"Whoa, I just don't know if I should dance ... ," was director Joachim Back's first comment to the Oscar audience, as he thanked the Academy for awarding "The New Tenants" Best Short Film.
A prying neighbor, a glassy-eyed drug dealer, and a husband brandishing both a weapon and a vendetta make up the welcome wagon in "The New Tenants", a darkly satirical story set amidst the as-yet-unopened boxes and the hopes for a fresh start of two men on what might be the worst moving day ever.
Joachim Back lives in New York and has worked as director on commercial films. "The New Tenants" is scripted by Anders Thomas Jensen, produced by Johanne Stryhn Hørby, Christian Potalivo and Tivi Magnusson for M&M Productions, and co-produced with the American production company Park Pictures.
Over the years, M&M Productions have received five Oscar nominations – winning the award twice: in 1999 for Anders Thomas Jensen's "Election Night" and again in 2003 for Martin Strange Hansen's "This Charming Man".
"The New Tenants" is Anders Thomas Jensen's fourth script for a short film to reach the Oscar nominations, and the second time the prolific writer-director wins an Oscar, the first being for "Election Night".