yearbook 2004/05 - The European Film College

The Yearbook of the European Film College 2003-2004
Ebeltoft Lecture: Andy Paterson
& Olivia Hetreed

Photo: Nynne Blak

The Yearbook of the European Film College 2003-2004
final cut
Final Cut
The Yearbook of the
European Film College
Issn:
Den Europæiske Filmhøjskole
Clark th. Dreyers Vej 1
Denmark
Phone: +45 8334 0055
Fax: +45 8634 0535
e-mail:administration@efc.dk
Home Page:www.efc.dk
Editors: Jens Rykær and
Consultant: Richard Martin
Graphic Design and Print
Toptryk Grafisk ApS
Cover pictures:
(front): Nynne Blak
(back): Pola Schirin Beck
Contents
4 Executive Board and
Honorary Committee
5 Sponsors of the EFC
6 Life after the EFC
by Jens Rykær
8 Don Robaina & me
by Helle Windeløv
11 Ripples in the still
by Richard Martin
& Henrik Kolind
13 Some EFC-connected Movie
by Mark Le Fanu
Summer 2003
15 The summer that was
by Jens Rykær
19 10 years of summer school
by Anne Lise Rasmussen
20 Harriet Knitter
by Irene P. Paaske
24 The Diary 2003-04
by Jens Rykær
Events
31 Jubilee celebration
by Mark Le Fanu
36 Ebeltoft lecture
by Mark Le Fanu
42 New Year’s concert
by Lars P. Petersen
43 The Burning Bush
by Johanne Thalmann
& Louise Brix Andersen
From the teachers
45 Visiting the film school in Cuba
by Susanne Katz
48 The Ghosts of the EFC
by James Fernald
50 Why Seek Globally?
by Esben Høilund-Carlsen
51 What is with docs?
by Litsa Boudalika
From the students
55 At a slight angle to The Universe
by Martin Møller Jensen &
Ludvig Friberg
58 Film Audience in Bangladesh
by Mofizur Rhaman
62 The Greeks at the EFC
by Persefone Miliou, Nikolaos Var-
ouris & Artemis Anastasiadou

64 A Step on the Journey
by Nahed Awwad
66 Framing the Subjective
by Laurent Ziegler
68 The Duellists
by Mads Grage, Mofizur Rhaman,
Emmanuel Dayan, Keira Rob-
ertson, Maria Lomholt-Thomsen
& Bue Petersen
Away from the EFC
71 Berlin-Talent Campus
by Kjetil Mørk &
Kasper Tornbjerg
74 Amsterdam/Rotterdam
by Ragnhildur Sigurdardottir
& Elina Kokkonen
Let’s go to the movies!
79 Big Bear
by Jens Rykær
80 Money makes the world go round
by Susanne Katz
Who’s who at the EFC
83 Staff news
by Jens Rykær
86 Teachers and staff
by Jens Rykær
96 Students 2003-2004
Photo: Bjarke de Koning

Executive Board
og the European Film College
Executive Board of the European Film College
Per Holst (Chairman)
Film Producer, Asta Film, Denmark
Eric Senat (Vice Chairman)
Hammer Entertainment, UK
Bo Christensen (Vice Chairman)
Consultant, Sandrew Metronome Inc., Denmark
Lars Arnfred
Film Producer, Denmark
Peter Cowie
Film Historian, UK
Ingrid Edstrøm
Former Head of the Swedish Film Institute, Sweden
Jan Harlan
Film Producer, UK
Dieter Kosslick
Director of the Berlin Film Festival, Germany
Søren Kragh-Jacobsen
Film Director, Denmark
Nils Malmros
Film Director, Denmark
Margaret Nicoll
Managing Director, New Zealand
Johan Schlüter
Attorney, Denmark
Honorary Committee
Theo Angelopoulos
Director
Fons Rademakers
Director
Bernardo Bertolucci
Director
Vanessa Redgrave
Actress
Anat Birnbaum
Canal Plus
Hanna Schygulla
Actress
Henning Carlsen
Director
Andrej Smirnov
Director
Anja Breien
Director
Eckart Stein
ZDF
Jean-Claude Carriere
Scriptwriter
Milos Forman
Director
Max von Sydow
Actor
Istvan Szab6
Director
Aki Kaurismaki
Director
Andrzej Wajda
Director
Lindsay Law Producer
Wim Wenders Director
Alan Yentob BBC
Walter Murch Editor
Alan Parker
Director
Saul Zaentz
Producer
Photo: CLaus Ulrich

Sponsors of the European Film College
A-69
AB Musik
Apple Computer
A ugustinus Fonden
AVIS
Bang & Olufsen
Beyerdynamic/Peschardt
Bico
Bikubenfonden
Bodil Pedersen Fonden
Boomerang
Borks Patenttavler
The Borough of Ebeltoft
Canal Plus
The Council of Arhus
Danish Film Institute
The Danish Parliament
Danish Tips & Lotto Funds
Danmarks Radio
Dataton
Demokratifonden
DJBFA
DolbyDynaudio Acoustics
Eastman Kodak Company
EFDO
Egetaepper
Egmont Fonden
ED Social Foundation
FilmKopi
Frederiksberg Sparekasses
Fond
Gesellschaft zur Fordering
Audio-visuelle Werke in
Schleswig-Holstein GmbH
Greek Film Centre
Hotelnet
JAI
Junckers Industrier
Jydsk Telefon
Jyllands-Postens Fond
KD’s fond for saerlige
formal
Knud Hejgaards Fond
Kulturfonden
Kvadrat
Llesegang
Louis Poulsen
Max von Sydow Foundation
MEDIA Programme
Motion Picture Association
MTV
National Film Board
of Denmark
Nordisk-Baltisk Film Fond
Nordisk Film
Nordisk Film Fonden
Nordrhein-Westfalen
Nykredits Fond Arhus
Open Society Institute
PACT
Paustian
Politiken-fonden
PolyGram
Publicis
Radiohuset AV
Rank Xerox
S4C (Channel 4 Wales)
SAS
SCALE, Media 95
Sgnn Media
gency
for Wales
Solhvervfonden
Sony
Steinberg
Svenske Filmproducenters
Fond
Swedish Film Institute
TC-Electronic
Ted Bates
Telefilm Canada
Tuborgfondet
United International
Pictures
Variety
Vilhelm Kiers Fond
Volvo DK
Warner Bros.
Zangenberg & Lembourn
Zanussi Gastronik
Zentropa
Grethe og Jørgen Krølner
Photo: Jacob Jarek

Life after the EFC
By Jens Rykær
It is not until late February that students realize
that their stay at the EFC will some day come
to an end. The fact is so uncomfortable, even
scary, that most of them will automatically repress
the very thought. The truth is namely that
the school they live and function in is a sheltered
environment where there is always a bed
to sleep in, food to eat, somebody to talk to,
projects to speculate about and a shoulder to
cry on. Never having to care about shopping,
loneliness and where to dance on the tables. In
other words one feels safe and looked after. As if
you were at home as a kid.
But then it happens. You realize that all this is
going to change. And change dramatically. A
new challenge, a new unfamiliar road to travel.
After term – then what?
Counselling
The school acknowledges a responsibility here,
but I am not quite sure that we are properly
dressed for this situation. From day one we
try to paint the picture of a career within the
media as realistically as possible, never concealing
the fact that the road is uphill, windy and
cold. Counselling of students is quite difficult
here as half of the students are from ‘all over
the world’ and working/educational conditions
are so different. Actually it is also difficult in
relation to the Danish contingent of students
as only a fraction will actually try to make it
within the industry. Basically you have to cover
the whole spectre of further education in house,
which is of course impossible. Therefore it is
very satisfactory that the Ministry of Education
has decided to implement a compulsory strate-
gy on counselling at all tutorial institutions. It
is for each individual school to invent its own
structure but everybody has to put up a proper
scheme in order to streamline and to clarify this
policy. A proper ‘education of counsellors’ will
be put together, tools will be provided (databases,
web portals and such), so help and support
is around the corner.
Former students
The school has always managed well with use
of external lecturers, our own knowledge and
common sense. In my opinion some of our
most valuable assets have been visits by former
students. They are still young, recently out of
film schools, already possessing some experience
from real life, have a few projects under
their belt and they still remember the bewilderment
being confronted with life after the
EFC. Nine former students were here on four
occasions this year, one pair screening their
documentaries, one pair telling about the possibilities
working within television and five gave
bits and pieces of information on film and TV.
Some of them having finished film schools after
the EFC, some had plunged right into a career.
Also the traditional visit by a former student
who has set up a professional production company
and now every year employs students as
trainees for a year is very illustrative for the new
ones to have an understanding of the business.
Supplementary to this, four former students
have given courses in such different areas as
stunts, production management, multi camera
and writing a feature. No doubt about it – to
be visited by high powered professionals is of
course interesting and important, but it is certainly
useful that the young pros meet the not
yet so pros.

External productions
Another way to give students an educational
taste of the real thing happens when the college
engages itself with external productions. We
usually do one or two projects during or right
after term – projects that would otherwise never
be produced.
A teacher plans and structures the project, a crew
of students is gathered and together they work
in their spare time, over weekends or outside
term. These projects are not supposed to clash
with the ordinary curriculum. Lately we have
made a film for the Danish Tennis Association
dealing with new training methods shot on location
at Ebeltoft Tennis Club, another project
described the disease Spina Bifida emphasizing
the fact that quality of life can certainly be maintained
in spite of this handicap – this project
gave students a rare chance to shoot on 16mm.
This year we have been engaged in a CD-rom
project “Learn Danish” in relation to which
we shot the live sequences. This happened in
co-operation with the Sorbonne University in
Paris and is aimed at French people who har-
SUMMER 2003
Four principals at the Jubilee in August. Kjeld Veirup, Keld Nielsen, Jens Rykær, Bjørn Erichsen.
bour an ambition to learn our weird language.
Another project has been made for Dan Parc – a
leisure time centre in the north of Jutland. They
wanted us to do film sequences for a spy game
James Bond style for their costumers to enjoy as
a physical activity (also shot on 16mm.)
For the students the purpose is to work for a client
with a serious deadline – and with a budget!
The client has up front defined the result and
has final cut of course. We firmly believe that
these projects will add to students’ understanding
of ‘the reality of filmmaking’ where discipline,
teamwork and creativity are imperative.
Counselling taken to the extreme you can say.
Finally I would like to thank everybody involved
at the College – students, staff, faculty and the
Board – for their dedication, long working
hours and stamina. We have all shared difficult
and uplifting moments here. But it is certainly
worth while – hope you agree.
Jens Rykær is the Principal of the European Film
College.
Photo: Claus Ulrich

Creating the documentary on Don Robaina
By Helle Windeløv
I was a student at the EFC during 2000/2001.
From the very beginning of my stay, I knew that
documentary was the genre I would love to explore,
and during the 8 months at the college I
produced three. During the last month of my
stay I realized that before leaving the college I
had to find out what I could do afterwards to
combine my 8-month-stay here in safe and caring
surroundings with the “real world outside”.
It simply had to be done while I was still in the
centre of the creative and inventive energy that
would enable me to start up a larger documentary-production
before I would be thrown before
the “cruel and scary Film-industry”. A new
project would keep me on tracks with what I
had learnt at the EFC and preserve my passion
and drive for the universe of the documentary
process.
So when everybody else was doing their finals I
sat down to write on the idea that in the summer
of 2003 – after some years of hard work – is
now realized as the 50 minute long documentary
from Cuba on “The Love of Don Robaina”.
Don Robaina
Each movie has its own individual “history of
birth”, often a very long and tough birth that
starts with the motivation of working with the
media and the idea that you have in your head
and your heart. My idea for “The Love of Don
Robaina” started with my father’s passion for cigars
– he is what you call a “cigar-afficionado”
– with an admiration for the Cuban cigar-legend
Don Alejandro Robaina and his exclusive
tobacco. My father has for many years had a
big, beautiful black and white photograph of
Don Robaina and he has told me many stories
about the dignified Cuban tobacco-farmer and
his beautiful personality. He also told me that
Don Robaina is known for being the best producer
of tobacco in the whole wide world, as
well as being a very humble and loving person. I
appreciate this combination of professionalism
and humbleness very much, and therefore I de-
cided that I wanted to meet this man and make
a portrait of him. His beautiful 83-years-old
wrinkled face made me even more motivated
for doing the movie. Apart from that, I had for
several years wanted to see Cuba and I loved the
challenge it would be to film in a country That
you have never worked in before been – and in
this case it is not a particularly organized place
to work in! My father then passed a handwritten
letter from me to Don Robaina asking him
permission to make a film about him, his family
and the workers on the farm and having received
a positive answer to that, I left for Cuba
in November 2001 – after having applied to
The Danish Film Institute for support for writing
the manuscript.
El Niño dies
A week before departure I received a mail from
a friend who told me that the whole area had
been ravaged by a tremendous hurricane and
that Don Robaina’s plantation might be totally
ruined. It was too late to cancel the ticket so I
thought that if so, I would have to make a film
about him in that new situation instead. Fortunately
the hurricane had passed around his estate
and I was allowed to shoot what I wanted together
with my female Cuban assistant. I spent
a month in Cuba shooting everything from
the very beginning of the planting of the small
seeds for tobacco, the workers, members of the
family – and not least Don Robaina. While I
was in Cuba I had a mail from the Danish Film
Institute that I might get the financial support
for the manuscript and they wanted a meeting
with me when I returned. Fortunately I got the
money that enabled me to return to Cuba with
a photographer 3 months later, in February
2002, to film the harvest of the tobacco and collect
the final shots of the family and the estate.
Equipment was rented from DR-TV with a
premature agreement on screening my movie in
their slot called TV-talents. But once more ob-

stacles/challenges from Cuba: Two weeks before
departure I heard from the very same friends
in Cuba that a tragic incident had happened to
the family – “El Niño”, the eldest son of Don
Robaina and whom he had seen as his successor,
had tragically died from a heart failure. Once
more it was too late to cancel the flight-ticket
and not being able to phone Don Robaina, (as
there are no telephones on the plantation or in
the area), to ask his acceptance of our arrival,
we started out for the plantation once more not
knowing whether we would be allowed to shoot
or not. Arriving with full equipment on the
plantation I paid my condolences to the Don
and asked him permission to portray his grief
in the picture and dedicate the final cut to his
son “El Niño”. I had his and the whole family’s
permission to do so, and we could continue to
shoot Robaina and the family on the plantation
that was now marked by quite a different
and mourning atmosphere. But their grief also
helped us to become even closer to the family
and Don Robaina.
Cuban Lifestyle
Apart from the tragedy in the family, we witnessed
a lot of minor difficulties during, as well
as before the production of the movie. Cuba
is Cuba and Cubans are Cubans! They have a
much more laid back relationship to what we
in our part of the world consider fixed deals
and time-schedules! Everything is “mañana”
and this can be quite frustrating in the beginning,
but as the days pass, you experience a lot
of things that make you tune in to the culture
of the country, you get accustomed to the nontime-fixated
lifestyle that is much more healthy
for body and soul. And which is so soothing for
people from our part of the world where life
is so controlled by our watches. You learn that
you CANNOT plan yourself out of everything
but have to live life in the moment and accept
what comes next. The wonderful lesson in this
is that Cubans in their own quiet and calm way
actually get WORK done – DO things – and
that the workers at the plantation produce the
best tobacco in the whole wide world while they
ALSO have time to sing, dance, drink rum and
have a siesta. We could learn a lot from their
gentle and relaxed – but also hardworking, productive
attitude! The level of stress is very low
and it makes an impact on you and does you
good! Apart from the cultural differences that I
so much wanted to learn from, the communication
to Don Robaina both in pre- and postproduction
was very their difficult because of lack
of communication in their infrastructure – no
telephone in the area, slow mail etc. – so every
time I had important information for him or
had to ask him about something in particular
I had to mail my Havana assistant and ask her
to get into the car and drive the 250 kilometres
down there to talk to Don Robaina. Difficult
but also intriguing and fascinating, I think. I
like challenges like that – especially when they
are over and done with…….
The Story
It was a great personal experience to shoot on the
plantation and especially to be so close to Don
Robaina, his family and the workers. As Don
Robaina is a kind of icon in the Cuban cigar
business a lot of reports, articles, photographic
books and TV-shots have been made about him
– he is such a darling to the camera! But where
everything else that has been made about him (I
am sure they are just as interesting as my movie)
focuses on the icon, the cult-figure and the
more technical details behind the production of
the cigars in Cuba, my film, emphasizes on “the
man behind the icon and the success”, namely
his family and his workers to whom he has a
very close relationship. Don Robaina and the
rest of the family allowed me to get very close to
them. Perhaps they did it because they could feel
that I knew that my principal duty as a director

was to make extreme efforts to show them my
humbleness and will to listen to the universe to
which they so lovingly gave me an access. I believe
this is the utmost challenge you can have
as a documentarist – to step into other peoples’
lives and universe and rest there for a while as
long as the production is going on – and experience
what you gain yourself! And to learn from
it whilst giving something of yourself to these
persons and their universe. Then afterwards the
art is to tell the story in the most personal and
dedicated way to the audience.
It is my sincere wish that with “The Love of
Don Robaina” I have created a personal, sensitive
and human movie that honours some universal
and deeply human feelings with which I
hope people on all continents can identify, as I
believe our feelings are the same wherever we
are situated in the world or whatever our situations……
“The Love of Don Robaina” was produced with
financial support for the manuscript from The
Danish Film Institute, equipment kindly lent
from DR-TV, edit and colour-corrections on Angel
Production – and my own means.
The film was finished in spring 2003, was screened
on DR-TV, in 5 different cinemas in Denmark
and has now been shown on various foreign festivals
such as Hollywood, Barcelona, Havana and
Gothenburg.
A new documentary production is taking form….
For all you students in the year 2003/04: Good
luck and best wishes in your future work, remember
if you really want to do it:
Never give up – Never, never give up – Never,
never, never give up!
0
Don Robaina - Legendary tobacco grower in Cuba
Photo: Helle Windeløv

Ripples in the Still
By Richard Martin
& Henrik Kolind
If only Darwin could pop over to Ebeltoft for a
few visits, he would have a pleasant surprise. For,
without doubt, his concepts of evolution could
be neatly studied in microcosm, in these very
halls and corridors. EFC changes every year, not
only with regard to the new faces who appear
in September and the older ones (with more
laughter or worry lines) who leave in May. This
institution is always in flux somehow.
There are, of course, universal truths that never
change: There will never be enough hours in the
day. The call sheet will always be too optimistic.
The coffee machine will be the busiest machine
in the college and it is inevitable that we all get
caught out when the clocks change to summertime.
But winds of change have been blowing
the dust from some of EFC’s quietest corners
over the last 8 months and hopefully we have
collectively improved the way the EFC beast
lives and breathes. What follows is a brief glance
at some of the bigger changes of 2003/4.
Teaching Assistants
A new initiative for this year was to invite three
EFC alumni back to assist the faculty throughout
the 8-month course. And assist they have,
not least with support during courses such as the
directing and multi-camera where an extra pair
of hands is invaluable, but also in the day-to-day
running of the college. During the project periods
the TAs have been equally busy and have
become specialists in the role of “Transportation
Management Officer” in which they have
become quite proficient. It seems that the students
have appreciated the idea, as there is now
a very accessible point of contact for queries or
requests. It has also been a pleasure for the TAs
to work and live alongside a fantastic body of
students, sharing in - and hopefully contributing
to – the EFC journey for another year.
Student Lounge
March 2004 saw one of the most dramatic
facelifts since Cher had her 23rd. The old stu-
dent office of last year and workspace of this
year has been transformed into the new Student
Lounge, a very hyggeligt place indeed. Using a
combination of sixties lounge furniture and
old film equipment, the room has a feel unlike
any other in EFC. A highly motivated student
group metamorphosed it into the current state
over the course of a Spring weekend. A place
to chat, relax and feel at home, it was officially
opened by Per ‘Chairman of the Board’ Holst
on the 27th March 2004. A big “Thank You!”
to all students involved in the process, especially
Johanne Eggert, who oversaw the project from
beginning to end and whose idea it was in the
first place.
Prop Room
When is a prop room not a prop room? The
answer? When it’s a grotty little storage space
underneath a cinema. Well, no longer! Thanks
to Hurricane Hilde and her fantastic crew we
managed to relocate the prop room to a suitable
housing in the old student workshop and
return the vacant space to its rightful purpose
of a storage room. Big thanks to all the students
who sacrificed their time, effort and possibly
their long-term health by participating in this
arduous task.
DVD
In 2003, the college library plunged headfirst
into the 21st century and embraced (in a manly
way) the digital revolution. One of the biggest
problems of the past has been the deteriorating
stock of VHS movies that have been worn
thin by overuse over the last 10 years. This year
DVD fever has gripped the library and we’re
moving on to digital delivery of library films.
This is a welcome change and hopefully one
that will benefit future generations of students
as there will be no deterioration of quality in
digital storage (for as you and I know, DVDs
and CDs never scratch!)

The New Student Lounge
Cleaning
Duties
Everything’s just fine! One
of the more sweeping changes this
year has been a rethink of cleaning duties,
which are at the core of the folk highschool ideology.
It is not a little embarrassing to say that
not all cleaning duties were perfectly observed
by last year’s students and consequently, before
this year started, the school had a rethink about
giving an appropriate incentive for completely
their duties satisfactorily. Needless to say, the
students this year have been significantly more
reliable.
Photo: Richard Martin
Positive After Effects
The nature of the film and video
business is another whirlwind of
change and students’ needs are very
different to those of just 10 years ago.
In these days of digital cameras, non-linear
editing and USB everything, two students
(Christian Berg Nielsen and Ludvig
Friberg) offered a very useful workshop on
the use of the Adobe After-Effects program.
It was a much appreciated and benevolent
act on their part and it is fantastic to see that
students are helping each other keep abreast of
industry standards.
It has been a great pleasure to be a part of this
year at EFC, without a doubt one of the most
enjoyable and edifying experiences possible.
Whilst the TA system and the student bar may
survive longer than the prop room, I think
there is one thing that which will outlast them
all. As the old saying goes: “Nothing endures
but change.”

