International Competition
Before It Ends
- Onsite
- 7.16 (Tue) 11:00 Audio Visual Hall
- 7.20 (Sat) 14:00 Convention Hall
Due to the nature of the work rights, this film is not available online.
©2023 NORDISK FILM PRODUCTION A/S
Director: Anders WALTER
Cast: Pilou ASBAEK, Lasse Peter LARSEN, Katrine GREIS-ROSENTHAL, Morten Hee ANDERSEN, Peter KURTH
2023 / Denmark / 101min.
German-occupied Denmark during World War II. Jakob, the head of a folk high school and his wife Lis are forced into an impossible situation when ordered to enroll over 500 refugees from Germany. With conditions for the refugees beyond dire, disease spreads, and one by one, they start to die. Saving those who fall ill carries the risk of being branded as a traitor and losing everything. In the face of this daily confusion and imposed choices, frustrated Søren, Jakob’s 12-year-old son, decides to help the resistance. Director Anders Walter has been lauded for his short films, winning an Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film. Before It Ends is Walter’s second feature film, after I Kill Giants (17), and focuses on the history of German refugees in Denmark, heretofore rarely touched on, even in Danish cinema. With a delicate yet profound approach, the film portrays and asks the viewer to reflect on an issue that continues to challenge us even today—how to maintain our humanity in the extreme violence of war.
Director: Anders WALTER
Born in 1978 in Denmark, Anders is an Academy Award-winning director and screenwriter. He moved to the US in 1999 to study filmmaking at the School of Visual Arts in New York. His short film 9 Meter (12) made the shortlist for Best Short at the 85th Academy Awards, and the following year, his film Helium (13) won the Best Live Action Short Film award at the 86th Academy Awards. He received an offer from Hollywood to assume the director’s chair on his first feature film, I Kill Giants (17), a live-action adaptation of a popular graphic novel. He is also a voting member of both the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), which hosts the Academy Awards, and the Danish Film Academy.
Message
This film does not seek to criticize either German refugees or the Danish people, but to explore human conflict. World War II has been a frequent subject of Danish cinema, but the story of German refugees had remained largely unwritten. By portraying a single issue from multiple perspectives, I have tried to convey the subtle nuances rather than presenting any definitive answers or assigning blame. The film speaks to our perceptions of humanity while reflecting realities that we face even today. It is a tale of courage, integrity, and compassion—a captivating, thought-provoking movie, intended to get the conversation started.
