddenly becomes a mere letter, just another nameless inhabitant of a cell bearing traces of the lives of a long line of former inmates, the viewer becomes a captive of a world of strict rules and a rigidly set hierarchy.

Synopsis

When a person finds himself in prison, he becomes a mere number, a letter, just another inhabitant of a small barred space with a blood-splattered floor. Prisoner R feels just that way in his new, as it were, parallel world of uncompromising rules and tough laws; a world where honor isn’t just a word. He’s been put among the most hardened criminals, and in order to survive he must fight for his place in their rigidly hierarchical system. "In a letter from a friend, serving a long-term sentence, it read: ‘I am just waiting and trying not to think. Don’t ask me how I’m doing. Just tell me what’s going on out there....’ This is how our film started,” state the directors of the hard-bitten drama R, ranked along with A Prophet as one of the best prison movies of recent years. In their debut, the young Danish filmmakers tried above all to avoid clichés in a study of life behind bars, and to offer audiences an authentic experience of an environment where "one door has to be locked, before a new one can be opened.”

About the director

Michael Noer (b. 1978) graduated from the National Film School of Denmark (2003), and has directed several award-winning documentaries, including Vesterbro (2007) and The Wild Heart (De vilde hjerter, 2008). He is currently shooting a documentary in the Philippines and getting ready to make his second feature with Tobias Lindholm, his codirector on R.

Tobias Lindholm (b. 1977) also graduated from the National Film School of Denmark (2007), but in screenwriting. He wrote the script for the short Hawaii (2006), which Noer directed. He worked in television as a writer and contributed to several episodes of the series "Sommer and Borgen.” He also wrote the script for Thomas Vinterberg’s Submarino, which is being shown at the KVIFF in the Horizons section.

Contacts

TrustNordisk
Filmbyen 22, 2650, Hvidovre
Denmark
Tel: +45 368 687 88
Fax: +45 367 744 48
E-mail: [email protected]
www: www.trustnordisk.com

Danish Film Institute
Gothersgade 55, 1123, Copenhagen
Denmark
Tel: +45 337 434 00
Fax: +45 337 434 01
E-mail: [email protected]
www: www.dfi.dk

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About the film

Color, 35 mm

Section:	Another View

Director:	Michael Noer, Tobias Lindholm
Screenplay:	Tobias Lindholm, Michael Noer
Dir. of Photography:	Magnus Nordenhof Jønck
Editor:	Adam Nielsen
Producer:	René Ezra, Tomas Radoor
Production:	Nordisk Film A/S
Cast:	Pilou Asbæk, Dulfi Al-Jabouri, Roland Møller, Jacob Gredsted, Kim Winther, Omar Shargawi, Sune Nørgaard
Contact:	TrustNordisk, Danish Film Institute

www:	www.trustnordisk.com/#/324953/?movieId=NF475

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