Some EFC-connected Movies
By Mark Le Fanu
The College has been up and running for eleven
years and already over 1100 students have
attended the annual eight-month foundation
course. Many of these students have gone on to
film schools round the world, while others have
entered their national film and television industries
in different capacities. The Danish audiovisual
landscape, eleven years on after 1993, is
full of EFC-trained editors, producers, cinematographers,
sound-persons and so on. Slowly
the College appears to be “making a difference”.
Already in 1999, when the EFC visited the Berlin
Film Festival, we were able to field a panel
of six ex-students who were either completing
or had just finished first features. Since then,
the College is delighted every year (especially
at reunion time in summer) to welcome back
students and to share with them the pleasure of
screening films they have been involved in.
The current course has been no exception: during
the recently-completed eight-month session
we have had visits from a variety of friends. Simply
to name some of them: Andreas Dalsgaard
(student at the college in 2000/01) arrived from
Århus in late November with a rough cut of his
Afghan documentary Daoud the Bodybuilder.
A previous feature-length docu of his, Girl
Talk, which he had introduced to the College
in 2002, has gone on to win multiple awards
and receive widespread television screenings.
Andreas is now in Paris completing a university
course in anthropology, while putting the
final touches to yet another film, to be called
L’homme de Paris.
In January we had a visit from Kasper Torsting
and Martin Zandvliet who were both here
in 1996/97 and who struck up a partnership at
the Danish Film School, Kasper in the television
line, Martin as an editor. A documentary
they have recently made about the Rocket Brothers
rock band has been a phenomenal success,
outselling (in terms of cinema tickets) famous
films like The Five Obstructions. Kasper’s other
recent coup was to set up a televised interview
between David Bowie and Danish wunderkind
Thomas Vinterberg - this too was shown during
their visit here.
Later in April the College was visited by a trio
of former women pupils: Nia Dryhurst and
Lisbeth Lynghøft (both from 1994/95) together
with Luned Emyr (2002/03), the latter now
pursuing a career both in front of the camera
and behind the scenes in Welsh television. Nia
Dryhurst’s brilliant BBC television documentary
about two famous Welsh painters had been
one of the highlights of last summer’s reunion,
so it was wonderful to see her again with her
friends, and hear them talk about their work.
Then, as a bonus, in the very last week of term
– just a few days ago in fact – we had visits from
Kasper Gaardsøe (1995/96) and Rasmus Heise
(1996/97). And they showed films they had
completed at the Danish Film School (The New
Man and Another Lovely Day), speaking about
them in the context of the wider Danish cultural
landscape.
These are students we have seen; others we simply
hear about. Michael Noer and Heidi Faisst
(both 1998/99) also graduated last year from
the Danish Film School with films that have
been highly commended – Michael’s a documentary
portrait of the curator of the Museum
of Erotica in Copenhagen, Heidi’s a sinister
and atmospheric Bergmanesque drama about
couples locked into relationships (both works
are available on DVD). Another ex-student,
Christina Rosendahl, was at the EFC in 1995
where she made a brilliant documentary about
geese being fattened up for Christmas. No one
who has seen it will forget the expression on the
faces of a pair of these birds as they hear the
sound of the knife being whetted on the grind-

stone. Now she has made a feature-length film,
Stjernekigger, about her sister, a rock singer with
the band Swan Lee – not quite so bloody, but
equally psychologically penetrating. Like the
Rocket Brothers documentary, the movie has
been honoured with a widespread release in the
cinemas.
More friends: Anders Bramsen, like Andreas
Dalsgaard, is based in Århus. He was here two
years ago and involved in a lot of student acting.
With money scraped together from acquaintances
he’s now emerged as a director with an excellent
feature film, Uden Tid/Time is but Brief,
whose leading role is taken by another ex-EFC
student, Anders Krogsgaard. It is a surrealistic
story of a drugs crisis: expertly paced, edited and
acted (including a fantastically bizarre cameo by
the director).
From further afield, Andreas Lewin (1999/2000)
has sent us his recently-completed film Er spielte
seinen Schatten mit/He Played His Shadow, a
documentary about a charismatic German actor
of the sixties, Klaus Kammer. Andreas has
another big budget docu financed by Arte
planned for the current shooting year – its sub-
Rocket Brothers
The Moonless Night How I killed a Saint
ject once again a legendary German actor (Fritz
Kortner).
One feels that these are only the tip of the iceberg:
there are a lot more EFC-related films out
there, and the plea should go out to any EFC
graduates reading these lines who are actively
involved in film-making: do please stay in touch
with us. It is such a pleasure to see you back here
with your movies. Travel, of course, can be difficult,
and lives are busy. We meet up, as it were,
where we can. So, at Rotterdam in January, one
of the great personal pleasures of the festival was
the screening there of two movies by ex-EFC
alumni: Artan Minarolli’s Nata Pa Hene/The
Moonless Night and Labina Mitevska’s Kako ubiv
svetec/How I Killed a Saint - both of them in
the event quite excellent, artistically-speaking.
Artan, from Albania, was here on the very first
pioneer course, early in 1993. We hope he will
soon come back and visit us. Labina (an actress
by profession: the film itself is directed by her
sister Teona) studied at the EFC in 1995/96.
Humanistic and spiritually polished, the movie
she acts in gives a rare insider’s glimpse of political
disquiet within her native country, Macedonia.

Summer 2003

Photo: Jens Rykær
The summer that was
By Jens Rykær
Folk high school courses
SUMMER 2003
Again this year the summer courses had a strong
appeal to people who share an extraordinary interest
in film, film people and the stimulating
environment of the European Film College and
the quaint little town of Ebeltoft. More than
350 guests joined the six courses from late June,
July and early August to watch, discuss and
mingle.
Veteran course manager ULRICH BREUNING
opened the season under the title “The Good
Story”. Among his guests was the young Danish
director MARTIN STRANGE HANSEN
who presented his Oscar winning novella feature
This Charming Man and flashed his golden
statue. The now internationally acclaimed di-
rector PER FLY together with his producer IB
TARDINI (Zentropa) talked about the making
of Inheritance and introduced their favourite
story based films such as the classic Æblekrigen
and The Good Will. Actor JOEN BILLE and
art historian BENTE SCAVENIUS told stories
about how world art has been enrolled in Danish
collections and launched into The Leopard
by Visconti. The successful screenwriter KIM
FUPZ AAKESON and director NATASHA
ARTY talked about their collaboration on Se
til venstre der er en svensker – for Arty her first
feature for grown ups. Veteran director SØREN
KRAGH-JACOBSEN presented his Skagerrak
and was interviewed about his long career. The
annual tribute to the old silents was the Buster
Keaton classic Steamboat Bill Jr. again accompanied
hectically and emotionally by LARS
FJELDMOSE on the piano.
OLE MICHELSEN, not anymore DR’s “Mr.
Bogart”, but still able to bring in the crowds.
His course “Europe in my Heart” was sold out
in just three days. New record. His strategy of
inviting non-film-people to introduce films of
their own choice gives the audience a seldom
chance to meet other interesting personalities
than those from filmland. Such as the singer
MICHAEL FALCH who spoke strongly about
My Name is Joe, the playwrite and cartoonist
NICOLINE WERDELIN who presented the
Italian Ultimo basso and the Danish foreign
minister, PER STIG MØLLER, who came
flying in from Germany with his old love Jules
and Jim. The author ISELIN C. HERMANN
showed courage by bringing four-hour-long
Moliere – a true challenge also for the audience.
DR’s top reporter ULLA TERKELSEN together
with university lecturer ERIK SVENDSEN

gave solid information and analysis on the magic
universe of Kieslowski. Also JANNE GIESE,
director of the new born festival in Copenhagen,
art historian HANS EDVARD NØR-
REGÅRD-NIELSEN and PETER LUND
MADSEN (“Brain-Madsen”) chipped in. Prescreenings
included the Danish Rembrandt and
the British Calender Girls.
Film director and journalist CHRISTIAN
BRAAD THOMSEN presented a course on
“Small and Off-beat Films”. EVA JØRHOLT
opened the show with the neo-realistic classic
Bicycle Thief, priest and film connaisseur JOHS.
H. CHRISTENSEN brought in Truffaut and
Bergman while BRAAD handled his old icons
Godard and the unavoidable Fassbinder. Special
guest star, the renowned German actress IRM
SUMMER 2003
HERMANN, told about her collaboration with
Fassbinder and her career on film and on stage.
The rapidly rising new Danish director CHRIS-
TOPHER BOE presented his Cannes winner
(“Camera d’Or”) Reconstruction – an intriguing
love story that never really unfolds. Experimental
film director and painter JYTTE REX
brought her Mirrors of the Planet for discussion
and pre-screened her latest work - The River.
New on board this summer was CLAUS HES-
SELBERG, writer and cinema manager, whose
course dealt with humour on film. Distinguished
guests were POUL MALMKJÆR, who dealt
with W.C. Fields, Chaplin and the Marx Brothers,
journalist and playwright ANN MARIAG-
ER took on the screw ball comedies and Woody
Allen, television host and cartoon expert JACOB
Morten Grunwald on the Terrace
Photo: Jens Rykær

SUMMER 2003
Irm Hermann Morten Arnfred, Birthe Neumann, Ib Tardini Per Stig Møller, Susanne Katz
Peter Schepelern
Michael Falch og Jens Rykær Mogens Rukov Susanne Brandt, Anette Per Fly
& Claus Hesselberg
STEGEL-
MANN gave an in depth
analysis of the masters of the animated
short film outside the Disney universe followed
by scholar IB LINDBERG who knows
everything about Laurel and Hardy. The popular
highlight of this course was maybe the live
performance of the beloved “Benny” from the
series “The Olsen Gang” – the actor and for
many years also theatrical manager MORTEN
GRUNWALD. Of course the audience in addition
enjoyed Mel Brooks, Jacques Tati, Jerry
Lewis, Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon. That
week certainly was a laughing matter.
Copenhagen University lecturer PETER
SCHEPELERN again managed a successful
course focusing on the national film. This summer
he had gathered four of the most important
directors of their generation – SØREN KRAGH-
JACOBSEN, MORTEN ARNFRED, NILS
MALMROS and BILLE AUGUST. Each of
them have during the past season released new
films and therefore very strongly contribute to
the present success of Danish film. Another vet-
eranprofessional, screen writer
and script doctor, MOGENS RUKOV
from the national film school in Copenhagen,
gave interesting views on how to compose convincing
dramaturgy on film. The controversial
and highly successful producer, the unorthodox
REGNER GRASTEN, went through the
modes in a long and intense interview in which
the commercial aspect of the film industry was
highlighted. We also enjoyed the presence of
BIRTHE NEUMANN, supporting actress in
so many films and now a star in her own right.
Of course EFC-editing teacher ALLAN KAR-
TIN and TV2-photographer MICHAEL
LINDEBJERG conducted their practical and
creative course “And Action” over two weeks.
Jens Rykær organizes the summer folk high school
in conjunction with Susanne Katz, Susanne
Brandt and Bettie Brendorp.

10 years of summer school
By Anne Lise
Rasmussen
Photo: Jens Rykær
SUMMER 2003
My first summer course back in 1994 lasted two
weeks in which you joined different groups. In
mine we had to write a script and make a story
board for a small film in which we later acted.
It was great fun. Bjørn Erichsen who was the
principal then told the story about the school’s
coming into existence and thanks to Søren Gericke
who was the chef at that time, never ever
have I had such exciting and tasty food. Every
morning we had to press our own orange juice
– that was the style. Simple, fresh and healthy.
I first found out about the European Film College
on MTV and immediately I related to the
idea of actually signing up for a summer course.
I have always been a kind of a film nerd and as a
child I dreamt of becoming a star but the talent
was not there I guess.
Every year I look forward to the new programme
for the summer. It is simply so nice to
be in Ebeltoft and spend a week with people
who share my keen interest in film. Some of
them really know a lot and we all find it even
more exciting when you actually get to meet the
director.
“All ten summers
have been great”
I have attended many different courses. Danish
film, films in Europe, Asian films, television as a
medium and the “Evenings in Paradise”. I have
met many interesting lecturers and directors and
also enjoy ‘travelling the world’ by film. Maybe
the most exciting event for me was the course
on television with Bjørn Erichsen and “Asia in
my heart” with Ole Michelsen, but then again,
all ten summers have been nice.
The last 4-5 years I have chosen Ulrich Breuning’s
courses during which I have met five wonderful
friends. We now meet every summer and
also we see each other once a month in each
others’ homes for a nice lunch and chat film.
Funnily enough we do not go to the cinema
together. When I want to see a film it is a hereand-now
decision. Usually in the Grand Theatre,
Copenhagen.
I’ll be 62 years this summer and I still work full
time as a tailor in an activity centre. What happens
when I retire I do not know, but I guess
Ebeltoft will always be in my heart.

SUMMER 2003
Harriet Knitter and the Chamber of Secrets
By Irene P. Paaske
They noticed it every now and then when they
went upstairs to the college office or the library.
A sign. It was grey, slightly chipped on the bottom
left hand corner and maybe it didn’t hang
quite straight. International Department, it
said.
Further down along the short corridor to the
left, just opposite the copy room, was a door.
You could see that it had not been there always,
there was a doorstep where the other doors on
the same floor didn’t have one, as if it was covering
a missing piece of carpet, and the doorframe
was still lacking some finish.
Every now and then they mentioned it, the students.
“Have you noticed the door next to the
copy room?” “Is it an office or something?” “I
think that the fax machine is in there.” “Oh, I
didn’t even know that there was another office
there.” “Well, frankly, I don’t even know where
the copy room is.”
Usually, during the office hours, a middle aged
woman was sitting in there. She had reached the
age where you are no longer young but would
not be classified as old either, a kind of no-man’s
land, where people almost disappear, emerging
later shining with the experience and wisdom
accumulated though a long life that only older
people posses. Maybe that is why they had never
really noticed her. A couple of times a week a
student popped in to send a fax and left again.
Otherwise she sat there alone, staring at her
computer screen or reading some papers.
Harriet Knitter was one of the students who
didn’t have a clue about what she would be
when she grew up. That was the reason she
and her parents had thought this college was
such a great idea. She had been enjoying herself,
she had attended all the classes, all the parties,
hadn’t dated all the boys, although a fair
0
selection of them. Now it was almost the end of
term, she had had fun, laerned a lot but she still
didn’t know what to do when she grew up.
One day Harriet was expecting a fax from her
mother. She had already had some trouble with
the college’s office because her course payment
had not arrived in spite of her mother having
told her the bank transfer had been made long
ago.
Harriet’s mother was a blond, nice, but somewhat
absent-minded woman so you could not
always count on her taking care of all the practical
things in life. Now she would fax the proof,
a copy of the bank transfer, so they could sort
things out before Harriet would have to call
her dad who was now living with a new wife,
30 years younger than himself and actually five
years younger that Harriet.
His father would not like that at all, he would
get all red in his face and use the missing payment
as another example in a long row of explanations
for him leaving his first family and
settling down with this young little thing who,
however, luckily loved him for his intelligence,
sense of humour and all his not so few extra
pounds and thinning red hair and wasn’t at
all interested in the contents of his numerous
swelling bank accounts. What a lovely creature.
So much different from his first wife, that headless
chicken, he would say. It was a pity that his
daughter and ex-wife were not able to see it and
continued to make his life so difficult by hinting
that Yasmine Hélène’s intentions were more
suitable to be written about by Patricia Highsmith
than Barbara Cartland, the latter being
actually his beloved wife’s favourite writer. And
in additon to that they forced him to interrupt
his comfortable life every now and then because
he had to straighten things out due to these
“hens” incapacity to take care of the simpliest
things.

Harriet went upstairs. The air was made thick
by dust developed by copy machines and too
many computers, cigarette and pipe smoking, a
long winter with closed windows and too many
wall-to-wall carpets. It made her contact lenses
feel dry and she wondered how the people in
the offices were coping when they couldn’t keep
the windows open.
She took a left turn by the chipped, grey sign
and saw that the door to this strange office was
open. The woman was talking on the phone.
She was speaking in Danish but you could hear
that she had an odd accent. Harriet went in
and asked if she could wait for a fax that was to
come any minute. And then a sudden curiosity
made her to ask: “What are you doing, I mean,
what do you actually work with?”
The woman looked surprised as if she wasn’t
used to people talking to her. Later she would
explain how she listened to people shouting
SUMMER 2003
“ A new Approach” Cinema seminar in June
at the copy machines on the other side of the
corridor. “They actually talk to them, both
the teachers and the staff”, she would explain.
“They beg them not to jam, they hurry them
up, and every now and then they are not working
too well and then you can hear words that
you would never expect to be used by grownup,
cultivated people.”
“Well”, said the woman. “you asked what I am
doing. In the winter I have quite a lot of time
off because I work so much in the summer.
Now I take care of our homepage, work on development
of some new things that hopefully
will raise our activity level again, and prepare
for the coming season. After you all have left in
May we rent our facilities to organizations and
companies, who want to arrange seminars and
courses here and I co-ordinate all that. People
just love it here, you know.”
“Oh, how interesting”, answered Harriet politely,
looking at the fax machine. Nothing yet.
Photo: Bettan

SUMMER 2003
“For example”, continued the woman, “Last
summer we had the Danish TV station TV2
that came for the seventh time for an internal
workshop”.
Harriet was now sitting on a not too confortable
chair but despite that she began to feel
sleepy. The woman continued with her deep
slow voice and Harriet hoped that the fax
would come soon so she could get out of that
office. The early spring sun was shining through
the large windows making the air thick and far
too warm.
“Then there was a course for cinema exhibitors”,
she said. “How nice,” said Harriet and
was afraid that she would not be able to keep
her eyes open much longer.
“Did you know that there are no other courses
like that arranged for European exhibitors?”
asked the woman and raised her voice a little.
It looked like she was actually somewhat upset
about the fact. “And do you know what?” she
asked sounding depressed. No, Harriet didn’t
know and she would probably fall asleep any
second now. Just keep your eyes open, keep
your eyes open, keep...
“There is no financing for it any longer! That
means that we can not arrange it the next summer.
Can you believe it? This is the one and
only, fantastic possibility for the European exhibitors
to really have time for informal discussions,
exchange ideas and listen to lectures given
by top industry experts. It is so much fun and
the participants have liked it a lot. It is so unfair.”
The woman continued explaining how this
course had been arranged already three times
together with the Danish Exhibitors’ Association,
whose idea it originally was, and an Italian
organization called MEDIA Salles, which collects
data about cinema going in Europe and
prepares other cinema related statistics. She
didn’t obviously notice that Harriet was present
only physically and gave a longer lecture about
the European Union’s support systems and the
inaccessibility of the same and how difficult it
was to get anything financed at all. This was
obviously something that had made the activity
level of that department slow down during
the last couple of years. “But”, she proclamed,
“We don’t give up. Just wait and see. We’ll show
them.” If Harriet believed that? Her head tilted
and she woke up from her slumber. Oh yes,
sure, but where on earth was the fax her mother
should have send. Delighted to see Harriet’s
eyes open the woman shook off her depression
about the training situation of the exhibitors
and continued her story.
“The main Nordic TV stations arrange a festival
for children and youth programmes every
second year, they were her too last summer, for
the third time. Happy nice people and lots of
work, but also lots of fun too!” she explained.
“And the Danish Actors’ Guild came back too
with actors, directors, photographers and editors.
They work more or less around the clock
during their 9-day long workshop, every now
and then it actually happens that someone forgets
to go to bed and the first thing the kichen
staff see when they arrive next morning are a
couple of slightly tipsy actors who have stayed
up all night discussing and drinking wine in the
dining hall.”
The woman’s voice started to fade again and
Harriet’s eyelids began to feel heavier and heavier.
Still no fax, she was afraid that she’d have to
call her father soon. “SIMI”, Harriet could hear
the deep voice from somewhere far away, probably
as far as China, “is a management training
institute. They are the only clients we have that
don’t have anything to do with the film industry.
But they find our facilitites excellent and
arrange every year a session of their Executive
MBA education here. And after them, in July,
there is the summer high school period where
the other department takes over. You must read
more about that in our yearbook, Final Cut, on
page....”
Harriet struggled her way up to the surface again
and said that she found all this really interesting,
but she was a little busy and if the woman
was sure that the fax was working. There might

e paper missing or something. “It is working
fine”, the woman answered with a hint of disapproval
in her voice. Why would the fax not
be working? Paper missing? Please... It actually
happens that people give wrong fax numbers
she said and looked Harriet straight in the eyes
and that made Harriet feel a little uncomfortable.
She decided to show more interest for the
summer activities. Maybe that would help the
woman to warm up again, she didn’t look like a
person you would like to argue too much with.
“Well, and then in August we hosted a workshop
of an regular customer, Nordisk Film again.
You must know it, the company that produces
films and programmes for many TV stations.
It was a heatwave during their stay and the library
where they were sitting was like a Finnish
sauna”, she continued with at dreaming look in
her eyes. Finnish sauna, of course, there was the
explanation for her accent. Harriet asked if she
came form Finland and realized that this comment
had melted the ice that could be felt in
the air when she had questioned the reliability
of the fax machine. “Yes, indeed I do”, said the
woman delighted and complimented Harriet
on her fantastic ability to distinguish different
languages and accents.
Then she continued her talk about the previous
summer. Harriet counted that there could not
be too many arrangements left since they were
already in the beginning of August. Great. She
desperately needed a nap, as she had been sitting
in the editing room almost the whole night
keeping company to a cute maybe-this-is-theboyfriend-for-the-rest-of-the-term.
“Danish Film Institute returns in the end of
every August for their short and documentary
film meeting. They are usually around 150 people
so you can believe that everybody is busy
during that weekend,” continued the woman.
If Harriet had managed to keep her eyes open
she would have noticed that the woman was
looking at her with a hint of disapproval on her
face.
SUMMER 2003
“And then, our last guests that summer were
school teachers who participated in a very succesful
seminar on film education in schools.
They were here in September, just before the
new 8-month students arrived.”
There was a nice silence and Harriet was drifting
aimlesly in her cosy slumber, just where
the reality gets mixed with the dreams creating
strange connections with the sounds and words
the ears are hearing and occasional brain activity.
Now for example the woman was talking
about one thing she had forgotten to tell about.
A 5-day course in Rome in September for cinema
exhibitors where the college was one of
the organizers and where the participants had
a chance to visit some interesting cinemas and
the legendary Italian film mecca, Cinecittá.
Harriet tried to get herself to wake up but
dreamt instead about a Colosseum that was rebuilt
into a megaplex with the seats made of
candy and where the woman was howering up
in the air, swaying on a broom fighting against
flying colourful popcorn. Then a soft comfortable
silence fell around her.
It was dark outside when she woke up. Her
neck was hurting and her mouth was dry, she
must have been dribbling in her sleep. How
embarrassing. She raised her head and felt that
somebody was looking at her. The room was
empty but there was a strange reflexion on the
large office window. It looked like the face of
the office woman, still on the broom with Colosseum
in the background. How odd. Suddenly
Harriet felt a light breeze, the air smelled like
a sunny summer day, of freshly cut grass and
flowers. The woman’s hair was blowing in the
breeze and she was looking at Harriet. Harriet
could have sworn that the face on the window
smiled at her as it turned to look at the fax.
Slowly a paper with Harriet’s name came out.
The fragile remains of almost inexistent family
peace were restored. She didn’t need to call her
father.

