With Steno & Stilling on 24 guided tours towards Danish self-understanding. Every single day, thousands of Danes walk past monuments and memorials without having any idea why they were erected.

Every single monument is a modest chapter in the collected work of Danish history. What event was so important that a monument was erected in memory of it? Who made the decision to erect it? Who paid for it? How did they decide which artist should be commissioned to design it? Is it an idealization that borders on falsifying history? Many of these questions will be answered in each of the 24 episodes by the host, Torben Steno, and his friend, the sculptor Kenn André Stilling.

Through the visual monuments in public spaces we will aim for a greater understanding about what is important to us, what we as Danes are actually proud of and what we think should never be forgotten.

A love story about the children nobody wants. It is mid-December, icy cold and we are on the outskirts of St. Petersburg, Russia. Darkness descends in the late afternoon and, in the midst of grey, concrete council flats and naked trees, lies Shelter Fedor.

It is a halfway house, a temporary residence for children who have run away from home. Children who have been abused, beaten or neglected in other ways. They are gathered up by the police in subway shafts, in abandoned buildings and on the streets of St. Petersburg. The children are between 5 and 18 years old and what they have in common is that no one is really interested in them at all. The film takes place over five days leading up to Christmas and New Years, when the shelter is filled with children who are waiting to be sent onwards in the system. In the midst of this harsh reality, Shelter Fedor becomes an oasis where friendship and love are given room to blossom.

We follow two teenagers, Nastja and Roma, and learn of their future wishes, dreams and fears through a love story that takes place in the intense and brief period of time until they must part their ways. We glimpse the strengths and qualities that these neglected children possess. Strengths and qualities that, with the right care and love, can develop into something good.

Jasmin is a Jewish Israeli from Jerusalem and Assi is a Muslim Palestinian from the West Bank. When a Palestinian marries an Israeli, they suddenly find themselves outside their usual safety net. They are cut off from services and safety that are normally provided for other members of society. They are in a Catch 22 situation.

We follow the couple for three years and experience, through their eyes, the personal and political conflicts that are connected with wishing to live together across religious and cultural borders. Geographically, we travel from Jerusalem to Ramallah and on to Berlin and Vienna, where the couple now live together.

The film is about young, world citizens for whom boundaries and nations have no meaning. Through this Romeo and Juliet tale the massive challenges of globalization become crystal clear to us.

Our primary goal is to contribute to a national understanding of the costs of Denmark’s participation in the war in Afghanistan by focusing on the individuals who lost both themselves and their limbs in the chaos of warfare.

The Veterans is about the soldiers who have become the war’s ‘wrong’ kind of victims. They didn’t die but rather had arms and legs blown off. The film will explore universal emotions like sorrow, desperation and sacrifice that follow in the wake of their tragedies by following their physical journey towards normalcy. They have gone from being masculine, fit and invincible soldiers in a war zone to being handicapped. Their everyday life has been transformed into a whirlwind of pain, isolation and intense rehabilitation at the National Hospital.

Our protagonists are proud individuals and they cannot allow themselves to regret anything. They button up their emotions in order to survive. The Veterans is a story about the inglorious human consequences of war where there are no winners to be found.

A series about living side by side with different cultures. The Yellow House is a documentary project for children. An anthropological field study from a child’s POV that explores the diversity and life in a large council complex in Nørrebro, Copenhagen. The protagonists are two Danish girls who have recently moved in; Chloe, aged 7 and Thea, aged 5. Through their exploration of  the area we are invited into the homes of the different residents. In every episode, Chloe and Thea visit a new family or neighbour. The families are from wildly different cultures, countries and social classes. The visits are party constructed and partly documentary. The portraits of the neighbours are presented through the fantasy and perspective of the two young girls. It is clear, simple stories and the sensory details that are highlighted. The stories are poetic, cosy and told at a slow pace.

First broadcast on DR1, 2009.

Film Festivals 2011:
Flicks International Youth Film Festival, Saskatchewan, Canada
Heart of Gold International Film Festival, Australia
RedCat International Children´s Film Festival, Los Angeles, USA
Providence Children´s Film Festival, Rhode Island, USA
Children´s Film Festival Seattle, USA
Bangladesh International Children´s Film Festival, Bangladesh

Film Festivals 2010:
International Television Festival, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
International Art Film Festival For Children, Columbia
Nepal International Children´s Film Festival, Kathmandu
Kolibri Festival Internacional del Audiovisual para la Nines, Bolivia
Chicago International Children´s Film Festival, USA
Seoul International Family Film Festival
Syracuse International Film Festival, New York
Art Amphora, Balkan Festival For Film And TV Programs For Children and Youth
Carrousel International de Cinéma Jeunesse de Rimouski, Canada
Chungmoro International Film Festival in Seoul, South Korea
1 Reel Film Festival, Seattle, USA
Lola Kenya Screen, Kenya
Divercine Festival Internacional de Cine para Ninos, Montevideo, Uruguay
Pärnu International Documentary and Anthropolgy Film Festival, Estonia
Mo & Friese Children´s Short Film Festival Hamburg
Seattle International Filmfestival, USA
DocEuropa, Porto and Lissabon, Portugal

