Frederikke Aspöck's second feature, "Rosita," will have its international premiere at Moscow Film Festival, where it will screen in the Main Competition. Michael Madsen's "The Visit" is selected for the Documentary Competition and Joshua Oppenheimer's "The Look of Silence" will screen in the Free Thought section.
"Rosita" is an intimate triangle drama about a father and son who fall in love with the same woman. Johannes (Mikkel Boe Følsgaard) lives with his father, the middle-aged widower Ulrik (Jens Albinus), in a small fishing town in Denmark. They live a quiet routine life, each minding their separate jobs in the fishing industry. Ulrik misses the love and tenderness of a woman and arranges for the young, beautiful Filipina, Rosita (Mercedes Cabral), to come to Denmark - as many other men in town have done before him. Johannes is reluctantly drawn into this as Ulrik's translator.
Frederikke Aspöck trained at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, where her thesis film "Happy Now" (2004) won the Premier Prix de la Cinéfondation in Cannes. Her first feature film "Out of Bounds" (2011) was selected for Cannes' Special Screening and won the Golden Star Award at Marrakech Film Festival.
Silver Bear winner Mikkel Boe Følsgaard
"Rosita" features the popular rising actor Mikkel Boe Følsgaard, who won the Silver Bear for Best Actor in Berlin 2012 for his first film role as King Christian VII in Nikolaj Arcel's "A Royal Affair." He has received great recognition, including a Danish Academy Award, as one of the leads in DR's drama series "The Legacy." He is supported by Jens Albinus ("The Idiots", "Nymphomaniac") and Filipino actress Mercedes Cabral ("Serbis," "Kinatay").
The film opened in Denmark on 16 April, where critics highlighted the character portrayals and performances.
"Frederikke Asböck manages to create equally sympathy for Ulrik, John, and Rosita, who is more than an exotic prop. In particular, the relationship between father and son is beautifully attuned, and credibility holds up into an ending that is both brutal and truthful. Jens Albinus and Mikkel Følsgaard both have an aura of life and self-conscious complexity. Here, they play quiet Northern Jutlanders, who are in the realm of their senses and take things as they come. They do so quite excellently," wrote Bo Green Jensen in Weekendavisen.
Read interview with Frederikke Aspöck: Love by Mail Order
The film is written by Kim Fupz Aakeson and produced by Thomas Heinesen for Nordisk Film. TrustNordisk handles international sales.
The Look of Silence and The Visit
"The Visit" world premiered at Sundance and has screened at a number of festivals, including True/False, SXSW and Hot Docs.
"The Look of Silence" has already won awards at numerous festivals, including Venice, CPH:DOX, Berlin, Göteborg and SXSW. "The Look of Silence" is produced by Signe Byrge Sørensen for Final Cut for Real and "The Visit" by Lise Lense-Møller for Magic Hour Films.
Moscow International Film Festival / 19-26 June 2015