Diary 2003-04
By Jens Rykær
SUMMER 2003
The 10-year-jubilee festivity in late August gave
in a way the new term a head start. The mix of a
former student reunion, an outdoor reception,
gala dinner and a board meeting was indeed a
showcase of everything that the EFC really is.
An international school, a lively meeting place,
an important local cultural institution and, on
and off, certainly a loony-bin (see all about this
event, p.32).
The school looked its best the 9th of September
when we welcomed a new batch of students for
the eleventh time. The grass was mowed, the
flag was up, the sun was shining on the hilly
landscape. The school will not be as clean for
a long time. One more time 108 young people
had decided to spend eight months in Ebeltoft
in order to find their path for the future within
or outside the intriguing world of the audiovisual
media. 27 nations represented - among
them Namibia, Japan, Bangladesh and for the
first time a student from Palestine has applied
thanks to a gracious grant from the ”Enkefru
Plum’s Foundation”. First week is a turmoil of
information, getting to know each other and
Martin Zandvliet, Ulrik E. Nielsen, Kasper Torsting - former students on life after EFC
the school’s facilities, the teachers and their
skills, the staff – in short: the ropes of the concept
called the EFC. One brand new element
was introduced. A penalty system in relation to
the duties in the kitchen and cleaning! Forever
it has been a pain in the neck for students and
teachers to keep up the quality (and presence)
of those conducting these not-so-prestigious
activities. Students have always missed a policy
of consequence for those who skipped out so
a fining system had been designed: Absence
from a duty without having organized a substitute
would cost 100 kr. This money would
not go into the school’s slender account but go
directly to another student who volunteered to
take over. Fair and square and when asked all
students agreed to the system. And the curse of
the duties has actually worked so much better
than previously. For some students the phrase
“work one’s way through college” has indeed
been very factual.
Teambuilding was introduced in a more substantial
way during intro-week theoretically and
practically by way of literally building strange
Photo: Jens Rykær

devices on the football field in groups followed
by lessons in the noble art of working together.
In order to facilitate students and teachers even
better we are constantly looking for ways to
extend the number of square meters without
actually adding to the buildings. This year it
has been done by appropriating lilac common
room and turning it into a small studio especially
for the acting classes. Also red and green
common rooms were turned into new student
offices with computers and all. Of course that
manoeuvre put a lot of pressure on the only
common room left – the blue one – as the only
now existing ‘after hours party house’ – but to
ease the pressure we have turned the old students’
office into a nice and quaint lounge and
bar for everybody to use, summer and winter.
This huge task was taken on by bunch of really
dedicated students late March.
Courses
After the usual two weeks of “shooting games”
(exercises) during which students shoot 3minute
films dogme style, real school began.
SUMMER 2003
Karen Litthauer, Danish documentarist
Graham Edmondson
Photo: Jens Rykær
Photo: Jens Rykær

SUMMER 2003
Chr. Brand Thomsen & Holger Bech Nielsen
For the first time ever we had no new faces in
the faculty. In many ways it was a relief to know
that everybody on board knew exactly what was
expected of them. That fact did not, however,
exclude the arrival of many outsiders during
term.
During the first course period producer MADS
EGMONT CHRISTENSEN taught production
and also gave a common lecture on ‘Vertical
integration’ within European film production.
Teaching directing, ESBEN HØJLUND-
CARLSEN’s courses are often complemented
by outside talent in order to accommodate ‘the
real thing’ as best as possible. Actress SARAH
BOBERG participated during the workshop
before Christmas as a ‘victim’ for the students’
personal directing skills. This model was developed
in January with the assistance from veteran
director GERD FREDHOLM and eight
professional actors from Copenhagen. Monologues,
dialogues and quartets from famous
plays were understudied and interpreted and
put on tape for everybody to enjoy afterwards.
Also during the Christmas workshop we were
visited by stunt coordinator JACOB RIEWE
(former student) who threw around students in
the old library during the stunt course and editor
LARS BO KIMERGAARD did an extensive
course in creative editing. The workshop
concept was continued right after Christmas
during which veteran editor and a dear friend
of the college MAMOUN HASSAN did a editing
based course on Kurosawa combined with
more private consultations with students and
their projects and scripts. Parallel to this MARK
LE FANU lectured on a string of Ingmar Bergman’s
films while HENRIK KOLIND (former
student) managed a multi camera crash course
in the studio resulting in a full fletched music
video with a live band.
SIGRID BENNIKE, freelance set designer,
taught a full course in set design. Building
models and finding the proper artistic/aesthetic
expression was the order of the day. Also we
wanted people trained for the upcoming TVproject
in February. Vocal therapist SABINE
BECK-BARNTH gave a weekend workshop
on vocal training in March.
A new structure within the curriculum was
chosen this year for two projects. Usually TV-
and documentaryprojects have been executed
in two separate periods consisting of four weeks
each. Taking into account that only half the
students are interested in documentary and television
respectively we decided to run these two
projects in parallel thus increasing the motivation
and workload for the really keen ones. As a
bonus we saved four weeks that could be spent
otherwise.
We could now offer two weeks for ‘individual
studies’ and an extra two-week course period in
March. ‘Individual studies’ could be finishing
extra curriculars, writing for the finals, research
in relation to life after Ebeltoft, watching films
that students never found time to watch, read
that damned book that had been lying on the
bedside-table for months etc.
The TV-project was launched in February (and
aired on DR4 in March) and it was decided to
do a satirical sit.com concentrating on a family
sucked into TV-watching with additional
sketches, commercials and music. MOGENS

KLØVEDAL gave an introduction to the skill
of ‘writing for TV’, while long time producer
LISE LENSE MØLLER did the selection and
external evaluation of the documentaries. Director
HEIDI MARIA FAISST (former student by
the way) assisted Esben during his last directing
course also involving a bunch of acting students
from the acting school in Odense. Also former
student, BARBARA OSTENFELD, offered a
course in production management which included
an introduction to the Movie Magic
scheduling computer programme.
Guest lecturers
The college offers a line-up of so-called “Common
lectures” during course periods, designed
to give inspiration and food for thought. If students
were to decide, all common lectures would
deal with film related matters. For students it is
hard to understand that there actually is something
else besides film out there. Immigrant actor
FAHSAD KHOLGI gave a talk on immigration,
cultural differences between a Muslim
society such as Iran and a streamlined democracy
such as Denmark. Philosopher EMILY KA-
PLERS talked about the concept of time in film
in general and in Kurosawa’s films in particular.
Historian TINE HØISGAARD JENSEN gave
a lecture on ‘conflict prevention’ based on a special
Indian philosophy. In November we were
visited by belly dancer ANNI BRØGGER who
has studied and made theories in conjunction
with the National Museum about the clothing
of the “Egtved Girl” – a remarkable find from
the stone age in Denmark. Former student AN-
DREAS DALGAARD came by with his new
documentary shot in Afghanistan. He also put
the question “What happens after Ebeltoft?”,
an other documentarist, KAREN LITTHAU-
ER, showed her most recent film from Greenland
and told about film production under extreme
conditions. Freelance philosopher KELD
BRIKNER gave a brisk and provocative lecture
titled ‘When individualism beat solidarity”.
CHRISTOPHER WINTLE, senior lecturer in
music at King’s College London, lectured on
the construction of a soundtrack and the choice
SUMMER 2003
of music based on the screening of the classic
British film ‘The Queen of Spades (1948) directed
by Thorold Dickinson and with music
by Georges Auric.
In January two former students, KASPER
TORSTING and MARTIN ZANDVLIET
presented their highly successful documentary
“Rocket Brothers” on the band ‘Kashmir’ and
also Kasper’s TV-programme with David Bowie
being interviewed by Thomas Vinterberg.
GRAHAM EDMONDSON, film marketing
manager from Dolby Laboratories, lectured on
sound on film from the very beginning, including
the first stereo tests by Alan Blumlein, Disney’s
Fantasound format, Cinerama to the latest
Dolby Digital EX audio technology extravaganza.
In March further input on sound was given
by STEPHEN SCHWARTZ, veteran radio
‘painter-of-sound’ at DR since the early sixties.
On a cold and rainy Sunday afternoon the first
president of the board of the EFC, film director
MORTEN ARNFRED, passed by and screened
his successful low budget comedy “Move On”
and conducted a Q&A session afterwards in
dining hall.
Former students, ULRIK EHRHORN
NIELSEN and KASPER BIRCH (95/96), now
Cuban Night
Photo: Jens Rykær

Photo: Jens Rykær
Christopher Wintle
SUMMER 2003
working within television as developer and producer
at DR and Zulu, showed clips, talked
about reality shows, entertainment, career possibilities
after the EFC and on how to develop
ideas. Students were invited to pitch ideas and
receive instant feedback.
Special events
In September the Glass Museum hosted an
event called “the Creative Process” – a debate
between film director CHRISTIAN BRAAD
THOMSEN and professor of mathematics
HOLGER BECH NIELSEN followed by Ed
Harris’s film “Pollock”. The very same day a
group of Scandinavian journalists visited the
school, had a tour around the premises and finally
enjoyed the companionship of film director
NILS MALMROS and
his “Århus by Night”.
In October we hosted a political
round table conference
with the agenda “The New
Europe” with culture and
film as the overall topics. The
principal put the EFC into
this context, member of parliament
LARS BARFOED
gave his view on conservative
cultural policy, the new
manager of ‘Filmby Århus’
SØREN POULSEN shed
light on this new initiative
and two young filmmakers
KARSTEN and CHRIS-
TIAN KORSAGER MUD,
both from DR, talked about
being young in this demanding
business. The afternoon
was ended by the screening
of the Swedish comedy “Kops”.
Later the same month we hosted the premiere
of “A Happy Life”, produced by Potemkin in
Århus and in which quite a few former EFCstudents
had participated.
In November it was time for students to shake
their hips to tunes brought in from the outside.
Two bands from “the Rhythmic High School”
– “Funky Foxes” and “Mo Fos” interpreted old
classics and new hits galore. A couple of days
later we were invaded by an Albanian delegation
headed by ambassador QEMAL MINX-
HOZI and consul GENC PERMETI. We all
had Albanian food, watched Albanian films and
had an insight view of what Albania is today.
Sunday the 17th of January we shall never forget.
More than 500 people from the outside
passed through the gates. In the morning the
Glass Museum hosted a seminar for 157 glass
artists and architects followed by a lunch in
Dining Hall. I the afternoon the renowned harmony
orchestra “Tonica” (60 musicians) gave a
New Year’s concert, also in Big Bear, in front
of an enthusiastic full house with a very diverse
programme consisting of classic and more common
pieces. Special guest star was SUSANNE
ELMARK from the Royal Danish Opera. Add
to the logistics a champagne break, a “musical
warming up session” also in Dining hall and
still 108 students to care for at the same time
and you will have an impression of the day (see
also p. 8).
Inspired by former student HELLE WINDEL-
ØV’s successful documentary “El Amor de Don
Robaina” the school hosted a Cuban Night in
February with a double feature consisting of
Helle’s film and Oliver Stone’s “Commandante”.
Almost a hundred people turned up from
down town Ebeltoft enjoying both the films

and a nice mojita as an appetizer. Helle was
present and told about the making of her film
and answered questions from the enthusiastic
audience (see also p.74).
This year’s excursion in February went to the
Rotterdam Film Festival in February after three
successive years to Gothenburg. The unfortunate
mix of young students and the average
Swedish youth hostel is a bit like oil and water.
As we had brought our own buses it was convenient
to organize our own shuttle service back
and forth. Most important – we had absolutely
no problems with our accommodation at the
“Hans Brinkner Hotel” in dead centre of A’dam
(see also p.xx).
Immediately after returning from Holland 14
lucky students went off to Berlin where they
hooked up to the ‘Talent Campus’. Four of
them had been selected according to the procedure
(including a 1-minute film), another ten
had been invited by the festival as guests (see
p.xxx).
In March Richard Raskin, head of the media
and information department at Aarhus university
paved the way for three young filmmakers
of short films, SYTSKE KOK and ROSAN
DIEHO from Holland and GILI DOLEV
FROM Scotland, to screen their films and have
a talk with students.
Another breath from the outside was offered by
the producer and scriptwriter of ‘Girl With a
Pearl Earring’, ANDY PATERSON and OLIV-
IA HETREED (p. 43). It happened during the
same weekend when the acclaimed band ‘Burning
Bush’ gave a formidable concert in a packed
studio displaying ‘traditional Jewish World Music’
kindly sponsored by member of the board
JAN HARLAN. The concert was filmed by
students who had practised this multi camera
SUMMER 2003
challenge for two weeks.
This event will end up as a
DVD edited by former student
KATIA De VIDAS.
JAN HARLAN came back
to give his tale of his life long
function as Stanley Kubrick’s
producer. Very close to the
of term we were delighted to
welcome back another trio
of ex-students (two of them
from Wales actually) – LIS-
BETH LYNGHOFT, NIA
DRYHURST and LUNED
EMYR who brought films
and discussed their post-
EFC careers.
Whatever has happened?
Oh yes! A visit by a delegation
from Bolivia in August,
among them the minister of
culture MARIA ISABEL AL-
VAREZ PLATA and manager
of the national Film Institute
EDUARDO LOPEZ.
Another busy year? You can say that indeed.
PS: And after deadline we shall be visited by
Albanian director and cartoonist BUJAR KA-
PEXHIU and director ERIK CLAUSEN who
will introduce his latest feature Villa Paranoia.
Mogens Kløvedal
Photo: Jens Rykær

SUMMER 2003
0

Events

Jubilee Celebrations
By Mark Le Fanu
EVENTS
During the year 2003 the College celebrated its
first ten years of existence. The annual summer
Reunion was bigger than usual and extended by
a day to accommodate an afternoon of festivities,
crowned by a grand Gala Dinner at which
the current Principal Jens Rykær and his three
predecessors (Bjørn Erichsen [1993-95], Keld
Nielsen [1995-1996] and Kjeld Veirup [1996-
2000]) spoke movingly of their time in charge
here, and the changes that had taken place under
their different custodianships.
There had been more speeches and celebrations
earlier that afternoon (30th August). Knud
Petersen, together with his wife Bodil Riskær,
were two of the founders of the College. Ten
years on, the College honoured them with a
specially engraved plaque that has been hung
underneath the marine bell beside the EFC entrance.
Per Holst, chairman of the board, made
a speech praising Knud’s contribution to College’s
early days, to which the tall bearded Knud
(every bit as much as “Viking” as Per is) replied
gracefully.
A large tent had been set up in the forecourt
of the College where these speeches were held
and where the guests mingled. Champagne and
excellent eats had been provided by the kitchen.
The weather forecast looked bad earlier in the
day, but the rain mercifully held off. Just after
Per’s speech, Ebeltoft’s mayor, Jørgen Brøgger,
planted a ceremonial oak at a prominent site
near the flagpole. It will still be standing there
(we hope) along with the College itself in a
Jørn Vendelbo & Kjeld Veirup Knud Pedersen Susanne Brandt
Palle “Cigar” Søren Kragh-Jacobsen Jens Rykær & Nils Malmros
Photos: Claus Ulrich

hundred years time. To mark the occasion with appropriate
solemnity, a magnificent seven part women’s choir called
Simili (which ten years ago had provided a similar service
for the College’s official inauguration) broke into song as
the Mayor patted down the final spadeful of earth.
Singing of a different kind came later: Ulla Hjorth Nielsen’s’s
new collection of songs from the movies (Toner fra Filmen,
edition Wilhelm Hansen) was given an official “christening”
by the editor herself who snazzily sang a couple of
numbers accompanied by ex-student Laura Hypponen on
the piano. Music, in general, was part of the flavour of the
afternoon, giving the occasion lift, rhythm and pace: local
jazz quartet XYZ had been “on duty” since early in the day,
welcoming the guests and, hours later, sending them happily
on their way.
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Camilla Larsson, Ian Fraser, Susannne Katz
“Simili”
Photos: Claus Ulrich

During the weekend, guests from abroad
were given the chance to see two major
contemporary Danish films
on excellent subtitled festival
prints: Lars von Trier’s latest
work Dogville, and another
beautiful movie - controversial
in a different way
- At kende sandheden/Facing
the Truth, directed by
our newest board member
Nils Malmros. This was
screened along with Martin
Strange’s Oscar-winning
short Der er en yndigt Man/
translation (shown in the presence
of its director) : highlights
among literally scores of movies that
were shown the space of the Reunion’s
three days from Thursday to Saturday.
EVENTS
Kjeld Veirup
Morten Arnfred
Jens Rykær
Mark Le Fanu - 10 year - Jubilarian
Photo: Ward Scott

As always, ex-students brought their own latest
work to show and discuss among friends in a
programme devised and orchestrated by Chris
Pedersen and his hardworking team of reunion
organisers (Nicholas Neuhold from the
1998/99 intake, Mathilde Stæhr from 2000/01,
Sille Boel, Rikke Gjerløv Hansen and Sonny
Lahey from 2001/02). World premieres included
Jan Harlan’s magnificently edited version of
a classical music concert shot at the College in
December 2002, Helle Windeløv’s El Amor de
Don Robaina (an eye-opening portrait of one
of Cuba’s great tobacco barons) and Laurids
Munch-Petersen’s Danish Film School diploma
film Mellem Os, vibrantly alive on a 35 mm widescreen
print that brought out to the full the
film’s splendidly realised production values.
Note: the College is not planning a reunion in
2004. Instead, there will be a summer arrangement
in the Jazz House in Copenhagen. The
EVENTS
reunion in August 2005 is planned to bring
together all the students who were present in
the College in 1995/96. Anyone who doesn’t
yet know about this, and who would like
to attend, should contact Maya Mørch on
mayamorch@hotmail.com
The man with the idea-Knud Pedersen
“Gala Dinner”
Photo: Ward Scott

Ebeltoft Lecture
By Mark Le Fanu
EVENTS
GIRL WITH A PEARL EARRING
The EFC was visited on March 27 by Andy
Paterson and Olivia Hetreed, respectively the
producer and screenwriter of one of the major
new arthouse films of the year, Girl with a
Pearl Earring, adapted from the novel by Tracy
Chevalier. The film was shown early in the afternoon
(on a pristine 35 mm print) following
which Andy and Olivia spoke for an hour or so
about its making to the large and appreciative
audience gathered in Big Bear. An edited transcript
of the conversation is published below.
The occasion was altogether a pleasure, all the
more so in that the film is such a genuinely distinguished
adaptation, rare of its kind in being
in no way inferior to the novel that inspired it.
Olivia Hetreed’s screenplay is a model of literary
tact: subtle and restrained in ways that honour
the book’s discreet eroticism, while at the
same time managing to be both dramatic and
suspenseful. Scarlett Johansson’s performance as
the maid Griet who is taken into the household
of the painter Johannes Vermeer (1632-1675)
has deservedly won universal praise. Photogra-
Olivia Hetreed
phy (Eduardo Serra), sets (Ben van Os) and costume
design (Dien van Straalen) are likewise of
an extraordinarily high standard – as of course
they needed to be, in a film that takes as one of
its principal subjects the mystery of light itself.
Vemeer’s original painting, on which both book
and film were based, hangs in the Mauritshuis
in The Hague.
Mark Le Fanu: Olivia, what makes a book
stand out? What gives you the feeling that this is
the one that HAS to be made into a film?
Olivia Hetreed: I was fortunate enough to
be sent this book because I happen to share an
agent with Tracy Chevalier - one of those strokes
of good fortune that come along occasionally. I
read it in one sitting. It was quite compelling. I
fell in love straight away, and I have never fallen
out of love with this one. It is a wonderful
book and the good thing is, it is a very simple
story, nothing “epic” about it, it doesn’t have
hundreds of characters. It is essentially a story

about seeing and being seen, which is the heart
of cinema.
M Le F: What adjustments did you make in
adapting the story?
O H: The book is written in the first person
and constantly describes what the heroine feels
about what is going on. So the first question
was how to put these emotions into film. It
seemed to be very important not to use voiceover,
because voice-over suggests a degree of self
analysis and awareness - a distance to the situation,
and none of this seemed appropriate for
the character of the heroine, Griet. The emotions
had to be translated through her physical
surroundings and through interaction with the
other characters. Luckily I didn’t notice how
difficult that would be until I was too far gone
in the project to go back!
M Le F: Were you guided more by the book’s images
or by the narration?
O H: I almost always start with what to me is a
compelling image. Here for example it was the
image of the girl standing on the star in the middle
of the town square trying to decide which
way her life was going. And I was rather thrilled
that we were able to go to that square in Delft
and film it just as it took place in the book. At
other times I make things up. There was sometimes
something that I needed an equivalent for
that wasn’t there, and I had to find it. For example,
the scene where Griet is holding the silver
bowl, and the light is reflected from it onto a
nearby wall: I made that up to “put over” Griet’s
revelation about light and painting. It was fairly
easy to invent things, because the novel is full
of manual work – the scene is always busy; the
characters never just sit around chatting.
M Le F: We know that screenplays go through a
number of drafts – it can be a huge number. How
many in this case?
EVENTS
O H: Not all that many. You see these yellow
tabs I’ve attached to the pages of this proof copy
of the novel? They represent the novel’s different
scenes. I break them down one by one. The
time line in the book is quite convoluted; it goes
forwards, then back three months, then forward
again, then back a month, and so on. I sorted it
out into a linear time scheme, and I got rid of all
the scenes that I could until I was left with what
I thought I needed: it was like dealing out playing
cards. What I was left with formed the basis
of my Treatment. A treatment is a sort of ten
page document in which each paragraph represents
a scene of the film. This may sound like a
brutal way of getting the story out, but it gives
you the essentials. You don’t get trapped into
writing nice bits of dialogue that aren’t going to
be used in the end. You can tell from it whether
the story is working in the broadest terms. Then
it is a matter of writing a draft and showing it
to people. I come from a background of filmmaking,
so I really enjoy the kind of collaborative
process this entails. A first draft went to
Andy and his production partner, and they gave
me notes, and I produced a polish on that; it
then went to the financiers who gave their own
notes; then there was a second draft, and rather
amazingly, this was the draft that went to the
director. Of course there was more to be done. I
Andy Paterson

EVENTS
spent a wonderful summer working with Mike
Newell on the script, going through it with him
in great detail. After Mike withdrew from the
project (I’ll tell you why in a moment), I got
to work with Peter Webber. It was an incredible
luxury for me working with two such excellent
and wholly committed directors.
M Le F: What about the actors? What about
Scarlett Johansson? How did you find someone who
looks so like the girl in the painting by Vermeer?
O H : Well, from my perspective, I was just the
writer, so I really didn’t have to worry about it!
But what seemed to be very important about
the casting, was that it would be a girl whom
you didn’t know. She had to be mysterious, not
a well-known “face”, with a celebrity boyfriend.
Finding such a girl - that was Andy’s problem.
I would like to say, though, that it was I who
saw Scarlett first, in a small part film in a Coen
Brothers film called The Man Who Wasn’t
There. I thought that she was just phenomenal.
When Andy and Peter went to America,
intending to meet every beautiful Hollywood
starlet between the age of 16 and 21 (poor boys)
I said to them: “while you are fishing, go and
meet Scarlett Johannson!”
Andy Paterson: Let me interject
here by saying, you couldn’t cast the
movie by going for someone identical
to the portrait. It is just not possible.
One has to look out for a combination
of “presence”, acting ability
and physical resemblance. I do not
think that when we began we really
believed that Scarlett looked very
much like the painting. Curiously,
she began to look more like it as we
went along. When she put the headscarf
on, suddenly she was the real
thing!
M Le F: Let me pass on at this point to you, Andy
Paterson. You are the producer of this film. Tell us
a bit about the way it was put together.
A P: When I was last in Ebeltoft, I came with
a film called Hilary and Jackie. It too was also
a film about an artist - in that case a musician.
The experience of working on that film made
me (together with the film’s writer and director)
determined to form our own company. We
wanted a company that was filmmaker-driven
- one that put film before finance, so to speak.
Olivia and I – maybe I should now tell you –
have been living together for more than twenty
years, so when the book landed on Olivia’s table,
we sat down rather patiently and started the
project together. We had to persuade the author
that we were the right people to attack her
work. I think we managed to convince Tracy
Chevalier that we understood the book: both
its cinematic qualities and also the restrained
and repressed love story it contained. (We quite
literally promised her that the pair would never
kiss, and that they would never sleep together -
which is what Tracy wanted to hear.) Now, how
to develop the project? A moment ago, Olivia
said two directors worked on the film. Actually
the real figure is three. The development

process began with our in-house team, headed
by director Anand Tucker. Then one day I had
a classic English phone call from Mike Newell
saying that he had been trying to get hold of
the rights to the novel and had heard that we
already had them, but that if we were still trying
to find a director, do please bear him in mind. At
the time in 2002 when he called me, Mike was
a director who could green-light pretty much
any Hollywood movie, so that call was pretty
tempting from the point of view of putting the
financing together. Once I told our financiers
that Mike was “interested” they got fantastically
excited, but at the same time, for us, it was the
beginning of something of a nightmare. Suddenly
the decisions about the production revolved
around paying the right price for a Mike
Newell film - much more so than anything to
do with the project itself. I found myself in the
middle of a battle where the financiers wanted
Mike Newell’s label on the film at the expense of
almost everything else. All of a sudden the financiers
were starting to look for big names, and
as you heard Olivia say, we weren’t quite sure
we wanted that. But the casting is important
if you want to make a film, so we had to look
around. The girl who suddenly wanted the part
was Kate Hudson, Goldie Hawn’s daughter. She
has just starred in an English movie, and was
desperate to get the role. She came to London,
and did all sort of things to get to meet Mike.
It was quite shocking how much work she had
done to understand the story! Mike Newell,
who is known for his extraordinary ability with
actors, liked her potential, and maybe he was
right. The difficulty is always to balance the purity
of one’s original idea with the practicality of
getting the thing done. Anyway, to cut a long
story short, four weeks before the shooting I
got a phone call from Mike Newell giving me
the extraordinary news that Kate had decided
not to do the film after all! You try as a producer
to think ahead as to what problems there are
going to be, anticipating as many difficulties as
EVENTS
possible, but one thing that we did not see coming
was that the girl who had been pursuing us
and who had worked so hard to get the role,
would be the one to suddenly turn around and
say that she was not going to do it!
M Le F: And what about Mike Newell himself?
Why did he withdraw from the picture?
A P: It was one of those things. I have the greatest
respect for him. Mike Newell is a fantastic
director and a wonderful human being to be
with, but I had no real relationship with him.
As soon as you get a director of that calibre,
then my job as a producer is subtly altered. The
project moves out of your hands in ways that
you can’t foresee. After he left we talked about
Peter Webber, who had been an editor in our
company and had done documentaries for TV
and drama. I think that we took the view that
if we were going to do this, then it would be
on OUR terms. At the same time, I sent the
script to Pathé in London, who loved it and
were only troubled by the scale of the budget
(around $10 million). Let’s face it: 17th century
setting arthouse films have a rather limited audience!
But we persevered with them. Pathé is
both a distribution and a production company,
and the good thing about them is that they are
Anglo-French, so if all went well, two important
territories, at least, would be tied into the
deal. The remaining money we were looking for
needed to come from America. I took Peter out
to Los Angeles and
introduced him to
the actor Ralph Fiennes
who was very
important in terms
of reassuring Hollywood
that this
was a director to
be taken seriously.
The two men hit
it off immediate-

