Ten short films from Nordic “Directors to watch” follows the December issues of the Nordic film magazines RUSHPRINT in Norway, EKKO in Denmark, Episodi in Finland and FLM in Sweden. One of the directors is Gunhild Enger with «Premature».

– How did you get the idea for the film?

“I think I got the idea from many places really, but I remember one specific moment when my brother’s wife was pregnant with their first child. My mother and I were talking about it, and it was then my mother said that we had to be prepared for anything. I know that her intentions were good, but it gave me an idea for this kind of scenario. I will be tempted as to say that the ‘let’s prepare for the worst’ way of thinking is quite Scandinavian. I also have a feeling that we somehow think that we do everything better here in the north, and the more southern you get, the further you also go from human rights, education and equality. I wanted to show the flip side of this, and the fact that we might not be as pedagogic and understanding that we like to think. My main idea was to portray a simple situation where people mean well, but do harm.”

– What was the biggest challenge of making the film?

”To be honest, I think that the most challenging has been getting the financing. It took a year, and the shooting took two days. There were always obvious challenges in the one shot composition, but this was the premise of the story right from the beginning, so I did not think of it as a challenge, more like a fact.”

– Which feelings do you hope the audience is left with after watching the film?

“I hope they smile as well as reflect on the complexity of this normal meeting between people from different cultures and families. All the misunderstandings they manage to create, and what that may lead to in the future.”

– What has this film meant for your career?

“It has meant a great deal. Most of all, for me as a director, with all the experience that I have gained. The film has been screened a lot, and received recognition beyond my expectations. At the end of the day this gives me energy to do more films in the future.”

– Why does the film look the way it does – aesthetically and stylistically?

“I wanted it to look quite normal and contemporary to underline the realistic feeling. I also wanted the audience to be in the situation and feel as if they were sitting in the car. This is the most important reason why I shot it as a one take. Time is the real aesthetics in this film. The feeling of no space both physically and psychologically was another important element in my use of aesthetics. I wanted their heads to go out of frame, and the light to hit naturally, in a small car on a bumpy road, just because these physical conditions emphasize the social claustrophobia the film plays out.”

– How do you feel about the result today?

“I am proud of the film, and I am not sure if I could have done it any better today. However, the one take is an interesting way to work. It will always have its limitations. I do remember sitting in the editing room looking at all the takes, and none of them were perfect. I simply had to choose. This meant that some of the other takes that did not work as a whole, would have sections that was better than the final cut.”

“What I like the most is the casting. I casted the Spanish girlfriend, Aina Huguet Estrada, from Barcelona. She is a theater actress and had never made a film before. The mother, Christine Stoesen, is a professional puppet actress, the father, Martin Bøhmer, is an amateur I found walking his dog in a park, and the son, Eilif Hartwig, was a student in peace and conflict studies at the time. They are all fantastic and did a great job.”

– What was the most important thing you learned during the making of your film?

“For me, one the most difficult parts of directing is all the important decisions I ultimately have to make. Every film is different but I definitely learned that it is better to just make a decision, and work on it, than not to make one at all.  If it feels wrong I just have to make a new decision, and that is not the end of the world.

– Which Nordic directors inspire you?

“I think I have to be quite unoriginal and say that Roy Andersson and Ruben Östlund are my two favorites.”

– How would you describe the conditions for making feature films in Nordic countries?

“It is probably easier than in most parts of the world. However easy is not the right word.  It is quite fashionable to talk about talent development, the value of a good process and the importance of risk taking, but very few are willing to take them when it comes to feature films. And this goes for the filmmakers, producers and financiers. I wish that we could change the focus back to the actual film making, and what it means, and that it matters. All important cinema and art movements have started of as a pure believe and love for its medium, not a competition on who is making the best Hollywood look-a-like movie in town.”

– If you could change one thing about Nordic films, what would it be?

“I wish that we could learn more from the art world. That we could create more of a critical and creative environment. That there would be a real debate, and more films that provoked and actually tried to say something. That there would be more screenings and fuzz, beside the journalist’s weekly throw of the dice.”

– Which actors/film professionals from other Nordic countries would you like to work with?

“That is a difficult question. There is so many that I want to work with, but none of them are celebrities. I would love to do a new film with Marte Vold, the cinematographer that shot Premature. I have also met this fantastic Finnish director Jenni Toivoniemi that I would love to work with one day. And there are so many more.”

– What is your next film going to be about?

“As the new cultural minster is working on her first application for the winter Olympics in 2022, I am developing my first feature film. It is set on the boarders between Norway and Sweden, in an area called Svinesund only a few kilometers into Sweden. A place defined by its shopping, tourism, sex industry and organized crime. Hundreds of thousands Norwegians go here every year to shop. My film is about those who go for a day, as well as those who decide to stay, and move there. It is a lot of interesting people that lives in this area. My feeling is that they are all searching for something different, an alternative life somehow. I don’t want to say more, but I like to think that the film will be finished in good time before the Olympics.”

av Jeppe Mørch & Marie Andersen / Filmmagasinet Ekko