Four Danish films bound for Hot Docs

As the leading documentary film festival Hot Docs in Toronto opens on 25 April, four Danish documentaries will appear in the lineup. 

'On the Inside of a Military Dicatorship' by Karen Stokkendal Poulsen is celebrating its international premiere in the competition programme, International Spectrum, following its world premiere in March at CPH:DOX. 

The film investigates Myanmar's troublesome transition towards democracy through interviews with some of the leading military leaders in the country who never gave up their power, as well as the country's current leader Aung San Suu Kyi. 

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Listening to the villains

Another two films by Danish directors are celebrating their international premiere at Hot Docs, both following their opening at CPH:DOX. 'The Reformist – a Female Imam' by Marie Skovgaard is screening out of competition in The Changing Face of Europe programme, presented in partnership with European Film Promotion. The film follows the Danish sociologist Sherin Khankan over a period of more than three years, depicting her struggle to establish the world's first mosque led by female imams. 

Also screening out of competition, in the Nightvision programme, is 'Hunting for Hedonia' by Pernille Rose Grønkjær. The film depicts the history of Deep Brain Stimulation from the early experiments in the 1950s by Dr. Robert Galbraith Heath up until the research of today. The documentary is based on the book 'The Pleasure Shock: The Rise of Deep Brain Stimulation and Its Forgotten Inventor' by Danish journalist Lone Frank, who also co-wrote the film with Grønkjær. 

Finally, 'Cold Case Hammarskjöld' by acclaimed director Mads Brügger is headed to Hot Docs' Special Presentations programme after having already travelled the world on the international festival circuit. 

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Piecing together a 50-year-old murder mystery

The film world-premiered in competition at Sundance where it won the World Cinema Documentary Directing Award and subsequently enjoyed its international premiere at Göteborg Film Festival. Brügger's dive into the mysterious death of UN Secretary General Dag Hammarskjöld recently won the Best Director award at One World Human Rights Festival in Prague.

Find the complete overview of all Danish Films headed to Hot Docs below, including several co-productions. 

On the Inside of a Military Dictatorship

Karen Stokkendal Poulsen, 2019

The entire world praised the military and Aung San Suu Kyi when power was passed on to the democracy icon after 50 years of military dictatorship. One year later she defended an ethnic cleansing and had isolated herself from the public. Key leaders tell the story of how the military of Myanmar stepped into the shadow after 50 years of dictatorship, while Aung San Suu Kyi, whom the military had kept in house arrest for 20 years, became the leader of the country.

The Reformist – a female Imam

Marie Skovgaard, 2019

Sherin Khankan is opening one of Europe’s first mosques run by female imams. The Mosque’s members aim to confront and challenge the fear surrounding Islam and call for a new feminist agenda breaking with established gender hierarchies. Sherin is impatient.

Hunting for Hedonia

Pernille Rose Grønkjær, 2019

An examination of the explosive development in "deep brain stimulation" (DBS). With permanent electrodes in selected areas of the brain, scientists can adjust abnormal activity and thereby normalise different kinds of psychiatric states. However, the method raises fundamental questions about what is normal, and how much we want our psyche manipulated with.

Cold Case Hammarskjöld

Mads Brügger, 2019

In 1961, United Nations secretary-general Dag Hammarskjöld’s plane mysteriously crashed, leaving no known survivors. It is widely understood that because Hammarskjöld was advocating for Congo’s independence, against the wishes of European mining companies and other powerful entities, the "crash" was an assassination. With the case still unsolved 50-plus years later, Danish journalist, filmmaker and provocateur Mads Brügger leads an investigation to unearth the truth.