EVENTS
ly. Peter left school early and grew up watching
every movie that has ever been made - he
has a fantastic knowledge and passion about
cinema. The two guys just talked about every
film that they had ever seen, for over an hour.
That was good. Then we met Scarlett Johansson.
The first meeting with her was hilarious,
because her Mother who was very passionate
about the project, and knew we were only in
Los Angeles for a couple of days, sent Scarlett
along, even though at that stage the girl hadn’t
read the script. Actually, it was one of the most
enjoyable hours that we spent on the project.
She talked to us about Burger King and Coke,
and those kinds of things. She’s not the character
we see in the film. A few weeks later she
came in having read the script, and did an hour’s
workshop with Fiennes– it was utterly amazing.
Still our potential American distributor wasn’t
convinced – they wanted to have Reese Witherspoon!
We held out for Scarlett, as you know.
And later, because of schedule clashes, Ralph Fiennes
was replaced by Colin Firth, whom, actually,
we always wanted in the first place.
M Le F: Let’s talk about the location and the
look. You didn’t shoot the film in Holland – you
shot it in Luxemburg: why?
A P: We did try Holland, but whenever we tried
to shoot, we found we were close to streets and
train stations. In addition: there came to be a serious
gulf between what the financiers were prepared
to risk and what the film would cost on
location. Then, suddenly, we had this phone call
from Luxemburg. Luxemburg offers a tax break,
which meant filling in the difference between
what we wanted and what we could afford.
Suddenly we unlocked the entire thing - locations
included. There had been a movie made
there with a Venetian setting, and the sets were
still standing. Now Venice isn’t Delft, but at
least it has canals! So we moved into “Venice”,
and it was absolutely astonishing. It was just what
we wanted.
0
O H: The locale was set in a deserted industrial
estate - you go through a wasteland to get there
So you drive through this place with chimneys,
rusty girders, barking dogs - really depressing!
From the outside it looks deserted, and then
you walk in, and you are in Venice - or Delft,
rather!
A P: We did shoot in Delft itself for one day,
because we wanted that main square as a master
shot. That is one of the odd things about
film-making, that, if you establish the drama
properly, you can cheat afterwards. It’s up to the
film-maker: he creates the rules of his universe.
M Le F: Thank you both very much. Has the
audience got any questions?
Martin Møller Jensen: I’m not quite sure I
heard correctly: How many times did the financial
bottom fall out of the project?
A P: There was only one major time, but it
seemed like every other week! On the last day
of shooting, the director said to me: “Are we
green-lit yet?” And I said: well, I think so. But it
never feels that way!
Jan Harlan: I saw the film for the second time
and I very much enjoyed it. But why did you go
for a modern film score and not period music?
A P: That part of the decision was easy. I
made a film some years ago called Restoration
that was set in the exactly same period in
England. For the preview, we had an authentic
score played on authentic period instruments.
Emotionally, it was a disaster. So as far as I am
concerned, never again.
Karen Jakobsen: The end of the film is
rather different from what it is in the book. Did
Tracy Chevalier mind you making this change?
O H: The truth is, I was allowed to do what I
pleased. Once she signed over the rights, that

was it. The ending in the book has a sort of a epilogue that
takes place 15 years later. Griet has married and has children.
Vermeer bequeaths her the pair of earrings in his
Will. For practical and artistic reasons, to suddenly jump
15 years on, and have this beautiful girl wearing cracky middle-aged
make-up, didn’t seem right. I thought you needed
the beauty and the emotion at this point, and I’m glad to
say Tracy went along with this. (Actually, she went along
with everything. She really understood.)
Mads Egmont Christensen: Can you tell us a little bit
about how the film is doing at the box office?
A P: It has been playing exceptionally well everywhere,
which is unusual for films like this one. It will top out at
about $10 million in the States; it has made $6.5 million in
the UK, $2.5 million dollars in Italy, and is currently playing
well in Australia and in Spain. We expect to make about
$5 million in Japan. It is hard to guess all the reasons for
this success, but probably it has something to do with the
popularity of Vermeer as a painter, and also with the intrinsic
excellence of the novel. Then there is the fact (important
for foreign markets) that it is not dialogue-heavy, it is very
EVENTS
pure and cinematic. Naturally, the concurrent success of
Scarlett Johansson in Lost in Translation also had its part to
play (though I have to say, she was in our film first!)
M Le F: This has been an absorbing conversation, but unfortunately
we must stop here – thank you again for these interesting
insights into the making of the film. You have done a wonderful
job this afternoon. I hope that you will stay and join us
for the party afterwards, where we have a small gift for you.

Photo: Jean Leander
News Year’s Concert
EVENTS
By Lars P. Peitersen Musical fireworks with champagne and
almond sticks!
The 17th of January saw the EFC host a grand
New Year’s concert that might become a regular
fixture on the calendars of Ebeltoft and neighbouring
areas. The harmony orchestra “Promusica”,
comprising sixty musicians, entertained
an absolutely full house (Big Bear that is) and
under the direction of Michael Deltchev, having
put together a festive programme of high
quality including a first presentation of a piece
named “Puella Rustica” composed by Frank
Achmann.
Coloratura soprano Susanne Elmark, (who has
performed at the Royal Opera in Copenhagen,
Deutsche Oper in Berlin and at the opera in Tel
Aviv) demonstrated her talent and repertoire
with Mozart’s “Tryllefløjten”, “Flagermusen” by
Strauss and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Wishing
You Were Here Again”.
In the lighter moments, we enjoyed Gershwin’s
“Summertime”, Woodfield’s “Kalinka”, “Samba
Time” by Schneider, a Frank Sinatra medley
and “Spanish Gypsy Dance” by Marquina. The
whole programme was linked together by myself
and entertainer Søren Dahl, a well know radio
host from DR (“Café Hack”), In the middle
of all the seriousness he succeeded in cooking a
chicken and making popcorn.
During the break, the dining hall acted as the
perfect lobby/bar, offering champagne and almond
sticks for all. The concert then hit its
climax with beautiful fireworks and Lumbye’s
“Champagne Gallop”. Finally, a mention should
go to the “Tonicas Wind Quartet” who warmed
up the audience in dining before the mayor’s
speech, which itself preceded the main event.
ProMusica Ebeltoft
A classical music festival with the objective to
make Ebeltoft a cultural center for music and
to accommodate both well knowe artists and
young talent from the conservatories.
ProMusica presents a diversified programme
ranging from solo concerts, chamber concerts,
using either smaller groups or big orchestras
and choirs. The string of events starts off with
the New Year’s Gals Concert. The festival is
organized by the Danish Music Consort and is
supported by the municipality of Ebeltoft.
DaMuCo
A company designed to promote music culture
by way of concerts, courses and other
networking events for musicians and singers,
both nationally and internationally.
DaMuCo has especially focussed on music
from Central and Eastern Europe and the
propagation of the music from these regions.
The chairman of DaMuCo is Michael Deltchev,
who originates from Bulgaria. He is a well
known and skilled conductor, connected with
several choirs and orchestras in Denmark like
“Den Jyske Operas Kor” . He is also a visiting
conductor for several choirs in the USA,
Bulgaria and Sweden. The backer for the Da-
MuCo project is opera singer Jesper Brun-
Jensen fro “Den Jyske Opera”. Both of these
gentlemen were educated at the conservatory
in Sofia.

EVENTS
The Burning bush meets EFC
By Louise B. Andersen
& Johanne K.
Thalmann
On the 26th of March 2004 the EFC was visited
by The Burning Bush, a Klezmer ensemble
from England. Jan Harlan, member of the
school board, brought the band over for a concert
thus giving us the opportunity to film the
live concert as a multi-camera-production.
We prepared for the big day during a two
week course with our teacher Suzanne Popp.
We learned everything about the control room
and how to operate the studio cameras as well
as having a lot of fun with the exercises. A few
students from the course formed documentary
teams who would interview the band and shoot
behind-the-scenes as the project progresses.
Due to the limited preparation time, our background
knowledge about the band and Klezmer
music was rather thin. This however wasn’t a
problem and the band were very friendly and
open to questions.
The night before the concert we made our way
to Tirstrup Airport where we awaited the band
with our camera rolling. Denmark showed its
best side greeting the Burning Bush with a nice
little blizzard after a day of sunshine. The band
went straight to the hotel to get a good night’s
sleep before the long day ahead for all of us.
From early morning on we started setting up for
the interview. When the bandmembers arrived
Photos: Laurent Ziegler

at the school we began the behind-the-scenes
shooting, following the whole process from unpacking
the instruments, the sound-check, setting
lights to arranging the bandmembers on
stage. By this point, there was very little time
left to do the interviews, but we still managed
to catch each of them for a few minutes.
The concert went really well and everybody
seemed satisfied with the results.
The Burning Bush went back home to London
and we went straight to the edit suite. Katia de
Vidas ( a student from last year and Jan Harlan’s
editor) got a copy of all our material in order to
have more variety for the editing of the concert
and her documentary. In addition, we decided
to edit our own version using solely our own
footage. The end result for us is a nice little documentary
as well as good learning experience.
We learned a lot from our mistakes and know
what we’ll do differently next time.
EVENTS

From the teachers

FROM THE TEACHERS
Visiting the Film School in Cuba
By Susanne Katz
In October 2003 it was finally our turn to have
a real vacation. Not a trip including a meeting
here and a seminar there and then being off a
few more days, but really - a holiday!!
And a long held wish of ours has certainly been
to visit Cuba. So now time was up!
Apart from a wonderful holiday with many fantastic
and overwhelming experiences and sights,
two events absolutely made the deepest impression:
Visiting Don Robaina – the fantastic legendary
Cigar-maker, and visiting two former
students from the year 2002/2003 in the Cuban
Film School in San Antonio.
In Cuba you see no signs in the streets or on the
roads to show you the way. The roads are in a
very bad shape and you have to drive very slowly
and very carefully not to puncture all four tyres
at the same time! The maps of the country do
not give you very good information either, so
you are sort of lost if you do not pick up the
hitch-hikers that are on every corner trying to
catch your attention and get a lift due to the lack
of their public transportation! So of course you
do that, even though communication is rather
difficult with most of the population, as they
do not speak any other language than Spanish.
The teachers’ wing
A good Spanish/Danish dictionary helped us
along most of the time, and Jens’ efforts in Italian
were successful every now and then.
Having left Havana heading south we picked
up the first hitchhiker. We asked him: “Havana
Film School” – no reaction – but San Antonia
de los Baños was the signal that would put us
through the next two hours. People in and out
of the car several times, driving with us for a
shorter or a longer distance, and finally having
entered the small village some rather old-looking
and damaged wooden signs along the road
would show us the direction – but not all the
way! Being alone in the car it was up to us to
decide weather to go left or right arriving at a
junction. Of course we picked the wrong direction
– but what a blessing in disguise! As far as
your eye can see there were beautiful orchards
with grapefruit trees. We stopped the car and
began picking and eating grapefruits.
The car was turned the other way around and
we stopped a man to ask him the way – only
to find out, that we had already passed the sign
“Escuela Internacional de Cine y Televisión”.
Here we were warmly welcomed by the English-
Photo: Jens Rykær

speaking guide Abraham who showed us around
for a while before he got hold of our two former
students from 2002/2003 Ivo Staehli from
Switzerland and Maria Isabel Calabria from
Spain. This was an amazing and emotional moment
– they were not aware of our being there,
even though we had mailed the Director of the
school (without getting an answer) about our
intentions of visiting the school in October. So
tears were shed and kisses were exchanged – and
Ivo said with the lump in his throat: “It’s just
like my mum and dad coming to see me!”
They took their time to give us the big tour before
we had to meet the Director Julio Garcia
Espinosa, Cuba’s most famous documentarist,
former vice-minister of Cultural Department
in Fidel Castro’s Government. He is a man in
his mid 60’s, with whom we, via the interpreter
Abraham, exchanged the formal and informal
civilities and compliments sipping the most
wonderful mango-juice.
After that we had a hot lunch with Ivo and
Maria Isabel – and paid 50 cent for two persons!
The food was – like most food in Cuba
– not very interesting! And Ivo told us that in
the next village they have a guy delivering takeaway-food
– (“The Languster-man” – like we in
Ebeltoft have the “Pizza-man”) who for 5 dollars
will drive the 20 kilometres to sell them a
proper meal!
The Film School in San Antonio is similar to
the European Film College in its concept of
being a monastery out in the desert. Students
and teachers live on campus like we do here in
Ebeltoft. They host 40 students in their first
year and 42 students in their second year. In the
FROM THE TEACHERS
With the principal Ivo & Maria Isabel Memory Wall in students´office
year 2004/2005 they plan
to extend their teaching
curriculum with a third
year – and take in another
40 new in their first year.
They do not, as we do,
have many permanent
teachers employed, they
deal more with various
guest teachers – last year
24.
Some of them do not want
a fee for teaching – people like Steven Spielberg
– who like other famous visiting directors wrote
his name on the wall in the computer room
– (wish it was here!).
The School was founded in 1986 in the name
of “The School of Three Worlds” aiming at a
mission to help young people from developing
countries in Africa, Asia and South America to
learn and use the media of images. Later on a
communication and a co-operation with Europe
and the United States made it possible
to also open up the college for other foreign
students with a change of the name into the
present name, but still with the same goal: “To
create artists that will maintain a high aesthetic
level combined with an ethic technology and a
critical point of view on the world – combined
with the ability of dreaming!”
- And also this year some students from our school
will apply for the famous school in the middle of
Caribbean Sea.
What a pool

Ghosts of EFC
By James Fernald
FROM THE TEACHERS
I’d made them drag up lawn chairs, some muttering
in rebellion, others amused. It was yet
another beautiful day here in the hills of Ebeltoft
and 3 groups of screenwriters were doing a
character exercise on the top of the hill behind
the school, each facing in a different direction,
each taking in a different point of view. I was
attempting to give them a valuable experience,
plus a unique one, because that seems to be
the essence of this wonderful facility tucked so
neatly away in the middle of nowhere with its
rather astounding views of more nowhere.
Yesterday I was 17. I assume when I’m 80 I’ll
feel the same way. There was something special
about 17 for me. It was the age where I first
felt credible in a world of adults, whom I was
of course smarter and wiser than. Invincible
is the word that comes to mind, the description
of youth sadly referred to most often by
law enforcement when referring to yet another
car wreck where a bunch of crazy kids drank a
little too much and drove a little too fast and
wound up meeting their maker in the form of
a large oak tree. Growing up isn’t an option,
we all have or we all will, but in some ways us
creative sorts never have and never will, the
enthusiasm of youth the only attribute left to
grab with the gradual unrelenting demise of our
physique. Figuratively, at 17, you’re standing as
tall as you’re ever going to be and you have the
horizon in front of you, the future assembling
in the distance if you squint and concentrate,
and then out of nowhere barrelling down on
you like a runaway train, forcing a choice sooner
than you’d like on which track to choose and
when to jump on.
I always thought it was cruel, this notion of
bringing a bunch people together from all over
the globe to learn, work, play and subsequently
become great friends and then pry them apart
and toss them back out into reality. One of my
most vivid memories of film school was the final
The EFC adventure begins...
Photo: James Fernald

evening in the hills of Ithaca New York, (strikingly
similar to the hills of Ebeltoft), where we
toasted each others’ futures and lamented our
impending separation. Sure we’ll stay in touch.
Of course. Sure.
Fredrick was the first to arrive. It’s always
interesting to meet the first student of the coming
year, the first representative of a gang of
110 that in the following 8 months will quickly
grow into a bustling productive cooperative of
personalities from across the globe, thrust into
the hills of Ebeltoft racing to learn and create,
the inevitable life long friendships an added bonus.
Last year it was Scott from South Africa, wondering
around in the dining hall a bit dazed, his
towering backpack proclaiming he was indeed
the first arrival. The last to leave was Thim from
Paris, also in a daze, but this due to lack of sleep
from the annual long goodbye that began the
night before, that rather desperate celebration
where all enlisted cling to the last evening of the
past, refusing to sleep, hoping and preying by
ignoring the clock they can somehow persuade
the gods to let the madness continue..
Yesterday I was sitting in Big Bear, laughing
in the dark with the rest of you as Luis charged
through the EFC valley, then urgently sprinted
across the football field, finally winding up in
Blue house with his elexir. The shooting games
are magical in a way, throwing open the doors
to the candy store and letting you all charge in,
elated from the disbelief of your good fortune.
Crazy, yes. Meaningful, absolutely. Despite being
a bit daunting in its scope, it’s the freedom
of this place that makes it so innovative, and, of
course so marvellous.
And maybe that’s what I’m trying to get at.
No matter what you take with your from this
fabulous creative playground out in the middle
of nowhere, the one thing I can guarantee
is some lasting friendships, the biggest one of
all, I hope, being the EFC. The school itself being
young, it will continue to grow and mature.
FROM THE TEACHERS
We hope to give you all have an easy avenue
for staying in touch. by creating on the EFC
website an online alumnae directory, with you
being the first class to unanimously participate.
Aside from the fact it might be nice if you happen
to be travelling through Portugal to look
up Miriam or Luis, or perhaps Juluut if you’re
passing through Greenland, it’s an invaluable
tool for networking and finding employment.
Ideally, ten years from now when you’re directing
your second feature, some kid from the class
of 2014 will call you asking for advice. I’d wager
that due to your mutual EFC bond, you’ll be
more apt to give them some pointers or even
start them out on the big journey.
Yesterday a bunch of strangers were having
the inauguration party in the dining hall,
slowly migrating outside to sit around the fire
pits, Jon and Eugene playing guitar, others singing
along..
Probably there’ll be more of the same on that last
Saturday and then I’ll wonder over to the dining
hall several nights later, the din of student
traffic gone, my footsteps echoing in the loud
silence, the big room now a temporary shrine
to the class of 2004, and somewhere from above
I’ll hear the music but you guys will be gone
and yesterday will be approaching faster than
I can believe with 110 more friends in waiting,
eager to strut their stuff
here in the hills of Ebeltoft.
When you guys leave,
you haunt the place.
It becomes impossibly
quiet and if you come
here alone, at night
and wonder the halls,
your voices start to eerily
drift down from the
rafters.
Memories of week one
Photo: James Fernald

Why Seek Globally...
By Esben Høilund-
Carlsen
FROM THE TEACHERS
...WHAT YOU CAN FIND LOCALLY?
Some years ago I worked as a film critic and
a friend gave me a very practical gift: A ball
pen with a tiny bulb that illuminates the paper
while writing in darkness, without disturbing
other people in the cinema.
The pen disappeared and for years I tried to find
an equivalent with no success. Then I started
searching on the internet. A company in Seattle,
USA, once had the product, but not anymore,
and there was a reference to Yokohama, Japan.
On the English web-site of this company there
was no-thing to find, so I enlisted the help of a
Japanese student to investigate the calligraphic
mysteries of the local language.
While we were working on this, another person
in the office made a few phone calls and when
the Japanese student came up with a negative
result on the ‘net, the person by the phone declared
that the local Fiat shop - just 400 meters
away - had such pens for advertising purposes.
This anecdote seems to be in conflict with the
idea of an international film college. Half of our
students have found us on the internet and travelled
thousands of miles to come here, nevertheless.
For 8 months we are a small community in
a beautiful landscape outside an idyllic town,
but far from the so-called “world” - which is
normally defined as the opposite of beautiful
landscapes and idyllic towns. (And for foreigners
it might be necessary to point out that in
Denmark “far away” means around 3 hours by
car!)
Here we are in modern Finnish architecture
in the hills over Ebeltoft, overlooking the bay.
There are 106 students from 22 countries and a
dozen teachers and guests from the international
film business passing through. Why? Because
film is the most powerful language of our time.
0
We see films, we discuss films, we produce films
– around 60 a year inside the curriculum and
around 30 outside, on the students’ own initiative.
We also produce an hour of television for
a national channel, we have groups of professional
actors visiting – so that the students can
practice directing with “the real thing” – and we
are involved in concerts, dance performances
and so much else. It takes a strong character to
stay passive during these 8 months.
That was the advertising part, now the more
thoughtful. So far from Hollywood, Cinecitta,
Cannes, Berlin and Venice many things seem
unapproachable, but nevertheless, unrealistic
dreams can come true. That’s not because this
school performs magic, it’s all about a concentration
of the mind of the students on any given
subject.
Where is the focal point of your story? You
would like to have Spielberg’s apparatus behind
you to describe the idea of “a risky attack” on
the beaches of Normandy, but you might be
able to get the same message across in a fight
between to budgerigars in a cage. What do you
want to tell? Where is the angle? Where is the
“Archimedic point” from which you can turn
the world?
You arrive with the urge, the curiosity, the ideas,
the talent. We teach you how to do it, or
rather: different ways to do it, so that you can
choose yourself. Film is a language, and it’s a
bloody good idea to know vocabulary, grammar
and syntax, when you communicate with other
people – even when you want to break all the
rules.
If you bring yourself, your whole self, you can
find everything at any address: Tall mountains,
deep rivers, jungles, deserts, galaxies and ball
pens with inbuilt light. It’s all in the mind.

