Archive of films Blinded Angels / Blinde engle

Denmark
2006, 90 min

Section: Documentary Films - Competition
Year: 2006

A visually stunning work in which fiction merges with documentary, screened in Karlovy Vary in its world premiere. A blind European flies to South Africa in order to try one more time to get closer to the angels with the aid of paragliding, a sport which he used to do before he lost his sight.

Synopsis

A blind European flies to South Africa in order to take up paragliding for the last time, a sport which he used to do before he lost his sight. He hires a local woman to take him up a nearby hill. His experience of his “view” of the world through her eyes is so strong that he falls in love with her. The negative response from those around her compels the woman to take part in the blind man’s eccentric plan. This final part of the South African trilogy by the renowned Danish filmmaker develops the religious themes from his previous two films; in its total fusion of fiction and documentary, however, the film is formally much more radical. This visually stunning work, known as experimental metafilm, and screened in its world premiere, brings to life the director’s ideas about gravitation and love, and his perception of the world around him.

About the director

Jon Bang Carlsen (b. 1950, Vedbak, Denmark), film director, graduated in 1976 from the Danish Film School. He has written and directed over 30 documentaries and feature films. The distinctive style of Carlsen’s documentaries lies in his emphasis on the visual symbolism of the depicted theme, with which he enhances his stylised portraits of people on the edge and their compelling life stories. His films have won a number of prizes, including festival awards from Chicago, Odense and Tampere. Select filmography: Next Stop – Paradise (1980; feature), Time Out (1988; feature), Carmen & Babyface (1995; feature), My African Diary (1999; short doc.), Addicted to Solitude (1999; doc.), Portrait of God (2001; doc.).

Contacts

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

C&C Productions ApS
Blomstervanget 52, DK-2800, Kgs. Lyngby
Denmark
Tel: +45 458 727 00
Fax: +45 707 022 71
E-mail: [email protected]

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About the film

Color, 35 mm
World premiere

Section:	Documentary Films - Competition

Director:	Jon Bang Carlsen
Screenplay:	Jon Bang Carlsen
Dir. of Photography:	Michael Buckley, Jon Bang Carlsen
Music:	Hans-Erik Philip
Editor:	Mette Zeruneith, Miriam Norgaard
Producer:	Mikael Opstrup, Jon Bang Carlsen
Production:	C&C Productions ApS
Cast:	Rune T. Kidde, Bonnie Mbuli
Contact:	Danish Film Institute, C&C Productions ApS

Guests

Anne Marie Kürstein

Film Institution Rep.

Jon Bang Carlsen

Film Director

Esben Klemann

Producer