Film Festivals 2009:
Barcelona International Children´s Television Festival, Spain
Golden Elephant International Children´s Filmfestival, Hyderabad, India
Chicago International Children´s Film Festival, USA
Cinekid Screening Club, Amsterdam

Who were these deceased people when they were alive and how could they end up in an obituary that reads, ‘Deceased without family’? We live in an age where the individual is in focus. We have achieved a high level of self-development, we have rewarding careers and we make our homes appear fantastic. We live in a time where we have forgotten social responsibility. We have ignored the inevitable phenomenon of old age and have forgotten to care for each other and to be aware of the elderly, weak and ill who don’t have as much as we do.

The number of obituaries featuring ‘deceased without relatives’ has increased in recent years. Anders Lund Madsen tests some of our guesses and thoughts about who these anonymous deceased were.

The series is a tightrope between sorrow and humour, with respect for the deceased and the next of kin – if they can be found – as an anchor.

Anders Lund Madsen gives reflection an extra dimension with his cheerfulness and, not least, his wit.

First broadcast on DR2, 2009.

Read Danish Read Cross interview with Anders Lund Madsen

A film about kidnapping, violence and slavery.

Slaves tells their story. Two out of thousands of children who have been kidnapped and exploited as slaves during the civil war in southern Sudan. We follow the two children and hear their gruesome story about how they were kidnapped and how they saw their parents be killed and their siblings brutally taken away. Since the two protagonists still live in fear of been caught again by their kidnapper, the visuals are animated. The visual design of the animation has taken two and a half years and was created by some of France’s leading animators. The sound design is Danish and the collective result is successful. Animation is a visual medium that crosses language borders with ease, showing problems in a universal way, avoiding stereotyping and victimising or alienating its audiences.

Awards

Best short documentary, the Silver Cub Award, IDFA, Amsterdam, 2008.
Special Mention, the Generation 14plus Section, Berlinale 2009.
Best Short doc. the STHLM.DOC Award, Tempo Doc. Festival,Stockholm 2009.
Best Short Animation Film Award, Cinequest Film Festival in San Jose, California, 2009.
Special Mention, IT’S ALL TRUE–International Documentary Film Festival, Brasil, 2009.
Best Short Documentary Award, DOXA Doc. Film Festival, Vancouver, Canada, 2009.
The Annecy Cristal for Best Short Animation and the Unicef Award at The Annecy International Animation Film Festival, June 2009.
Best Animated Short, World Wide Short Film Fest, Toronto, Canada, June 2009
Best Documentary Short Film, Melbourne International Film Festival, August 2009.
Best Short for Youth, Golden Kite Award, Int.Film Festival for Children&Youth, Buenos Aires, Sept. 2009.
Best Film and Best Photography, Capalbio Int. Short Film Festival, Italy, Oct. 2009.
First Doc. Prize, Curtocircuito Santiago de Compostela Short Film Festival, Spain Oct. 2009.
Best film animation-program Panorama, FiFF Femina Int. Film Festival, Norway 2009.
Best International Animation Short at Leeds International Film Festival, UK, 2009.
Best Animation at River Film Festival in Padova, Italy, 2009.
Best Short Film Award, Birds Eye View Film Festival, London UK, 2010.
Best film and the Public Award, Curt.doc Doc. Festival, Girona region/Catalonia, 2010.

From the outside looking in, Katrine is a sweet, happy and funny girl who loves having a good time. Katrine’s inner-universe, however, is quite different. She views life as a road covered in huge potholes. Holes so deep that if she falls in, she won’t be able to climb out without help. She describes depression as a creature that possesses her. Katrine must always be on her guard, because even when things are going extremely well she risks being assaulted by the shadow.

Katrine is one of three characters in Shame. Our focus is the overlooked and yet growing group of Danish children and youths with a ‘regular’ psychological illness – such as depression or social anxiety – which can lead to ‘cutting’, eating disorders and obsessive-compulsive actions. We are interested in the grey area where the kids are really down but don’t know whether it’s normal or if they need help.

In Shame we use the sound recordings from authentic situations and interviews and animate the participants and their experiences. By doing so we are able to make an invisible and taboo universe visible, thereby making it possible for the target group to absorb the stories and understand them.

Watch the pilot here

Five poetic films about poetry. Five Danish poets and five locations form the framework for this poetic and cinematic cocktail. The poets perform original readings of one of their new poems. The director has constructed the readings with locations, light, sound and music. A new experience is born.

With phenomena such as poetry slams and poetry happenings something has changed regarding our perception of poetry and poets. Poetry has stepped out of the ‘secret room’ and into this new reality we now inhabit. With Poetry Film we have made poetry more accessible. By creating an audio-visual poet cocktail and using cinematic tools as catalysts, we give the audience a brand new experience. We have brought poetry into a new age and into a new room, with a new visual framework that opens it up for a broader audience.

First broadcast on DR 1, 2008.