What is with docs?
By Litsa Boudalika
& Lise Lense-Møller
Lise Lense-Møller
Magic Hours’ Dialectics
(Based on A Pro’s Thesis)
FROM THE TEACHERS
Based in Copenhagen, Danish producer Lise Lense-Møller is a European expert
in Film producing and production and also a distinguished lecturer, consultant,
project coordinator, script-writer, translator, publisher. Besides production, Lise’s
educational background includes Anthropology and English Language studies.
Founder and managing director of Magic Hour Films, she has been working with
Jan Troell, Morten Henriksen, Dola Bonfils, Klaus Kjeldsen, and Michael W. Horsten - just to
mention some familiar names among talented Scandinavian directors.
Whether she produces for children or grown-ups, whether she refers to Art, History, Science,
Psychology or Philosophy, a subtle gaze on the world sounds like a continuous thread in her
documentary productions.
In the context of this publication, I wish to call
magic hours those meaningful moments generated
by an activity in which time seems suspended;
it can be our dentist’s waiting room but
also the simple fact of driving, reading, listening,
writing, watching, editing a film or …an
article. Such an emotional and cognitive process
occurred to me before and after having received
Lise’s anatomies of thoughts. Why anatomy,
why thought and why do I apply a plural?
Similar to a biological cell condemned to divide
in two - or more - Anatomy of thoughts stands
|1| for a 85 minutes Magic Hour Films documentary
production on brain research (and
more besides) directed by Dola Bonfils in 1997,
|2| a close to one magic hour and a half of precise
documentaristic transversality, a film bridging
different fields of science and society. Or |3|,
a ’jocund’ Dola-Lise joint venture accompanied
by mostly male brain ’workers’.
Time indeed becomes magic when the brain
takes its unpredictable paths to the most satisfactory
synapses while looking for a title or
a structure. Since ‘Anatomy of Thoughts’ and
the obvious connectivity of this expression to
notions close to ‘dialectics’ in Philosophy, or
‘continuity’ - in films, as much as in human experience
– ‘Anatomy of Thoughts’ could have
been a suitable title for Lise’s plain text of 1385
words before editing... But this is a title almost
interchangeable with some others from her filmography!
Why not ‘The Living Word’, ‘Confronting
Otherness’ or ‘I remember’’? Remember
when Karen Littauer presented her ‘Tales
from Greenland’ in Big Bear? That was also a
Magic Hour Films production.
{Thesis’ division or postulate}
Well, let us, first, opt for the structure and then
for the title. But what if the title coincided
with the conclusion? Why not? Now, back to
the structure choice: just imagine some other
continuity than the well known hegelian dia-

FROM THE TEACHERS
lectic process of ‘thesis, antithesis, synthesis’. In
the context of this publication, I restructured
Lise’s thoughts according to, let’s say, an ‘anatomic’
disorder consisting of lexical intrusions
(prepositional to be precise) to the word ‘thesis’,
intended here as a synonym of ‘thought.’ Introducing
a ‘pro’ like her, who also happened to be
my teacher, becomes, once more, a magic moment
of …educational and lexical heuristics.
{pro * thesis }
* pro or pro, stands for
before, in front of, just
as in “programme”
It was this selfish hunger for knowledge and insight
that in the beginning influenced my choice
of projects. I was (is) also often motivated by a
strange urge to run in the opposite direction of
everybody else, so while all others were striving
to develop infotainment series or docu-soaps I
threw myself onto the difficult one-offs, (but
of course that is a very delicate balance, if you
want to survive as a company). So at some
point I had to develop a clearer strategy. My
selection became based on subject and/or story,
talent (director) and talent development, viability,
variety of projects and project demands, and
on my ability to bring something substantial to
the project - to make a difference.
{anti * thesis }
*anti or anti, stands for
against, as in “antitrust”
The distinction between fiction and documentary
is not as clear as it once was, since there
is a strong demand for catching the audience’s
attention, that often forces filmmakers to use
“fiction” tools in documentary making. However,
documentary is such a wide genre that includes
everything from the educational video,
over company presentations and reality shows
(like Robinson), to feature docs for cinema.
Some of these documentaries have very little
in common with fiction, whereas others have
a lot. I think especially the docu-soap/reality
type projects are mostly built on fiction skeletons
and structures, where you create goals and
obstacles, protagonists and antagonists in the
process of filming and editing, even if they are
not there “in reality”. This, however, has had
an effect even on classical documentary making,
I believe. Even in documentaries with a
fly-on-the-wall approach, it has become much
more permissible in the last decade to interfere
in the events, you are documenting, and to create
and direct scenes, which would not otherwise
have happened. You can shape reality to
underline your point of view - but it demands
an awful lot of the ethical judgement exerted by
the producer and the director. Earlier this year
there was a scandal on Denmarks Radio where
a programme was edited to make it look as if
a day-care woman was slapping a child, when
in fact that was not happening. I don’t have
any inside knowledge about this, but just for
the sake of the example - she did express the
opinion, that it was OK to discipline children
in this way, and the filmmakers may even have
seen her do it off-camera. Maybe they were
tempted to “create” what they did not manage
to get on camera for the sake of the story and
the argument, but did that make it OK? In this
case, no it did not. The woman in question was
exposed on public television doing something
that she never did and this had very – I assume
– wide ranging effects on her life and job. It
became a scandal in the media and those accountable
in DR were removed from their positions.
Clearly here, somebody crossed a line,
but it is a very thin line. Had it been a different
and less “sensational” action that the filmmakers
wanted, but did not have on camera, or had
they been able to persuade her to “act” this in
front of the cam0era, it would most likely have

never been questioned, because nobody would
have protested.
{ana * thesis }
*ana or ana, stands for from bottom
to top, as in “anatomy”
A producer has to exert judgement all the time
on each project. If you are making a slapstick
comedy, but you don´t find slapstick entertaining,
how will you determine whether your film
is funny or not, whether the scenes and editing
works or not, whether it will have a chance
of reaching its target audience or not? It is my
opinion that a producer can only do films well
that they relate to in one way or the other, and
I guess that is bound to result in some kind of
transversality. It is also a fact that the competition
in this business is harsh, and the only way
to survive is to be very conscious about your
own strengths and weaknesses. If you do not
do what you are best at, but try to do something
that somebody else is much better at, you are in
a very weak position.
Transversality, however, is also a self-increasing
process. The projects you have already done
have a major effect on your future slate because
the profile becomes a decisive factor for others
when approaching you instead of another
producer and when choosing which projects
to send and it also becomes easier to finance
projects that are in line with things you have
earlier done, because that is what the financiers
and the networks you have developed expect
from you.
{hypo * thesis }
hypo or upo, stands for beneath,
as in “hyposensitivity”
So a conclusion could be that the crucial steps of
FROM THE TEACHERS
development and production, if you want to
achieve transversality, are a very conscious and
on-going analysis of your own strengths and
weaknesses, of your position and opportunities
in the market, of each of the projects in terms of
what they want to tell, who they want to tell it
to, if the “structure” of the project is the best for
achieving this, if you can improve it, who/what
is needed to help this improvement along, and
how you create the best possible frame for all of
this to happen. You have to try to do your best
at all levels, even if you will not always succeed.
Of course you should never forget the gut-feeling.
That is very important too and should always
come first. The head can kick in later.
{syn * thesis }
syn or sun, stands for together,
as in “synopses”
by Litsa Boudalika

FROM THE TEACHERS
Having said that the gut-feeling
is very important, I guess I
have also said that the producer
needs to have a creative nerve.
However, the producer´s role
is very extensive. It includes
everything from inventing
projects, selection and development
of projects on a creative
level, talent scouting and
management, audience targeting,
negotiation and deal-making, confl ict
solving, fi nancing and fi nancial management,
production logistics, selling - both
in the fi nancing phase and at exploitation
level and, last but not least, the creation of
networks on all levels. Not very many people
master all these areas, and consequently
most producers have to complement their
own areas of expertise with advisors or cooperators
in their weak spots. Some producers
are mainly involved in the fi nancing
and deal-making process and interfere very
little in the creative process, whereas other
producers are very strong in the creative aspects
and weak in selling. I like the creative
process a lot and look at the fi nancing and
deal-making as vehicles for creativity, so I
think that my way of being a producer is
not that far from an artists or a researcher.
But even in my case my involvement can
vary a lot on different projects. On some
fi lms I am working very closely with the
director, even co-writing, whereas on other
projects my role is more administrative.
{para * thesis }
para or para, stands for beside
It would be a lie to say that the transversality
of my entire production - if such a thing exists
- is the result of a very conscious strategy
– at least not from the beginning. The truth
is that I started out in fi ction and only started
doing documentaries because my father
was head of drama at DR and thus a true
obstacle for my fi ction career as he did not
allow any kind of cooperation between his
department and me or my company. Not
long after I started doing documentaries, he
changed position and became head of the
factual department, which was very ironic,
because in the meantime I had come to realize
that documentaries were an answer to
my curiosity and hunger for knowledge.
Making fi lms is more of a lifestyle than a job
and it very easily becomes extremely consuming,
both time and brainwise. There is
little time to read other things than scripts
and to engage in other activities than work
and family. So after a very intense 10 year
period in fi ction, I suddenly started feeling
ignorant and undernourished. Documentaries
allowed me to gain insight into
other areas, subjects, and peoples lives while
working, and thus made my life, as such,
fuller and more satisfying.
{pros * thesis }
pros or pro, stands for in addition,
and unlike “prosy”
The single most important “dramaturgical”
rule is that you cannot bore your audience
– at least not for very long. You have to engage
their emotions, hopes and fears, you
have to move, surprise, teach, challenge,
and entertain them – if not everything at all
times, at least some of it most of the time.
Isn’t that true for life too?

From the students

FROM THE STUDENTS
At a slight angle to The Universe
By Ludvig Friberg
A few notes from two very innovative individuals on one of the most crucial
of creative impulses.
I find myself doing a lot of experimentation, I
can’t really help myself. I guess there are lots of
reasons why to experiment. Sometimes you just
get an image or a feeling stuck in your head and
you have to figure out some way to create it.
Or the other way around you get an
idea for a movement or a setup of elements
and you just have to see how
it looks and feels. I feel that it gives
a lot of creative energy back to experiment,
but it also has its negative
sides. There is a great risk of getting
stuck inside the excitement of exploration.
You just dig deeper and deeper,
not creating anything. Just experimenting
for the experiment’s sake.
Even at an early stage it is important
to have some sort of idea of what you
want to do with the experiment. To
define what feeling it gives you. For
example, by setting borders and then
trying to break them or
fill the space in between
fully. Sort of drawing a
really small box and colouring
it perfectly black
instead of drawing a
really big box and not
knowing where to start
filling it in. When setting
out to experiment
it is incredibly important
to clearly define
the area of experimentation.
At least if you
want to have something
usable coming out of it.
When it comes to actually
harvesting the fruits
of the experimentation
you need a pattern, a framework so to speak.
Especially when you have other people involved
in a process which is of an experimental nature,
everyone involved has to know the rules.

By Martin Møller Jensen
FROM THE STUDENTS
Innovation seems to me to be mostly about experimentation,
just trying ideas out. I think I would find it impossible to actually
try to do something innovative. It’s much easier to just do
stuff and then squeeze something new and fun out during the
process.
However when you experiment a lot, you inevitably wind up
with lots of failed attempts (at least that’s my justification for
never really getting anything done) and failed attempts are
sometimes the most fun.
What is innovation? A constant mixing of differents subjects?
A deconstruction of aging workforms? I don’t know what innovation
is, I only know that I like people who have fun and play.
I think that there’s a card in Brian Eno’s celebrated Oblique
Strategies that simply says ‘Play’. I liked that one.

Present State of Art and
some Recommendations
FROM THE STUDENTS
Film Audience in Bangladesh
By Mofizur Rhaman
This article was written to throw some light on
the state of contemporary Bangladeshi film and
its audience. It is actually part of a broader research
project conducted by myself and a colleague
of mine, Fahmidul Haq.
Introduction
Just after the first successful cinematic recording
by T.A. Edison and the projection by the
Lumiere brothers at the grand café of Paris on
28th of December in 1895, cinema rapidly became
popular in different places throughout
the world and it was also being appreciated as a
new medium of art and communication as well.
The Indian sub-continent was no exception to
this cinematic craze. Pioneered by Hiralal Sen,
Nazir Ahmed, J.F. Madan, Abdul Jabbar Khan
and some others cinema was put forward as the
latest form of entertainment and art. From the
very beginning, endeavors were taken to make
good films in spite of the many limitations regarding
film making in this region. Attempts
were observed to celluloid social discourse.1
Emerging urban dwellers and different professional
groups were considered as the main target
audience. The way the form and content were
put together was very decent and tasteful. The
love story was the prevailing force in the newborn
industry and the visual imagery was made
truly under the purview of social legitimacy. So
the middle class people found it a new, interesting
medium and used to rush to the cinema
hall for entertainment very often. At that time,
going to the cinema hall with friends and family
members, purchasing tickets, and watching
movie in a darkened cinematic environment
was almost a routine of most of the middle class
households. During the sixties, cinema was the
prime source of entertainment in East Pakistan,
which is now Bangladesh.
Present situation
By 2001, three decades have been elapsed since
Bangladesh became independent. Currently
the country has a big cinema industry in comparison
to its geographical entity. Over 100 full
length feature films are produced by private
entrepreneurship each year. Government subsidies
for film making are not worth mentioning.
Besides features, quite a number of short
film are also made by independent film makers.
Bangladesh has about 1500 cinema halls
all over the country. Though the industry has
developed in many spheres, cinema critics note
that through this 30-year period, the quality of
Bangla cinema has deteriorated to a great extent.
There are hardly any modern films which
can be seen in social and family environment.
According to the critics these changes happened
due to the introduction of extreme commercialism.
Critics observe that mainstream cinema
producers in Bangladesh nowadays seek ways
to maximize their return on their investment.
They consider movie production only as a tool
of money-spinning, which causes them not to
think much about the form and content of cinema
as a medium of art. Commitment to society
is rarely observed in their endeavors. Instead
of filming social narratives, producers lean more
towards celluloid fantasies, violence and sexy
extravaganzas. It results in the form and content
of contemporary Bangla cinema not to befitting
the taste and choice of the middle class people.
Contemporary Bangla cinema is overburdened
with untrue stories and is removed from reality.
It is often said that Bangla cinema is no longer
to be enjoyed with family members due to its
clownish characteristics and portrayal of eroticism
and sexism.
For these reasons, the middle classes, who
were once the significant part of the audience
of cinema, have turned their faces away from
the cinema halls. They are not frequently being
found at the cinema as it has not managed

to recover its image as an art form,
rather its standard and quality have
been gradually deteriorating. It is
said that contemporary cinema only
meets the taste of a section of the
people. The audiences who still go to
cinema halls tend to be less educated
and belong to the low-income group
i.e. the working class people of the
society. It fits with the notion of Jane
Adams who termed the movie theatre
a ‘Dream Palace’ where the urban
working class might get the scope to
perpetuate their dream.2 But this is
not the entire reason for this
change in demographic of
the cinema audience. We saw
a tremendous technological
boom in the media and communication
sphere in last
two decades. As the middle
class are economically well
off, they also have access to alternative forms
of entertainment, VCR, cable
TV, VCD/DVD and the
Internet, which have brought
them much wider options.
Big budget Hollywood films,
the Mumbai glamour world,
the vastness of cyberspace
with chat rooms and various
pornographic options can be
found as well as newly released
Bangla cinema, which is also easily accessible
through those new technologies. So the state
of audience at the cinema halls in Bangladesh
has been found to be one in a state of change.
Before going on to review the film audience in
Bangladesh it could be relevant to discuss the
concept of “audience” itself.
Audience: The concept
Actually the concept of ‘audience’ had not registered
among the media scholars as a culturally
significant one until 1980s. 3 For the first
FROM THE STUDENTS
time, Denis McQuail drew the attention
regarding media audience in 1983 in his
book Mass Communication Theory. 4 He
found that the media audience was an important
entity and defined the audience
as an aggregate of spectators, readers, listeners
and viewers. He also termed the audience
as ‘mass’, ‘public or social group’ and ‘market’.
In postmodern a approach, the reader (movie
viewer) is the prime concern, text (movie) and
author (director of the movie) is less important.
Therefore more attention is supposed to be paid
to the audience in the contemporary cine-world
although the producers, artists, distributors and
the audience cohere together in the process of
filmmaking and projection. They control each
other as Jarvie (1970: 42) says:

FROM THE STUDENTS
[The] artists were controlled by what the producers
thought, the producers were controlled
by what the distributors thought (or what producers
expected the distributors would think),
distributors were controlled by what they
thought the cinema owners thought and the
cinema owners were controlled by what they
thought the audience wanted.
But what does the audience want? It was observed
that the average audiences mostly want
entertainment. On the other hand some serious
audiences want the reflection of life and taste
of art in a film. However, mainstream films, in
almost every country, are made mainly for business
purposes. Producers and directors exploit
the audience by stirring their basic instincts.
Thus reflection of life is rarely portrayed in
mainstream film and the taste of art is seldom
met.
However, what Jarvie says is partially true. Cinema
audiences are not so active that they can
control the thought of the makers. It is the producers
and directors who set agenda of sex and
violence in the film and mass audiences are easily
convinced as they see these things repeatedly
in film. Producers and distributors consider the
audience mainly as the ‘market’ that Dennis
McQuail depicted. Cultivating the ‘market of
mass audience’ through the portrayal of risqué
elements, mainstream film producers in Bangladesh
are for themselves, not for the audience
and not even for the medium itself.
Characteristics of Film
audience in Bangladesh
I did a study on social characteristics of film audience
in Bangladesh with one of my colleagues
in 2001. We were encouraged to do that study
by film makers, cinema owners and our students
at the Department of Mass Communication
and Journalism, University of Dhaka. The
University came forward with financial assistance.
Generally, the intention behind the study
was to throw some light on current cinema-going
people in Dhaka City, but an attempt was
also made to explore particular social characters
and watching habits of the audience.
0
From the findings of that study, some results
have been emerged which might give you an
impression about film audience in Bangladesh.
Results are presented below:
1. Young adults and teenagers go to the cinema
hall to watch movie to a greater degree than
elders do.
2. Highly literate people do not go to the cinema
hall in a large number. On the contrary illiterate,
less educated and ‘average’ educated
people go there in a remarkable numbers.
3. People with village background are the major
part of the current cinema audience.
4. Not only the working-class people or the students
go to the cinema hall, but also the merchants,
businesspeople and housewives who go
in substantial numbers.
5. Movie going at the cinema hall is almost inversely
proportionate to the income of the audience.
6. People don’t go to the cinema to watch movies
frequently. A large number of audiences go to
cinema hall occasionally, numbers of regular
cinema-goers are very small.
7. All mass media play a role in the publicity
process of cinema but the effects of these mass
media are not the same, interpersonal communication
is the greatest influence on the potential
audience.
8. People like films based on social narrative the
most.
9. Most cinema-goers have the access to the other
audio-visual sources of entertainment thus
they are making particular effort to go to the
cinema.
10. There is a positive relationship between the access
to other audio-visual sources of entertainment
and going to movie at a cinema hall.
Conclusion and Recommendations
Generally, cinema is considered as a vital source
of entertainment and as a form of art as well.
Lenin observed, “To us, cinema is the most
important of all arts”. 6 However, people from
every walk of life need entertainment for refreshment.
Therefore, they like to go to cinema

hall to enjoy a movie and thus to be relaxed
from boredom of everyday life. Cinema is also
treated as a significant medium for upholding
a nation’s history, culture, heritage and tradition.
Healthy cine-culture can give directions
to a positive change in the society and uphold
the nation’s dream. On the contrary, unhealthy
cinema is subversive for nation’s morality, culture,
social norms and values, although these
are obviously society/country specific. Critics
think that contemporary Bangla cinema has
been failure to play a positive role in the society
and make a contribution towards development.
In fact, producers nowadays do not feel any responsibility
to the society.7
Two major trends are observed in presenting
the content of cinema, one deals with art, life
and reality and the other with figments of imagination
and fantasies.8 To the critics, the later
is dominant in the mainstream films of Bangladesh
whose aim is mainly to provide unhealthy
entertainment portraying fantastic and unrealistic
images and extreme, commercial, sexy extravaganzas.
Being frustrated by the dominating
scenario audiences had lost their interest on
contemporary Bangla cinema. Therefore, the
cinema industry in Bangladesh is now facing the
difficulty of inadequate audiences at the projection
theatres, which, in turn, affects the revenue
of the filmmakers. Other difficulties which prevail
in the industry are: lack of adequate capital
flowing to the hands of the producers, absence
of risk-taking endeavor to make artistic films
due to the success of extreme commercial entertainment,
outdated technology, insufficient
infrastructure, unavailability of raw materials,
uncomfortable environment of the projection
theatres, poor management of film distribution
and unprofessional attitudes of the producers
and directors towards cinema as a medium.
Critics suggest that government intervention
and patronization are a necessity in resolving
these difficulties. Most producers would not
manage to make a moderate return on their
investment to survive it. Some producers who
came with a good intention to the industry
FROM THE STUDENTS
and made several praise-worthy films are being
forced to leave the industry because of failure
to compete with commercialism. If there is a
sincere intention to enliven the cine industry in
Bangladesh, efforts should be taken to bring the
middle class back to the cinema hall at any cost,
because larger audiences mean greater revenue
which might yield a success in the process of
expansion and development of the cinema industry
in the long run. Form and content of
the cinema should also be realistic and carefully
chosen, paying attention to the taste of the general
people and nation’s history, tradition and
culture. Cinema should not be treated only as
a money-spinning commodity and medium of
entertainment by the producers and directors,
it should rather also be treated as a serious form
of art.
References
1. Tanvir Mokammel, Cinemar Shilpa Rup,
Agami Prokashony, 1998, P.167, Dhaka,
Bangladesh.
2. Garth Jowett and James M. Linton, Movies
as Mass Communication, 1980, P. 100,
Sage Publications, London, England.
3. Virginia Nightingale, Studying Audience—
the Shock of the Real, Routledge, 1996, P.
10, London, England.
4. Denis McQuail, Mass Communication theory—an
Introduction, Sage Publications,
1983, P. 151-153, London, England.
5. Cited in Garth Jowett and James M. Linton,
Movies as Mass Communication, 1980, P.
100, Sage Publications, London, England.
6. Cinmoy Mutsuddy, Bangladesher Chalachitro
Samagic Angikar, Bangladesh Shilpakala
Academy, Dhaka, 1997, p. 11.
7. The Daily Vhorer Kagoj, 5 January 2001.
8. Mofizur Rahman, Short Film Movement
Search for alternative Cinema in Bangladesh,
The Journal of Social Studies, No-
83, January-March 1999, Samaj Nirikhon
Kendra, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh,
p. 97.

