The Rotterdam Film Festival, focusing on young talents, has selected Malou Reymann's debut feature film, 'A Perfectly Normal Family', for the Big Screen Competition. The winning film will be given the special opportunity to be released in Dutch cinemas and on Holland's national TV. More Danish films are selected for the line-up, see full list below.
Written and directed by Malou Reymann, 'A Perfectly Normal Family' centres on Emma, 11, who has, well, a perfectly normal family. She loves football like her dad, Thomas. But from one day to the next everything changes, when it turns out her dad is transgender. While Thomas becomes Agnete, Emma needs to figure out who Agnete is to her. Does Agnete like football now? And is it even possible to be a dad when you're a woman?
Emma is played by Kaya Toft Loholt, who has starred in the Danish Netflix series 'The Rain'. Mikkel Boe Følsgaard, winner of a Berlin Silver Bear for his performance in 'A Royal Affair', features as Thomas/Agnete.
Malou Reymann, who has a background as an actor, has directed a number of acclaimed short films, including '13' (2011), 'The Ones You Love' (2012) and 'Interruption' (2015). Reymann holds a Master in Directing Fiction from the National Film and Television School in England from 2015.
'A Perfectly Normal Family' is produced by Matilda Appelin and René Ezra for Nordisk Film with support from the Danish Film Institute. International sales are handled by New Europe Film Sales. Domestic release is set for 20 February.
More Danish films bound for Rotterdam
'A Perfectly Normal Family' will be joined by a number of more Danish titles.
Among the feature films selected for the 2020 programme are 'The Orphanage' by Shahrbanoo Sadat and produced by Adomeit Film, selected for the Voices Main Programme, and 'The Trouble with Nature' by Illum Jacobi in the Bright Future Competition, a film produced by Polynia Pictures and La Fabrica Nocturna Productions.
The short film line-ups includes 'Chassé' by Michella Bredahl and 'Sayōnara' by William Andreas Wivel, both graduation films from the National Film School's documentary line 2019. Furthermore, the festival will be showcasing Mette Knudsen's 2016 documentary 'The Long Road' about the history of the women's liberation movements.
International titles with Danish connections include Carl Olsson's Swedish documentary 'Meanwhile on Earth', co-produced by Final Cut for Real, the performance work 'Mariam Jafri vs. Maryam Jafri' by Copenhagen-based American artist Maryam Jafri and the British short film '3 Logical Exits' by Danish director Mahdi Fleifel.
The Rotterdam Film Festival runs from 22 January to 2 February. See more on the website iffr.com.