The Greeks at the EFC
By Persefone
Miliou, Nikolaos
Vavouris & Artemis
Anatasiadou
FROM THE STUDENTS
You are in the centre of Copenhagen, and you’re
standing by the traffic lights. There are no cars
passing; nevertheless everybody is waiting for
the green light. You cross the street... once,
you cross the street ...twice...and then you start
thinking “ Why are all these people looking at
me?” . So, you say “Behave yourself” and you
stand by the traffic lights until one of these
innumerable bicycles falls on you. “ Fuck, I’m
standing on the bicycle route”.
One day later, you are in the countryside. An industrial-design
building is standing before you.
This will be your residence for the next eight
months. Everything is scheduled in detail and
is announced to you in advance: when you’ll
eat, when you’ll work, when you’ll feel stressed,
when you’ll dance and flirt, when you’ll feel sad
and say goodbye. Everything begins and ends
on time. A 15 minutes delay is a way of living
for you, so you do your best to adapt here, but
still you’ll always hear comments like” Oh, you
Greeks, you’re always late”.
You’ve also heard rumors that behind the football
field there is a city called Ebeltoft. It is true
that you’ve seen some human beings shopping
at the supermarket you go to (which has the exotic
name “Kvickly”), but it will take you some
time before you find out whether they live in
this city, or they beam themselves here just to
shop and then they disappear somewhere in
outer space.
As time passes by, you’ll get to know this country
a bit better. Basically, its people. The ones
that wake up at 6 am to go to the swimming
pools when it’s minus something degrees outside
(a pure suicide act for a Greek mind).
Denmark....how could we talk about Denamrk?
Life in EFC is a small bubble, a bubble that will
vanish in a splash of tears in a month.
All we know is Ebeltoft, and not even this.
Kvickly ...maybe, but
still is hard to read even
the signs of the products,
since the English
speaking life of EFC
has made it easy and
comfortable for us
to come and live and
leave as foreigners from
Denmark.
Artemis
What about all the
Danish people here
in EFC? Haven’t you Nikolaos
learnt anything of
Danish Culture from
them?
Of course, we have
experienced some “national
“Danish characteristics”,
but more on
the surface.
Persefone
Danish people have the controversial characteristic
of being very sociable and very reserved at
the same time.
This, you can also see it in the way of residential
living. No curtains, no fences, no fear or criminality
you would think.
People’s houses must be always open. But, then
you realise, that you can never go uninvited to
a friend,
A Danish house:
Comfortable sofas, lights for all the situations,
a very well decorated house. Well what’s the
reason for going out?. You stay home. He stays
home. And we stay in EFC or we go for a walk
in Ebeltoft. Saturday night and the streets are
empty! We watch you through the window.
You’ve stayed home!

Meeting with a Dane:
First day a wide smile. Second day, a wide smile.
Third day? A wide smile...maybe? When will
we start talking?
We drink. Then we start talking! And not
only...Next day....a wide smile!
A small city:
Houses in a line, same colors, same bricks. This
chair on your yard. This chair on mine. A new
nest for the birds? Tomorrow mine is coming.
A walk in the “forest”.
Time to explore! What? Trees in a line, same
age, same type. You walk for 5-10 minutes and
the forest has finished. Paths all over the place.
“We want to get lost”, we said and we came
across the next sign.
And everything has to be “nice”. Where “nice”
means clean, tidy, between straight lines, into
small boxes with labels so it can be easily identified.
Whatever tries to escape this, is not fought
directly or eliminated. It is discretely marginalized
and put on the side. Between 4 lines. Then
you can call it “the foreign corner”.
FROM THE STUDENTS
Nikoloas plays the chef in an extra-curricular project
DANISH FILM
DIRECTORS
Vermundsgade 19,2, - DK-2100 Copenhagen Ø
Tel. (+45) 35 83 80 05 - Fax (+45) 35 83 80 96
mail@filmdir.dk
Photo: Nynne Blak

A step on the journey
By Nahed Awwad
FROM THE STUDENTS
For more than 50 years Palestine has had a media
presence, many foreign TV crews have come
to Palestine to cover the news and make films.
With them, they brought their own equipment,
technician and ideas, which meant that in many
cases they could not really reflect the reality of
our situation. There was a need for home-grown
productions so we could sound our own voice
and frame our own image.
In 1993 the Oslo Agreement came into being,
one of the issues raised was that Palestinians have
the right to own their own visual and audio media.
At that time we didn’t have any experience
in this field, so there was a need to train our
own professionals. Some people already worked
with foreign news channels and others came in
from elsewhere, so there were a few people with
a fair amount of TV experience. My brother’s
friend was one of these people who had worked
with the BBC as a sound person covering news.
It was after hearing his stories that I became interested
in TV and films and as time went on I
realized that it was not only interesting, but an
important, vocation.
Around thirty local TV stations were established
in Palestine, broadcasting on an Ultra High
Frequency (UHF) band that covered limited
areas. The stations started out with very modest
equipment, VHS cameras and VTRs, some
computers and a mixer.
After working for two years in a part-time job at
one of the local photography studios in my home
town, Beit Sahour, I was looking for a new challenge
and began work in Al Quds Educational
TV (part of Al-Quds University) in 1997. I was
amongst the first five staff to be hired for this
new television station, which was based in the
city of Ramallah. In the beginning we only had
two rooms, one for administration and the secretary
and the other was the transmission room,
which had a small studio attached. In our first
year we began with broadcasting our logo and a
teletext information page, later on we were able
to show live coverage of the Palestinian Council
and after one year of existence we started broadcasting
our own material. We were broadcasting
for ten hours a day, of which we produced 25%
of the material.
It was a modest start with high expectations
and the feeling gained from building something
from scratch and watching it grow, and growing
with it, was tremendous. After two years of
working in every role at the TV station, from
camera operator to editor to multi-camera director,
I knew that I wanted to specialize in editing,
so I did.
By 2002, there were more than 20 staff members;
we had more equipment, mini DV cameras
and one DVCam VTR and two Avid systems,
but still frequently using SVHS.
In April 2002 the Israeli army invaded most
of the Palestinian cities, including Ramallah.
This created havoc in the city and the Al-Quds
building was occupied by the Israeli army for
nineteen days. The building was used a base,
where tanks were parked and soldiers ate and
slept.
When the Israeli army left Ramallah city on
21st April 2002, we rushed to the TV station
to see what was done with our offices and
equipment. It was a terrible scene, doors were
knocked down to ground and trash was everywhere.
It was a distressing scene as we saw all
our effort crumbling before our eyes. However,
this only made us more determined to fix the
damage and go back on air as soon as possible
and so we did after four days of struggling with
fixing what was left, we were able to put our
logo back on air.
After six years of working with Al-Quds, I felt
that I needed to move on. Thus far, I had been

learning by practical experience, but now I
wanted to know why I made a certain cut when
I edit, why it feels right to cut on this spot and
so on, it was time to obtain more knowledge
and education. I asked some people about film
schools and one of my Danish friends recommended
the EFC and this how I ended up
here!
Before I came to the EFC, I had some idea
about which courses I want to take; I knew that
I wanted to learn more about making documentaries,
sound editing, film language and
film history. My feeling was that I wanted to
make documentaries but I was not sure if I had
the ability.
So far it has been an intensive and interesting
time for me, as you may know here in the EFC
there is always something to do, if you don’t
work on your own projects or other projects in
weekends, there are always films to see. In the
last month I have been busy with a final project
that I wrote and directed, titled “25 kilometres”.
It is a personal story that starts in Palestine and
ends in Ebeltoft, using footage I brought from
Palestine and the footage I created here I constructed
the 25 km which is the direct distance
between Ramallah (where I work and live) and
Beit Sahour my home town. The film is about
how Israeli checkpoints prevent me from making
this trip unless I use another road, which is
longer and partly on dirt road, not mentioning
waiting in line at some other checkpoints.
Now that I have finished the final project, I feel
ready to leave to make my own films as I have
more confidence and have lots of satisfaction
and motivation to move on. As the time to leave
approached, I wrote some e-mails to back home
trying to figure out what I will do after I return
to Palestine. I would like to work as freelancer
if I can, earn some money and make my own
films at the same time. Films, for me, are a powerful
tool of change and I believe they really can
make a difference.
FROM THE STUDENTS
Stills from Nahed’s final project “25 Kilometres”.
My ambition does not stop at the EFC as I am
planning to apply to the National Film and Television
School in Britain for the MA Documentary
Direction. In the last 8 months, I have met
great people in the EFC that I will never forget
and I know for sure that it will be difficult to
say goodbye to many people. I will try my best
to keep in contact and I am hoping that I can
work with them in the future, already some are
interested in coming to Palestine!

Framing the Subjective
By Laurent Ziegler
FROM THE STUDENTS
When I had decided to attend the European
Film College I was ready to challenge my so well
preserved perceptions about life and glimpse
through the fence of social and financial security
that I had built around me. After completing
my studies, I had worked for five years as a
freelance photographer and press editor. I was
interested in the performing arts and documentaries
and had grasped ways to perceive and
record reality around me. I was thrilled by the
idea to take stills out of their context and attach
them to the notion of time.
The college opened up a playground to experiment
and communicate, handle a vast amount
of papers and input and eventually find a spot
to feel home. What I liked most about the given
structure was the possibility to realize ideas with
only limited restrictions and frames. It was possible
to put my hands on the equipment without
knowing much about white balance, framing or
light. I felt that I had retraced back to my early
childhood when I named some random gadget
a camera and my lips articulated the word “action”
for the first time. An exciting trip.
However, not everything was easy and fun.
There were plenty of difficult moments and
situations. We all arrived at this school with our
own very personal history and ways to communicate
and integrate. Having never before
experienced college life, I was overwhelmed by

such diverse, but nevertheless intense effort to
connect and establish oneself within a multilayered
set of people. The college was a suitable
place to understand filmmaking based on networking
and the difficulty to express and share
visions with everybody involved. It also meant
to be naked and give people access to one’s own
habits and ways to be, some that are voluntarily
embraced and others that result in irritation
and distance. It felt very human and I found my
own limitations and difficulties open for everyone
to see.
However, I realized that living within a new
environment makes it possible to put daily life
into perspective and grasp new ideas along the
horizon. In spite of all the film-related technicalities
we dealt with, everyday I saw the chance
to embrace a moment and to communicate at a
level that appeared to me rare and precious.
FROM THE STUDENTS
Laurent took these photographs of fellow student
Maria Lomholt-Thomsen on location
with Louise Brandt and Arni Filippsusson

The Duellists
By
Bue B. Petersen
Emmanuel
Dayan
Keira Robertson
Mads Grage
Rosenkrantz
Maria Lomholt-
Thomsen
Mofizur
Rhaman
FROM THE STUDENTS
This text was produced by a group
of students in Petru Maier’s course
on Picture and Composition.
The cinematography of
the last duelling scene
‘The Duellists’ is based on a story by Joseph
Conrad, variously titled “The Duel” and “The
Point of Honour” (1908). D’Hubert (Keith
Carradine) and Feraud (Harvey Keitel) are officers
in Napoleon’s army and they spend their
off-hours challenging each other to bloody duels.
This goes on for many years with neither
man showing any inclination of calling a truce.
‘The Duellists’ was the debut feature from Ridley
Scott and won the Cannes Prize for ‘Best
First Film’.
The film can be seen as an effort to return to
the golden age of visual representation: romanticism
and academicism.
An important fact concerning the historical
setting of the film is the duplicity of the relationship
of the aristocracy to Napoleon in those
times: The success of Napoleon during this period
was the occasion for the old principles of
aristocracy to affirm themselves strongly against
the egalitarian principles of the revolutions and
for the apparition of a new class of rational noblemen
who were ready to adapt themselves to
Napoleon, or any new power that came their
way.
The two characters have a duel because one
is still into duels and the other is not. But
somehow they can’t manage to kill each other,
though they have a lot of occasions to do so.
As the main character, D’Hubert, loses the belief
in the meritocratic order, his first love, and
his physical ability, the audience has the feeling
that he is caught up in Feraud’s game. D’Hubert
goes to the point of secretly saving his life and
the spectator is given a hint that it is to have
another occasion to kill him within the ritual
of the duel.
Therefore, the tension that nourishes this duel
scene is double. The questions are:
• Who will end up killing the other?
• Whether D’Hubert will surrender in more
general, underlying conflict, which takes place
between the principles of rationality and the old
codes of manly honour?
We chose to analyze the sequence of the last duel
because it represents the two questions mentioned
above. The tension of the fight builds
into another tension; will D’Hubert stick to
his contempt of duelling? Has D’Hubert been
used up and transformed by this life of losses
and duels or is he still the same character as in
the first scene?
The last duelling scene represents the cinematography
we see throughout the whole film
very well. The cinematography of this sequence
is characterized by beautiful steady shots that
make one think of the oil paintings of the 18th
century. Part of the duelling scene is shot with
hand-held camera and the spectator gets the
feeling of seeing the duel through the eyes of
one of the duellists. This happens in the earlier
duel scenes as well.
The sequence opens with a wide shot of a grey,
frosty landscape. D’Hubert walks towards the
camera on a gravel road framed win the centre.
His black coat forms a strong contrast tot the

whiteness of the frost. The situation is very calm,
underlined by the shot turning into a tracking
shot, following D’Hubert from the road into a
large field. The calmness of the entire situation
makes us anticipate a dramatic change in the
action, thus changing the mood.
The next shot is a cutaway to the end of the
woods (his Point Of View). This is a time cut,
which becomes apparent as he is now sitting
eating an orange. This enhances the impression
that he is waiting for someone. Furthermore,
the warm colour of the orange contrasts
dramatically to his pale face. It looks as if he
is already dead. The camera zooms in on him.
He is completely calm, the surroundings are
completely silent. It is the silence before the
storm. Suddenly the footsteps of three men approaching
from the fringe of the woods, breaks
the silence. The camera changes to his POV of
them approaching. Two of the men block the
view of the third but we sense the presence of
Feraud in the background. This is what we have
been waiting for. As the three men approach,
seen from D’Hubert’s POV (wide shot) the
two strangers form an unstable triangle with
D’Hubert as the downward point. They also
FROM THE STUDENTS
appear threateningly larger than him as they are
places in the foreground in a shot filmed with a
wide-angle lens.
All of the persons are shown in multiple closeups,
except Feraud, who is kept in the background,
rendered faceless – as a threatening
ghost. D’Hubert says “…We have come here to
kill each other; any ground is suitable for that”
and by that he shows his rational point of view
and his contempt of the concept of duelling.
But Feraud is determined to go through with
the duel and D’Hubert can not refuse. Feraud
is shown in a close-up of him (the first in the
sequence) – he is now taking part in the action,
agreeing on the rules set up by the protagonist.
The dialogue pulls to an end and the adversaries
are seen preparing for the duel in the wide
shot seen earlier. The silence and seriousness of
the situation creates a lot of tension. As the antagonist
walks off into the woods, leaving the
protagonist waiting for the sign for the duel to
begin, we hold our breath, waiting alongside
with him. When the assistant says “Forward”
we can finally breathe again. The storm begins.
D’Hubert starts walking to the forest when one
of the helpers says “Forward”. With this shout
the final duel starts. From that moment on and
until the first shot, the music underlies the sequence
in which the duellists search for each
other in the forest and around the ruins.
When D’Hubert enters the forest he walks from
lower left to upper right of the frame, it suggests
how the duel will end (this movement signifies
the rise of the character). On the other hand

FROM THE STUDENTS
Feraud walks from upper right to lower left in
one of the following shots (this movement signalling
the downfall of the character). In the
following shot Feraud is walking towards the
camera and is lit with a strong backlight. He is
underexposed and therefore appears as a silhouette
in the foggy morning. This emphasizes him
as the threatening character.
In a following wide shot Feraud crosses a bridge
in the background when D’Hubert enters in the
foreground looking away from Feraud. When
Feraud sees D’Hubert he runs into the ruin
and hides and from this moment the spectators
know that D’Hubert is being followed.
Just before the first gun shot D’Hubert thinks
he is safe hiding behind the wall without realizing
that Feraud is just around the corner. When
he leans against the wall he exhales in relief and
the music stops for the first time throughout
the sequence. In the next shot the camera has
been moved a few metres backwards and now
Feraud is seen in the background sneaking
up on him. The spectators attention is first to
D’Hubert because he is in the foreground and
because he is in the lightest spot of the picture.
0
From the feet of D’Hubert the spectator’s eyes
are led to the diagonal lines that the ruins form
in the frame and following these lines the attention
is directed towards the darkest spot. Then
it moves and the spectator realizes that it is Feraud
approaching as he fires at D’Hubert but
misses. In the end Feraud has used both his bullets
while D’Hubert still has one left. D’Hubert
aims the gun at Feraud and, to underline the
conflict of the movie, the montage sequence
shows flashbacks of previous duels where Feraud
commands D’Hubert to fight him.
The calmness and beauty of the scenery is in
strong contrast to the intensity of the duel. This
makes the spectator feel the absurdity in the
same way as D’Hubert feels it.
At the end of this sequence D’Hubert meets the
helper of Feraud in the field where the sequence
began. In this sequence it is not shown whether
D’Hubert actually kills Feraud but at the end
of the film it is revealed that D’Hubert let him
live. By that D’Hubert finally frees himself from
the romantic conceptions of honour and death
of the Duel that Feraud has imposed on him.

Away from the EFC

The Berlinale Experience
By Kjetil Mørk &
Kasper Tornbjerg
AWAY FROM THE EFC
We set out an early – very early – Saturday
morning in February, leaving behind a bunch of
drunk EFC students and heading for the centre
of German culture – Berlin, City of Sausages.
The man in charge of our trip to Berlin was a
crazy, but very organized Albanian guy – Indrit.
On the train he tried desperately to communicate
with the train personnel, not helped by the
fact that they refused to speak any other language
than German. Yes, arriving in Berlin nine
hours later was indeed a relief.
The Berlinale Talent Campus – set at the
House of World Cultures – was filled to the
brim with creative energy. 520 people from
around 80 different countries were gathered for
the five-day intensive programme with lectures,
workshops and – last but not least – parties. We
were fourteen students from the EFC attending
the Campus, and a lot of us made connections
to other young, aspiring filmmakers or business
professionals willing to give us advice on our
future film careers.
The main attraction and the lecture that attracted
the biggest audience was “Editing the
Sound and the Music” by Walter Murch, editor
of Apocalypse Now, The Conversation and
The English Patient, among others. Visualizing
his theories with clips from his films, he
talked about dimension in film, the merging of
sound and picture and how he started American
Zoetrope with Francis Ford Coppola and
George Lucas.
“The English Patient” is just one of the classic films
edited by Walter Murch, who lectured at this year’s event.
A strange character also showed up to give a lecture.
Irish DJ and film composer David Holmes
added some funky energy to the Steven Soderbergh
films, Out of Sight and Ocean’s 11. He described
his development from being a DJ in the
80’s (releasing such records as This Film’s Crap
Let’s Slash the Seats and Let’s Get Killed) to becoming
a composer for the big screen without
knowing how to actually write music.
The rest of the lectures varied from being blown
away by the IMAX experience to an intimate
lecture with Argentinian writer/director Daniel
Burman about his movie “Lost Embrace” which
was part of the main competition.
Although we were in the middle of the festival
activities, tickets to the films outside of the Talent
Campus were mostly sold out, leaving us
with nothing to do on evenings but party…
The European Film Market – officially a market
place for distributors and other very important
film people – were to us mostly a gateway
to the parties arranged by different distribution
companies. This allowed us to explore a new
country every night. Danish, Norwegian and
Lithuanian parties were all attended by students
from the EFC.
Making contacts is one of the most essential
things in the film business, and the Talent Campus
is a great place to do that. The Campus itself
has a lot to offer creatively, while at the same
time being a good base for exploring the city
of Berlin. The Berlinale Experience is definitely
recommendable to anyone interested in film.
After an intensive week, we rounded it all up
with a big farewell ceremony with a party following
. Having enjoyed our last free drinks, we
headed for Ebeltoft and a half a month of the
TV/Documentary-project. Trying not to think
of the busy days that were ahead of us, we spent
the trip home trying to catch up on our lost
hours of sleep and arrived in Ebeltoft late that
same Friday evening.

TEN THINGS WE LEARNED AT THE
BERLINALE TALENT CAMPUS:
1. Get yourself a business card. Everybody else
has one.
2. Screenwriting is really about alien abductions.
– Thomas Schlesinger, screenwriter
3. Editing is really like having great sex. – Susan
Korda, editor
4. Musicians don’t like to compete, they form
groups. – Tom Third, composer
5. Quentin Tarantino is the DJ of directors, -
David Holmes
6. If I couldn’t choose the music for my own
movies, I wouldn’t direct anymore. – Wim
Wenders
7. If someone comes up to you and asks for
your name, make sure it’s not a famous director
before you turn your back on them.
(Hint: Mora, Hint: Anthony Minghella)
8. If you come back to your hotel room and
your luggage is gone, don’t panic. You might
end up getting free drinks.
9. The term “guest status” doesn’t seem to have
the same meaning in German.
10. The key to understanding German culture
is apparently curry-wurst.
AWAY FROM THE EFC

My left foot
AWAY FROM THE EFC
Rotterdam Amsterdam Excursion
By Ragnhildur
Sigurdardottir
In the beginning of the year we were told there
would be a trip to a film festival after Christmas.
I was kind of excited about the idea. Of course
the concept of a film festival should sound appealing
to a young and eager film student, but
also the thought of going to a big city, a place
that never sleeps with cafés, shops, and clubs,
warms you up in the cold and dark Ebeltoft
nights.
Our trip began on the 26th of January and our
destination was Amsterdam. We travelled by
bus, which takes about 12 hours so we left in
the evening and drove through the whole night.
I had been fortunate enough to tear my left
ankle ligament two days before and therefore
I carried crutches as accessories. The doctor’s
orders were to rest and keep my leg up so for
the bus ride I sat dutifully with my leg on the
back of the seat in front of me in a most comfortable
manner. When we reached Amsterdam
next morning we were treated to two additional
hours of sightseeing in the bus due to problems
finding the hotel. The hotel turned out to be
in a nice 19th Century house, furnished in a
modern youth-hostel style.
Due to my condition I was only able to move
at a snail’s pace but I was fortunate enough to
stumble across a bike rental store. So on my new
transportation I was able to keep up with the
others and, though I do say so myself, I quite
blended in with the natives. Well… apart from
the fact that I had no idea of the traffic rules
and was stopped several times by the police for
biking on a pedestrian zone or on the wrong
side of a street.
The film festival was situated in Rotterdam. Due
to my condition I only went there one day and
saw 2 films. I can’t say I was enraptured by the
ones I saw. The first, Young Gods, was Finnish
(Dir. J-P Siili) and extremely silly, whilst having
ambitions to be a drama. It was about teenagers
who found enjoyment in filming each other
having sex, with disastrous consequences. The
second one however, a Polish film called Diably
Diably, (Dir. Dorota Kedziazowska) turned out
to be rather good although nothing really happened
in it. It was a study of the relationship
between the Poles and the nomadic Romany
gypsies told in an interesting, sometimes avantgarde,
way. I guess it’s a bit of a lottery when
you go to a film festival. We didn’t receive many
descriptions of the movies beforehand so I had
chosen them kind of randomly. I mainly just
tried to pick movies from different countries.
So for the remainder of the journey I instead
tried to see the attractions of Amsterdam. That
included spending a day shopping. I think it is
obligatory for a young woman to explore the
difference between H&M in the EU countries.
Even though I couldn’t fully participate in all of
the events on the trip (as I had to leave early) I
enjoyed it and hope that an excursion to Rotterdam
will be on the schedule for coming years.
Ragnhildur Sigurdardottir is a 22 year old Icelander.
She has been working in a fish factory
since she was 7 and only recently became interested
in films. Her interests are skiing, human relations
and laminating furniture. In the future she hopes
to do feature films about people in real life situations
set in Iceland.

Return to Amsterdam
By Elina Kokkonen
I used to live in Amsterdam
for 4 years before moving to Ebeltoft. In order
to resolve unfinished issues such as tax refunds,
my business school diploma and unemployment
papers, I had to go to Amsterdam a week
earlier than the rest of the school. I also wanted
to have time with my friends, go out as much as
possible and breathe in the big city and bright
lights.
I had forgotten how genuinely relaxed and happy
Dutch people can be. The first morning I
was woken up by hearing construction workers
singing love songs while building a house
next door. It felt so good to be back. One week
simply passed too fast, daytimes spent running
around dealing with personal administration
and the evenings in different bars, cafes, restaurants
and clubs. The salsa scene was still going
big time, just as it was one year ago. My physical
condition could not participate as much as
before, but it was quite fun to watch as well.
It was weird to bump into Dude, Thomas and
a bunch of other guys in the streets of Amsterdam.
I went to check into the hostel and then
we had a walk and a coffee on the canal side
with Mora, Liatte, Peter and Miriam. During
this week we went out a couple of times and
visited the Dutch Film and Television school.
The Rotterdam Film Festival was a little disappointing,
or perhaps it
was the films that I had
selected in advance.
The worst film ever was
Exist, not a protest film,
AWAY FROM THE EFC
but a film about people who live for protest, a
very long and boring one. I was really looking
forward to this film as I met the Director of
Photography and one of the actors a day earlier
and it was interesting to talk to them.
The best film I saw was
The Fuse (Gori Vatra):
A moving tragi-comedy
about post-war life in
Bosnia. When Clinton
promises to pay a visit to the apparently peaceful
town of Tesanj, all hell breaks loose.. The
director commented briefly on his film.
All in all, the trip was excellent and the combination
of living in Amsterdam, and traveling to
Rotterdam for films, was very good idea. Hopefully
more students in the following years can
do the same trip as us.
Elina Kokkonen is a Finnish student who will be
moving to London to work as Assistant Producer
on a feature after EFC.
Photo: Jens Rykær

AWAY FROM THE EFC

Let’s go to the movies

Are
you
bored?
LET’S GO TO THE MOVIES
Ebeltoft Kommune
Then be bored with a
film, then we make money on your boredom
bid all students farwell hoping that you have enjoyed your
stay in Ebeltoft and at the EFC. We wish you all the best in the future.

Big bear
By Jens Rykær
LET’S GO TO THE MOVIES
‘Lord of the Rings’ made a difference
– again
Finally. Peter Jackson’s Return of the King – Lord
of the Rings part 3 swept the academy floor effectively
and not only took eleven Oscars, but
all the Oscars in all the categories in which it
was nominated. Never happened before. The
whole project has been highly acclaimed for
its technological achievement without losing
sight of the basic story about the eternal struggle
between good and evil and the corruption
of power. The trilogy has already placed itself
among the highest grossing films of all time.
Box-office has been titanic. But which film has
still the record of having sold most tickets? Gone
with the Wind (1939) of course. But then again
– it has been screened for- ever.
Also in Big Bear The Ring made a difference.
As in all other charts throughout the world
Viggo Mortensen and his crew knocked out
all competition and made one wonder: what’s
next. Will this feat ever be repeated? Have we
reached the limits of adventurous filmmaking
or do we, the audience, still have surprises to
come? Of course we have. Just have a look at
Winged Migration (2001), that finally hit Danish
screens last autumn. How Jacques Cluzaud
and his crew managed to create such a subtle,
poetic and dramatic masterpiece, flying with
birds throughout the world, is a mystery from
both a technical and a logistic point of view. We
had to do a repeat in Big Bear with that one.
The top ten of Big Bear was again dominated
by American and domestic films. Nice to see
that our own filmmakers still succeed in winning
a remarkable market share. Close to 30%.
Top grosser was our own member of the board
Nils Malmros’ Facing the Truth sharply followed
by this season’s Bodil-winner Inheritance by Per
Fly. Also this season we saw that just a handful
of titles would totally dominate the market. In
Big Bear the best performing ten films take two
thirds of the whole box-office. Exactly the same
pattern we see everywhere else. A bit scary foboth
cinema owners and potential investors of
course. In spite of an overall positive economical
trend globally it is no wonder that (especially)
the cinema segment within the business are very
reluctant towards further investment in modern
technology – the state-of-the-art digital projectors.
It is still extremely costly to invest in these
machines. Around 100.000 Euros per screen!
Who’s to pay? Apart from no more handling of
heavy reels and the cost of shifting them around
between cinemas, what’s in it for exhibition not
to say the audience? Basically nothing – apart
from the digitally animated productions that
obviously do have an added value. Therefore
Big Bear is still a classic 35mm cinema with
the possibility of screening tapes and DVDs at
a so-so screen quality. But we are still just an
E-cinema.
65 film ran through the projectors, 19 of them
Danish,12 especially for children and families.
In addition, quite a few for schools downtown,
the childrens’ film club and the elderly (see
p80).

Photo: Jens Rykær
LET’S GO TO THE MOVIES
Money makes the world go around - and the business
By Susanne Kiær Katz
In a few years there will probably no longer exist
a municipality called Ebeltoft. The upcoming
Local Government Reform in 2006 will reduce
the amount of municipalities in Denmark and
that will merge minor townships into bigger
ones, which will also make an impact on the
existence of a municipality called Ebeltoft and
its leadership!
We are not at all happy with that evolution having
for many years had a brilliant cooperation
with the local politicians, but as we can not
fight the upcoming law we will have to prepare
for making it as profitable for the school as possible.
In 2002 the Ebeltoft Council acknowledged the
difficulties involved in providing the service of
running a cinema in a small township like Ebeltoft
with relatively few public screenings on a
yearly basis – even though the fact is that the
two clubs for the more fastidious grown-up audience
and the children are growing and growing.
This resulted in cool cash help from the
Council to safeguard the ongoing running of
0
these clubs plus the school-screenings and the
very cosy afternoons for the retired people.
This upcoming summer we will have to re-negotiate
the business agreement with our local
people – as we are still having a municipality
called Ebeltoft! And thanks for that! We will
hopefully be able to make fruitful negotiations
once more – but the hard job to be done will be
how to look into the future with possibly having
“local politicians” very far away from The
European Film College – not only geographically
but also in their relationship – and affiliations
– having perhaps another local cinema
just around their own corner!
The Children’s Filmclub has had two very entertaining
events this season that brought many
people to Big Bear – apart from all the wonderful
screenings. On the opening day a magician,
Karl Stigers, cast his spell on everybody
for more than an hour, and later on during the
season Bent Solhof, who is famous for his adventures
about the fat man Prop and his talking
cow Berta paraded his dolls in the cinema while
he told wonderful stories about their strifes
with a witch and some small pixies living near
them. Both events were sponsored by Molslinien,
the local ferry transportation firm that
brings people from Zealand to Jutland and visa
versa. Thanks to them and other local sponsors
it is possible to arrange entertainments for the
children that combine “real people” with movies
that relate to the performers.
School-screenings have also been given to a
packed cinema every time – often for two
screenings of the same movie, as the number

Film Club Programme:
Autumn 2003/Spring 2004
LET’S GO TO THE MOVIES
La stanza del figlio (Nanni Moretti, Italy, 2001)
Bowling for Columbine (Michael Mooore, USA, 2002)
Gangs of New York (Martin Scorsese, USA, 2002)
Lilja 4-ever (Mukas Moodysson, Sweden, 2002)
Mayis Sikintisi (Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Turkey, 2000)
Ying Xiong (Zhang Yimou, China, 2002)
Café Halbe Treppe (Andreas Dresen, Germany, 2000)
Todo sobre mi madre (Pedro Almodovar, Spain, 1999)
The Hours (Stephen Daldry, UK/USA, 2002)
Frida (Julie Taymor, USA, 2002)
El Bola (Achero Manas, Spain, 2000)
The Pianist (Roman Polanski, Poland/France/Germany/UK, 2002
Mies vailla Menneisyyttä (Finland/Germany/UK, 2002)
Far from Heaven (Todd Haynes, USA, 2002)
Nói Albinói (Dagur Kári, Iceland, 2003)
Samsara (Pan Nalin, Tibet/France/Germany/Italy, 2001)
El crimen del Padre Amaro (Carlos Carrera, Mexico, 2002)
Sweet 16 (Ken Loach, UK/Germany, 2002)
Yadon ilaheyya (Elia Suleiman, Palestine/France/Germany/Holland/USA, 2002
Good Bye Lenin (Wolfgang Becker, Germany, 2003)
Hafid (Baltasar Kormákur, Iceland, 2002)
Qin Song (Zhou Xiaowen, China, 1996)
Ikiru (Akira Kurosawa, Japan, 1952)
Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi (Japan, 2001)
of children going to school has been increasing
for the past five years – and continues to
do so. This means that we are not only screening
12 different pictures but actually 24 shows
– which is the double of what we did only four
years ago – and even more than last year.
The programming for the school-screenings is
as always negotiated with teachers from the four
local schools and the movies for the next season
will be decided upcoming May. The overall
idea is to open a world of images to school-kids
that they would not have thought about even
renting at the local video-shop – the additional
effect is that The Danish Film Institute have
opened up a new arena for teachers with their
educational and inspiring websites about movies
and teaching suggestions to enable teachers
to find information and links to movies they
can add to their more traditional teaching.

This also meant that all teachers and staff from
one of the local schools decided to spend a
whole Saturday in The College being taught
and entertained by Claus Hornemann from The
Danish Film Institute about how to handle the
living image in your teaching and where to fi nd
appropriate material. After lunch young Danish
director Aage Rais Nordentoft presented his
new movie for young people “ Two Moves and
a Pass” and discussed the fi lm with the audience
afterwards. A great day with an interesting
subject for teachers - which is certainly going
to be repeated for other schools from this community
in the future.

Who’s who

Staff News
By Jens Rykær
WHO’s WHO
For the first time ever in the history of the EFC
the faculty consisted of exactly the same teachers
as the previous year. From a management
point of view that fact is of course a relief. It
is not that easy to recruit new teachers – many
really want to try it out – but it is quite a huge
decision to take for private, professional and
economical reasons. Pay is certainly not high
here, in return however, we offer long hours.
The life style of a boarding school is mentally
and physically tough. ‘You never walk alone’ as
the saying goes.
Then again it is not quite true. This year we have
implemented a system with teachers’ assistants.
Three former students took up the challenge to
bridge the gap between teachers and students:
HENRIK KOLIND, RICHARD MARTIN
and STINE B. ANDERSEN. They have helped
out, on and off done their own stuff and offered
excellent assistance when needed.
Through the whole term we were visited by
many guest teachers such as the usual suspects
like ROBYN LEE, acting/directing, SIGRID
BENNIKE, set design, MADS EGMONT
CHRISTENSEN, producing, LARS BO
KIMERGAARD, editing, MAMOUN HAS-
SAN, editing, JACOB RIEWE, stunt, GERD
FREDHOLM, directing and newcomers HEI-
DI MARIA FAISST, directing, MOGENS
KLØVEDAL, writing for tv. (Other guests offering
short courses or lectures in and out of
the course periods are mentioned in the diary,
pxx).
OLE INGILDSEN came on board as assistant
caretaker for half a year, which luckily has
been extended another six months. Ole is simply
able to do anything with any piece of tool
and all kinds of material. The right man in the
right place. Unfortunately we lost KENNETH
SHUTT – his back did not allow him to do the
hard work of ass. caretaker any more .
New among the kitchen staff are trainee JAN-
NIE SLOTH JOHANSEN and kitchen assistant
ULLA BRØSTE.
MARIANNE ERIKA HANSEN has assisted
our librarian. The ambition is once and for all
to bring everything in order in there and in the
archive downstairs as well. Strange boxes have a
special way to pile up in the corners. Our young
projectionist NIS GRØN left before Christmas
with a plan to go studying in Spain – last we
heard from him he was spending time at Mallorca
(studying?). Instead we welcomed AN-
DREAS RIISHEDE, another young student
from Ebeltoft to take care of part of Big Bear’s
public screenings.
We thank all that left us for their effort here and
offer a hearty welcome to the new ones.

Zap
WHO´s WHO
Every year, the EFC produces a TV show for the Danish television channel
DK4. This year’s show was called “Zap”, a sketch-based comedy show
with an extensive studio-based central thread.
Photos: Pola Schirin Beck

Principal and teachers:
Jens Rykær: Principal
Danish. Trained as a teacher, then
in 1972 graduated in film history
and psychology from the University
of Copenhagen. Subsequently
worked on a variety of film magazines
and in other film-related
jobs, becoming manager of the
Herlev cinema in 1979. 1998-
1999: President of the Danish
Cinema Association (DBF) and
of the Innovative committee of
the Film Industry (FSI), an organisation
charged with increasing
public interest in cinema through
festivals, seminars, political lobbying
etc. Since 1991, Jens has been
a member of the Board (and since
2001 President of the Board) of
MEDIA Salle (an EU programme
for mainstream cinemas). He is
also on the Board of Europa Cinemas
(concerned with European art
cinemas). Since 1998 he has been
editor of Film Guide, a monthly
publication presenting upcoming
cinematic events throughout
Denmark.
Courses: Running a cinema
This course deals with all the
theoretical and practical aspects
in relation to running a cinema
commercially. What are the responsibility
areas of the cinema
manager? Where do the films
come from? What kind of deals
can you strike with distributors?
What are the managers tools for
promoting and programming the
cinema? Advertising - where, how,
why? What kind of profile do you
wish to enhance and what are your
niches? Economy. Demographic
analysis - who and where is your
audience? We shall bring in a
wider perspective of the national,
European and American
exhibition/distribution situation
analysing it from a cultural, artistic
and financial point of view.
Hopefully, we shall have time to
visit a couple of other very differ-
ent cinemas. Also you will learn
how to prepare films for projection
and do the actual projection
yourself in Big Bear.
Susanne Kiær Katz:
Lady Principal
Danish. Qualified in 1974 as a
teacher of Danish, English and
French and until 2000 taught
languages and cookery at Søborg
skole in a suburb of Copenhagen.
Since 1990 she has been an examination
marker in written Danish
for the Ministry of Education.
Since coming to the EFC Susanne
has combined teaching at a local
school in Ebeltoft with teaching
Danish for foreigners at the EFC
and administering the Big Bear
cinema. She was the founder, and
is now a Board member, of the
Ebeltoft Children’s Film Club,
and regularly writes about forthcoming
films at the Big Bear and
other events at the EFC for the local
Ebeltoft newspaper.
Courses: Danish for foreigners
Mark Le Fanu:
Film history
British. 1971: graduated in Literature
from Cambridge University.
1972-80: taught in the English faculty
at Cambridge. Subsequently
a freelance film critic and journalist
writing for numerous publications,
UK correspondent for Variety’s
International Film Guide and
the French film magazine Positif,
author of The Cinema of Andrei
Tarkovsky, BFI, 1987. Lecturer in
Film Studies at Regent’s
College London and the National
WHO’s WHO
Film and Television School (UK),
1991-1992: Senior Reporter,
Screen Finance.
Courses:
Film History Offered during all
course periods, the course covers
the history of film as an art form
from its origins to the present day.
Structure and aesthetics of the
short film: The short film is a genre
of its own, different from the fulllength
feature. What are the main
qualities that go into making an
interesting short? What can, and
what cannot, be dispensed with?
We stil look at the place in short
film aethetics of such topics as
symbolism, use of objects, character
development, surprise endings
and so on. We will explore the
terrain by looking at pre-existing
examples of the genre, and later
in the course we will experiment
with scripting some examples of
our own.
East is East
East is East... and West is West (as
the old saying goes) and never the
two shall meet. How true is this
feeling. Not in the film world,
anyway, there Tarantino “swears
by” Wong kar Wai, and Godard
tells us we have not lived until
we have seen at least one film by
Mizoguchi. What can the West
learn from the East? Who are the
indispensable greats of Asian cinema?
Let’s explore the topic, taking
in those films by Wong kar Wai
and Mizoguchi and also others by
Zhang Yimou, Chen Kaige, Tian
Zhuanzhuan - along with Japanese
masterpieces by Kurosawa, Ozu,
Imamura and Oshima - the great
names. Obviously “Asia” is a huge
topic and we will need to follow
a few chosen parameters carefully.
But there is much to explore and
find out about, and, hopefully, enjoyment
to be gained on the way.
Petru Maier:
Cinematography
Danish. 1983: Graduated from
the Institute of Theatre and Film
Art, Bucharest, with a BA in Cinematography.
1986-1990: studied
languages at the University of Bucharest
while working in the film
industry. 1983-1990: worked as a
1st Assistant, 2nd Unit Director of
Photography and Director of
Photography at the Motion Pictures
Studios, Bucharest, Romania.
Credits include features,
documentaries and commercials.
Debut as Director of Photography
in 1989. 1990: Director of Photography
for a short feature
produced in co-operation with the
Danish Film Workshop. Member
of Dansk Filmfotograf Forbund.
He is also a Board Member of the
Union of Danish Filmworkers.
Courses:
Basics of Video camera
Designed to provide basic knowledge
in the operation of Sony
DXC-D30P digital video camera
and sage usage of it, as well as basics
of shooting:
- how a video camera works;
TV systems, video formats
- camera controls; layout
and functions;
- lenses and camera movements;
- safety routines;
- small assignments
Silver or Iron Oxide
A practical comparative study of
imaging systems This is a practical
continuation of Photography
and Framing and Picture and
Language although there are no
prerequisites for taking the course,
it is open for everybody. The
course deals with the control of
image. From the artistic concept
and complex symbolism, the images
have to pass from the head of

the creator to the reality in front of
the camera (whatever that camera
might be) and from there, through
the lens, onto the imaging media:
CCD and tape, negative film, reversal
film, digital image or Polaroid
photo:
Where are the “dangers”? What
can go wrong and destroy the
“beautiful concept”? Unfortunately
no one has the whole secret.
I have parts of this secret and we
will try to unveil it together.
How real is the reality
This will be a journey into the
world of cinematographers. What
do they need to know and do in
order to control the reality and
bring it on to the screen. What
does it take to make three painted
walls in a studio look like an Italian
palace. How much physics,
chemistry, history of painting and
psychology do you need to know
in order to create inexistent realities.
The course deals with strategies,
approaches, solving problems
imposed by the requirements of
the script, There would be a special
emphasis on lighting both
theoretically and practically. At
the end of the course the students
will do the lighting for a “live-totape”
video production of a music
show.
Animation
Designed on a workshop structure,
the course aims at producing
a short (max. 90 seconds) animation
movie as a model to learn
what animation is all about; as
projects will take shape, students
will deal with specific problems
ranging from building sets or puppets
to lighting and filming.
- time and space in frame by frame
mode
- survey and techniques available
- timing and spacing - a must for
metering the movement
- “pencil test”: a tool for controlling
the illusion,
assignments
- pitching the projects
- production
Allan Kartin:
Editing and Audio-
Visual Techniques
Danish. Qualified as an electrician
and started work in the radio and
TV department of the royal Danish
Post and Telegraph. 1968:
qualified as an electronics engineer
from the Technical Institute
of Copenhagen. 1972: joined
Scandinavian Airlines to work
with navigational and communication
equipment in aeroplanes.
1974: joined a Trans-Pacific expedition
as the radio operator, diver
and navigator aboard a replica of
a 2000-year old Chinese junk.
1976: studied information technology
at the Danish Institute of
Technology. 1978-1993: senior
technical consultant, itineran
troubleshooter and instructor at
Radiometer International Ltd.
Produced and edited the com-
pany’s instruction and promotion
videos. 1993-95: taught editing
and media technology at the EFC,
subsequently working as a guest
teacher and technical consultant
before rejoining the staff full-time
in 1999. 1995: was given a grant
by Nordisk Film to develop the
“gyrocam”, a gyrostabilised camera
system designed for steady filming
from unstable vehicles, and
founded a company specialising in
aerial filming. He has credits as an
aerial photographer on a number
of feature films, including Lars
von Trier’s The Kingdom. Allan
is a licensed pilot, diver and ship’s
master.
Courses: Basic AVID editing
This course enables you to do
basic nonlinear editing on the
AVID-Express.
We will briefly go through the
necessary field to enable you to
work alone on the Avid systems.
You have to practise outside class
hours.
WHO´s WHO
- Basic nonlinear editing
- Cuts and dissolves
- Titles and credits
- Logging and digitising
- Output to master tape
Litsa Boudalika:
Film and
TV Documentary
Greek/Belgian. Born in Greece,
Litsa moved in her teens to Belgium
and subsequently to Italy,
where she studied Cinema and TV
Directing at the Centro Sperimentale
de Cinematografia in Rome.
In 1986: following her graduation,
she returned to Brussels and later
moved to Paris, where she began
work, first as an assistant on feature
films and commercials, later
as a film director and producer of
short and medium-length TV documentaries.
Litsa has made films
for a variety of European channels,
including RTBF, BRT (Belgium),
France 2, France 3, Arte, Image+
(France), ET-1 (Greece), NPA
(the Netherlands), SVT (Sweden),
TSR, TSI (Switzerland), Channel
2 (Israel) and others. In 1995 she
trained as a producer with EAVE
under the MEDIA Programme of
the European Union, and has subsequently
specialised as a trainer in
media herself, last year attending
the Department of Education at
Universit’e Paris 2. Before joining
the EFC, she worked as an international
trainer in the audiovisual
world.
Courses: “As far as I can see”
The course approaches the documentary
as a genre based on observation.
“Seeing” is what the
students are encouraged to do in
their practical exercises as well.
Can one see and make a story out
of that observation? If yes, what
is the film language to use for it?
The “observational” being also a
specific documentary genre, ex-
amples from that style of films are
also extensively analysed. The
course implies reading, writing
and working on several short exercises,
individually and collectively.
Portraits, Landscapes and Still
Lifes in Documentary After a
short introduction to the origins
of the genre, the course explores
the documentary by using a metaphor
from the world of painting.
It analyses examples of (film- or
video-) portraits. Is the division
into landscapes and still lifes still
applicable? Through examples of
films, study and some practice, the
students also start to be familiar
with the today¹s landscape of documentary
(variety of topics, formats,
marketplaces). The course
implies active participation from
each student (reading, viewing,
commenting writing and working
in small groups). It includes
collective short exercises on paper
and in video as an introduction to
the process of writing and making
a documentary.
Documentary “Seen on TV”
The course defines the documentary
genre inside its larger media
environment (mainly European).
Television of the past days is evolving
towards new forms of transmission
and programming such as
regional or thematic channels, web
TV’s ... In this TV landscape of
contant motion, what is the living
space for the documentary? What
“new” forms do we witness and
what ancient models, if any, do we
still adhere to? Key-roles in making
documentary are described
and analysed through existing
examples: from the decision maker’s
expectations to the audience’s
- large or tiny - point of view. In
this way, the editorial and budget
aspects - either for national or international
co-productions - appear
as the key-points of documentary
production or creation.
From Seeds to Screen
Here we are concerned with the
whole process of directing a documentary,
either an original or a
commissioned project.
1. From the idea (or concept)

to the “script”: preliminary research
and investigation, pro-
duction and legal scheme, director’s
point of view, genre, format
and duration. General structure
of the project, oral and written
presentation (synopsis, reatment,
illustrations), script.
2. From the script to carrying out:
preparing, filming, editing (in
their very detailed steps, such as
reckoning, story-board, shooting
standards, conversions of formats,
archive material, breaking down,
post-synchronizing and subtitling,
final title, credits etc...).
As far as the Sunflower grows
The course connects documentary
with different society domains,
such as art, industry, information,
science, politics, education etc...
Landmarks as well as “minor”
films inside the documentary genre
are analysed. Key-roles in making
documentary are described
and analysed through existing
examples: from the decision maker’s
expectations to the audience’s
- large or tiny - point of view. In
this way, the editorial and budget
aspects - either for national or international
coproductions - appear
as the key-points of documentary
productions or creation.
As far as the boat sails The course
is especially intended for students
who wish to enlarge their knowledge
in producing documentary
and developing their documentary
projects. It details the different
steps of a documentary production:
budgeting, financing inside
local or international markets, negotiating,
contracting and producing.
Finally, the students are given
the possibility to try out some specific
skills in which they are interested
for their future activities
(i.e. information and preliminary
research, interviewing, budgeting
and organizing the production,
preparing post-production, widening
their distribution market
etc...) As for the artistic and practical
side of the course, it stresses
the so called “creative documentary”
genre.
Esben Høilund-
Carlsen:
Directing
Danish. Studied literature at the
University of Copenhagen before
joining the Danish Film School
when it opened in 1966. In 1970
joined DR-TV, initially as a producer
of documentaries. Esben´s
subsequent career has combined
TV production (both documentaries
and drama) with directing
feature films. He has been the film
critic for the newspaper Aktuelt
(1975-80) and has held a number
of administrative posts in the
TV and film industry: as Commissioning
Editor at the Danish
Film Institute (1977-80), Head
of the Risby Film Studios (1980-
82), Head of Documentaries at
TV2 in Denmark (1987-90) and
Managing Director of the biggest
production company in Norway,
Norsk Film A/S (1990-95). In addition
he has taught Directing and
Film Analysis at the Danish National
Film School and DR-TV, as
well as at several universities, and
folk high schools, and has worked
in training actors, amateurs as well
as professionals, in appearing before
the camera.
Courses: The Language of Film
As you know the Folk High School
tradition is based on the living
(spoken) word. If believe that if
the founders of these schools had
lived today they would have chosen
living pictures as basis, as film
is the most powerful language of
our time.
The course will analyse this language,
the denotative and the
connotative meaning of audiovisual
words (for explanation: join
the course) plus cinematic grammar
and syntax - how do we define
our subject, when we film it, and
how do we fit the shot into a given
context?
WHO’s WHO
We´ll go into detail with scenes
from any different movies, but
to avoid sitting down all the time
we´ll also make our own examples
(probably every Monday afternoon).
The course will lead us into
adjoining cultural fields - art, literature,
music a.s.. - like the study
of any other language.
The craft of directing
Every one is going to direct a scene
with the whole orchestra playing:
actors, camera, light, sound and
set design, and the result will be
edited. Thereby technical and
practical skills will be combined
with the psychological and philosophical
aspects it is all about.
This course needs very careful
planning, and the most important
ingredient is you. So, you have to
be there every time on time, and
you have to perform in different
functions - from acting to set design
- when you´re not directing
yourself.
First week we train camera angles,
communication to the crew and
feeding the actors. How do you
get feelings and thoughts through
the machine to the screen? The
course is not about technique, but
about the artistic use of it with focus
on BACKGROUND, CON-
TENT/STYLE AND COMMU-
NICATION.
Second week we are visited by 8
professional actors, who want
more training on film - with you!
(If actors are from Venus and film
people from Mars, we better meet
and find a common language!) Together
we produce a monologue,
a dialogue and a quartet, and they
will be asked to criticize you afterwards!
All of you direct a monologue,
but you will have to form a
couple on dialogues and quartets -
sharing the jobs of handling technique
and actors in harmony!
Suzanne Popp:
Cinematography
- TV studio
Danish. Studied at the New
York University film school,
and after graduation, started her
own production company, Cyclone
Films. Worked for eight
years in New York as a free-
lance Director of Photography
work-ing with, among others, Susan
Sarandon, Michael Douglas
and Queen Latifah; and shot live
TV promos for In Style Magazine
and other publications. Returned
to Denmark in September 2001
and joined the EFC in September
2002.
Courses: Basics of Lighting
Lighting terminology. Basic light-
ing equipment, spot lights, open-
face, general purpose lighting.
Componentparts of main cate-
gories of lighting devices. Light-
ing stands cables and plugs. Light-
ing accessories and safety on the
set. The students will also learn
the basics of light setting, rigging,
lighting ratios and how
to build your basic lighting
set-up, with key, fill, and back
lights. There will be an intro-
duction to the studio and the
equipment available.
Lighting
Introduction to lighting terminology,
the equipment and safety on
the set. The course will take it a
step further with more exercises in
the studio. You will learn to see the
light and how to control it. The
students will be working handson,
creating different lighting setup.
Light is an important factor
of filmmaking, without it! you will
be producing Radio.
Multi Camera Production
This course is designed to take you
through all the general aspects of
multi camera productions. How
is it different from other produc-

tions, why do we shoot multiple
cameras and what kind of
productions require it. You will
learn the process involved, commands
and terminologies necessary
to be part of the team, operate
studio cameras, learn the
technical jobs involved, working
in the control room, directing
cameras and switching for live
television. You will be working as
a team on different productions in
the studio, technically and creatively.
We will bring forward your
idea, develop your skills to make
decisions on visual format and
picture composition, for your productions.
Live television is a fast
working, high-energy environment
with fast results and great team-
work.
Director of photography
This course is for students with
camera and lighting experience.
This is not a technical course, but
a course where we will set focus on
creative Camera work. We will look
at composition and the right light
for the scene. The students in this
class will be given a script, (Jim¹s
students will write)the directors
(Esben¹s students) will prepare the
actors for the scene and you will
be given the opportunity to creatte
the cinematic style. You will have
a chance to experiment and find
your own way to tell or support
the story. Lights and camera will
be your tools.
Aslak Mildh:
Sound Production
Danish. Studied music production
at Media Production Services
1989-90, and in 1995 graduated
as a sound engineer from the national
Film and Television School
in England, where he worked on a
great number of films screened at
various festivals around the world.
Aslak has a broad background in
sound production, ranging from
music production at Danish Institute
for Electro-acoustical Music
to being sound desginer on drama
and commercials at Easy Film.
Since 1997 Aslak has been running
his own studio facility while
working as a freelance sound engineer
for, among others, Channel
4 Films,
DR, TV2, Nordisk Film and Zentropa,
as well as on features and
documentaries shot in Scotland,
South Africa, Denmark, Spain
and England. His credits include
a BAFTA for best short in 1995.
Aslak joined the EFC as a teacher
in autumn 2002.
Courses:
Protools drivers licence
We shall familiarise ourselves with
the core functions of the Protools
systems, used inhouse to facilitate
post production sound for students
productions. The course
requires students to absorb quite
a bit of technical info, but should
also give people the opportunity to
get their hand on the machines,
and will finally give attendants a
drivers licence for working in the
sound studio.
Protools, Sound studio and Music
recording
A partly theoretical and partly
practical course culminating in
the recording and mixing of our
own recordings.
The theoretical part takes place in
the sound studio with a basic
introduction to ProTools and studio
inventory used for the various
recording applications. The practical
part involves recording of
instruments, live or multi layered,
acoustical considerations and
mixing and mastering of finished
products. This will be in collaboration
with students playing or
performing in the
college.
Jean Leander:
Teaching assistant
Danish. Teaching assistant. Edu-
WHO´s WHO
cated as stage director/actor from
the Royal Danish Theatre, 1963-
67. Employed at the Royal Danish
Theatre until 1974. From 1974
employed at Danish Broadcasting
as producer, and I have produced
approx. 2500 programs within
the fields of current debates and
magazines, language and the TV
kitchen. In 1997 I chose to become
a freelance TV producer and
moved to Ebeltoft together with
my family and I have worked from
here since.
James Fernald:
Screenwriting
American. Graduated with a cinema
degree from Ithaca College
in upstate New York and studied
scriptwriting in the UCLA
Extension writers programme.
Wrote a humour column for a
suburban Boston (Massachusetts)
newspaper prior to moving to
St. Thomas in the US Virgin Islands
for a stint is bartending on
the beach. Arrived in Los Angeles
in the early ´90s, working
first as a script reader and then
as a develoopment executive for a
variety of film and television production
companies. Also a proli-
fic screenwriter, signed by the
Writers and Artists Agency and
Messina-Baker Management of
Beverly Hills, and most recently
the Above the Line Agency on
Sunset Blvd. in West Hollywood.
Courses:
Essentials of screenwriting
In this class students will study
scenes and characters from films
both good and bad, to see what
works and what doesn’t in regards
to the big picture. The objective
is for each student to create a dynamic
character of their own and
place them in a scene or sequence
of scenes that ideally could be
made into a short film, yet could
possibly be part of a bigger picture.
There’s many a feature film
out there that originally started as
a great short film which caught the
attention of the movers and shakers.
Here’s looking at you, kid.
12 films about you
This is a writer intensive introductory
screenwriting workshop that
will focus on what are typically the
best scripts to come from novice
screenwriting students - storeies
about themselves. Using a variety
of tools to jog your memory,
students will be prodded to write
both humorous and dramatic stories
from their past, with some
embellishment, if needed. The
title is actually a challenge, the belief
being that all of us have at
least a dozen stories in our past
that could be developed for film.
However, the aim is for each student
to write and refine several
scripts that could be filmed later in
the academic year. Learning from
the past, students will also get to
view former EFC student films
to see why they worked, and why
they didn’t, with the hope that
they can emulate or improve on
our cinematic history here at the
EFC. Set in Big Bear, we will also
watch several feature films to see
how seemingly small stories about
one self, can turn into the big picture.
Lord of the Flies
Based on William Golding’s classic
novel, Lord of the Flies, this class
will explore the dynamics of writing
a feature film based on existing
material (both book and two
inferior film adaptations). The
unique concept of this class is to
actually write a group screenplay
of feature film length, that
is, 100 to 120 pages. Each student
will develop a character to place
on the island and a vote will ensue
to determine the hierarchy of
characters - from the protagonist
and antagonist, to the first victim.
Following group agreement on
characters, all writers will study
each individual biography so all
participants will know intimately
all the players, then the story itself
will be developed, with feature
film structure applied.

Guess who’s
coming to dinner
The first week of class we will actually
work on developing 6 scripts
that will be shot in the following
weeks by Popp and Esben’s classes.
The scripts must be done after the
first week, so writers will literally
get their feet wet immediately, and
will get to see the results on film.
The concept is to write dialogue
pieces that involve 3 characters
(preferably based on famous historical
figures, but not mandatory),
that can then be shot in one
location by the other classes. This
is a unique opportunity as a writer
to see your work on film.
Comedy writing workshop, the
sequel
Yeah, ok, you are the funniest human
beging on this whole friggin’
planet. Or wait, even better,
perhaps you think you’re just not
funny. You think you’re just plain
DULL, a walking snorefest. Well,
the simple fact of the matter is ALL
humanoids are funny. We thrive
on humour. Our entire lives
are based on humour. i.e. we want
to be happy. WE WANT TO
LAUGH. Sure, it’s nice to have a
good political discussion once in a
while to try to save the
world, and sure it’s nice to whisper
profound sweet nothings to your
significant other, but the bottom
line is, the most satisfying part of
being a person is laughing. IT’S
DOWNRIGHT HEALTHY. So,
this course is quite simply about
laughing.
Hitchcock vs. Spielberg
At present, there are several armed
conflicts raging here on Earth.
Nuclear proliferation appears to
be spiraling out of control. Global
warming is being ignored. The
modern age of mankind is only a
few generations old, and with its
advances have come the big negatives
of progress. The world was a
much safer place 100 years ago. So
the question is, for the next few
generations, can we save this planet
from ourselves? As film-makers,
we have the foremost opportunity
to reach a world-wide audience.
Whether you choose to entertain
the masses or attempt to change
their views is up to you. In this
class we’ll look at the two genres
that most clearly represent the opposite
ends of this spectrum. As
filmmakers, this class will challenge
you to face the awesome
responsibility of creating a film
in the future that can entertain
and if you choose, possibly make
a difference. Writing will not be
required, but students will be encouraged
to pitch ideas for development.
In addition, at least one
class will be set aside for career development
and advice on how to
make it in the film industry.
Guest
lecturers:
Mads Egmont:
Christensen
Production
Management
Danish. BA and Masters Degree
in Science of Film Education from
the University of Southern California.
Returned to Denmark to
work with Bellevue Studio as a
scriptwriter, director, producer
and eventually Creative Manager.
Subsequently became managing
director of Gutenberghus Film
and TV Productions, moving in
1988 to Metronome Productions
where he was Managing Director
and producer for eight years. In
1996 he became Principal of the
Danish Advertising School, but
has since returned to independent
producing, founding his own
production company, Mecano
film, in 1997. An award-winning
director of feature films as well as
numerous TV programmes and
commercials, Mads has published
articles on film education, taught
at the University of Copenhagen,
and has held several honorary of-
WHO’s WHO
0
fices, among them membership of
the Board of SOURCES, Media I,
the Nordic First Film Foundation
and the European Film College.
He was Course Director at the
EFC’s International Department
from 1997 to 2001 and has subsequently
acted as a consultant to
the Department and designer of
individual courses.
Courses:
Production
This course covers most of the
major points and central elements
in the film production process and
gives the student an introduction
to the most important tasks in
relation to the planning and management
of any film. In the sessions
we shall pin-point a number
of crucial problems that need to
be solved before shooting your
film - regardless of whether this
happens to be a 100 minute feature
or a first-time student documentary.
We shall be working by
means of mixing theoretical principles
and hands-on practicalities
in our investigation of how to:
- work with the story (outline,
treatment & script)
- cast actors or amateurs and extras
- hire the necessary crew (the responsibilities
of each department)
- research and choose between locations
or studio
- do the production-planning &
the budgeting (excercises in
script break-down)
- handle the green-lighting of your
film
- organise the shoot (call-sheets,
hour-to-hour schedules + other
types of paper-work)
- control editing and sound in
postproduction
- prepare the marketing and distribution
and finally
- secure the right exhibition
(either in the cinema, on video
or DVD, on the internet, on TV,
at film schools or at private venues)
Course motto: Plan carefully for
the expected and you will be better
equipped to deal with the unexpected
!
Sigrid Bennike:
Set design
Danish. 1990-92: International
Baccalaureate (main subjects - art
and literature). 1995-2000: Educated
at the Department of Stage
and Costume Design at the national
School of Performing Arts
in Copenhagen. Guest student at
the Academy of Fine Arts in Dresden,
Germany 1998-1999. Currently
working as a freelance stage
and costume designer and doing
a degree in Theatre Studies at the
University in Copenhagen.
Course:
Set design:
The course will offer a basic introduction
to set-design. We will
work on how to find visual inspiration
for a set and how to generate
and communicate visual ideas
even if you do not know much
about drawing.
I will introduce you to model
building and we will look at interesting
sets and set-designers
from filmhistory. During the
course each student will be working
with an individual project as
well as participating in joined
exercises. It will also be possible
to venture into the world of costumes.
Keywords: observation,
visual research, colour, materials,
buildings, interiours, fabrics, film
noir, expressionism, musical, realistic
designs/the world of imagination/in-betweens.
The course is
theoretical (no shooting) - but lots
of hands-on-experience.
Robyn Lee:
Acting and directing
American. Robyn is a long-term

New York City resident now living
in Europe. A veteran of the
stage, her career has spanned ballet,
television, film and Broadway
- as ballerina, playwright, director,
choreographer, and creator
of In the moment for Actors and
Directors, which she teaches internationally.
She is also the creator
of Playfilled: colour Yourself In -
a series of workshops, books and
virtual self-realisation workshops
utilising colour and light.
Courses:
In the Moment for Actors
directly addresses the mastery of
the emotional and physical presence
of the artist, influencing the
overall landscape in the artist’s life.
No matter what the inner or outer
pressures, the artist must maintain
the stamina of relaxation, awareness
and devotion to sustain his/
her art. In the Moment for Actors
is about being.
In the Moment for Directors
trains the director in the art of being
who you think you are, seeing
what is in front of you, dealing
with the actor and the environment
in the moment, understanding
and reaping the gifts of collaboration,
breaking down the script,
and getting what you want despite
the restrictions and demands of
the day. In the Moment for Directors
is about seeing.
Heidi Maria Faisst:
Directing
Danish. Heidi Maria Faisst graduated
from the Danish Film School,
directing line in 2003. Since then
she has been teaching acting, partly
private classes and workshops
but also at Rødkilde Folk Highschool.
Heidi is currently working
on 2 feature films at Nimbus Film
and Barok Film, respectively.
Jacob Riewe:
Stunt
Danish. Student at the EFC 2001-
2002. Currently studying drama
at Aarhus University, while being
involved in theatre and film
productions, writing drama and
playing music. Has for the last ten
years offered stunt and special effects
services, as well as teaching.
Mamoun Hassan:
Creative Editing
English. Has written, directed,
edited and produced films since
the 60’s. He has also run the UK
government’s production organisation.
In addition he has led
many other departments, such as
the editing dept at the EICTV
Cuba, and organisations in development
and production. He
has taught direction, producing
and editing and given seminars,
throughout the world, both for
small groups and for theatre audiences
on film language and
history. He contributes regularly
to The Times Higher Education
Supplement and other national
newspapers. He has taught directing,
producing and editing and
given seminars throughout the
world, both for small groups and
for theatre audiences on film language
and history. He contributes
regularly to The Times Higher
Education Supplement and other
national newspapers.
WHO´s WHO
Lars Bo Kimergaard:
Editing
Danish. Editor and film director.
Phd. Film Science 1991, BA
medicin. Since 1985 he has edited
more than 80 shorts and documentaries.
Since 1999 he has run
his company KimerFilm. External
Lecturer on Film and Media,
University of Copenhagen and
has taught at the National Danish
Film School, the EFC, the
School for Shorts & Documentaries,
the University of Odense etc.
Has written articles on Carl Th.
Dreyer, documentaries, the art of
editing and recent Danish film.
For the past four years he has been
creative editor on courses performed
at the EFC for the Guild
of Actors. Since 2003 he has been
the chairman of the Filmworkers´
Association.
Barbara Kaad Ostenfeldt:Production/Movie
Magic
Danish. BA in Mass Communication
from The Advanced School of
Mass Communication in Yaounde,
Cameroon, with focus on TV production
and journalism. 1997-
2000. Returned to Denmark after
9 years abroad, among others in
Brussels where she worked for a
Danish office of lobbyism and was
board member of the Danish Association
in Belgium.
Got admitted to the European
Film College in 2001-2002, after
which she worked on a threemonth
contract as editor and
camera operator for Copenhagen
Media Facility in Copenhagen. In
the beginning of 2003 she became
production manager on a film
project in Århus (Potemkin Film
& TV), where she made her first
feature film. Closely followed by
another job as production manager
for an educational language film
for the University of Sorbonne,
Paris, where she also carried out
the task as assistant director and
assisted with the final editing.
Course:
Production management
How do you keep track of where
to shoot, when to shoot and who
to shoot...! I am not talking about
animal hunting seasons, but how
to organise the shooting of a film.
The course will provide you with
indispensable tools, to help you
organising the making of a film
(in all its aspects) and show how to
administrate the budgeted money
in an easy, and logic, way. Beside
Excel, we will work with Movie
Magic Scheduling... a tool you
easily can become addicted to! So
watch out - attending the course is
at your own risk!!
Gerd Fredholm:
Directing
Danish. Director. Joined the Danish
Film School when it opened in
1966. Made his debut with Den
forsvundne fuldmægtig (71) - his
latest feature is At klappe med en
hånd (01). Acted as a consultant
at the Danish Film Institute (73-
75), has been employed at DR-
TV´s theatrical department and
the Danish Film School teaching
directing.

Richard Martin:
Teachers’ assistant
Welsh. I was born and raised in
South Wales before studying Film,
Video & Scriptwriting at Bournemouth
University in England, later
to study at the EFC in 2002-3. After
graduation I worked as a freelance
assistant editor, cameraman
and scriptwriter for independent
TV companies in Wales. Back at
EFC as a T.A. I have worn many
hats, including English teacher,
co-editor of Final Cut and running
a feature-script workshop.
Henrik Kolind:
Teachers’ assistant
Danish. After growing up in
Lolland and finishing the HTX
(Higher Technical eXam) and his
first couple of films, Henrik went
straight to the hills of the EFC.
He mainly worked on sound and
multi-camera, but also wrote a Final
Project. After leaving EFC as
a student he was offered, and accepted,
a job to build an O.B. van
and do some productions of festivals
and concerts across Denmark.
In September 2003 he returned to
EFC and there he’s stuck.
Stine B. Andersen:
Teachers’ assistant
Danish. High school graduate
1965. Worked for Carlsberg (international
sales). Waitress in Tivoli
gardens. Student at the EFC
02/03 specializing in multicamera,
documentary and directing.
Afterwards attended courses at the
National Danish Film School and
is now developing a pilot for a tvshow
(DR).
Administration:
Poul Sand:
Financial Manager
Danish. Worked for 29 years as
a chartered accountant, including
most recently, 8 years at Schøbel
& Markholt (now Deloitte &
Touche).
Susanne Brandt:
College secretary/
Admissions Manager
Danish. State-certified translator
and interpreter (Masters
Degree in English). Lived in
Guildford, Surrey UK 1987-1995
working as company secretary/
translator for software developing
company. Worked for the
international department 1995
transferring to the administration
1996. She is a former tennis
champion and played on the
Danish national team for years.
WHO’s WHO
Bettie Bach Brendorp:
Business Manager
Danish. Worked as the financial
manager for the Danish participation
in the world exhibition in
1992, before joining Thura Film
Productions in the same capacity.
Has worked in the international
department for 2 years before
transferring to present position
September 1998.
Hennie Kærgaard:
Office assistant
Danish. Educated in office work
in Århus. Hennie has also had extensive
experience in the restaurant
business, running several restaurants
together with her husband.
She has previously worked at the
Danish School of Journalism, and
joined EFC in August 1998.
Keld Østergaard:
Network manager
Danish. Has worked on Århus
Havn (harbour) for 25 years as
warehouse keeper. Has worked
with computers since 1981. Keld
joined the EFC June 2000.
Henrik Jørgensen:
Technical manager
Danish. 1983: finished training as
a radio mechanic. Subsequently
worked in sales and product development
in the field of audiovisual
equipment and equipment for
handicapped persons at various
places, including DP Electronics.
1988-1995: worked as a technical
assistant and producer at local
television in Århus. 1995: worked
in Aabanraa building up a TV station.
1995-2000: Technical Manager
at Nordjyllands Mediecenter.
Lars Bødker:
Caretaker
Danish. A qualified electrician who
has, among other things, worked
as lighting assistant at Aarhus
Theatre and as chief electrician at
the Concert Hall in Århus and at
the Gladsaxe Theatre. Lars is also a
cinema operator.
Ole Ingildsen:
Assistant caretaker
Danish. Ole has previously worked
as a mechanic, a blacksmith and a
carpenter. He joined the EFC in
2003 as a member of the maintenance
team.

Kenneth Shutt:
Assistant caretaker.
English. Born in Manchester,
Ken trained as a hairdresser and
has worked extensively as a cabaret
entertainer, singer and guitarist.
He moved to Denmark in 1993
and joined the EFC in 2001 as a
member of the maintenance
team.
Lone Paulsen:
Matron
Danish. Lone was trained as an
office assistant. She has formerly
worked at the land registry office
in Silkeborg and has also done a
variety of catering jobs. She joined
the EFC as matron in 2001.
Connie Steen:
Matron
Danish. She has earlier worked at
the local supermarket and as an
office clerk, and has periodically
helped out at the EFC since 1996.
She joined the college on a permanent
basis in 2002.
Poul Freibert:
Cinema operator
Danish. Studio musician and
theatre musician - owned his own
studio from 1980-93. He is now
working with meditational music.
Marianne-Erika
Hansen:
Library assistant
Danish. Educated in office work
and as a leasure-time teacher in
Copenhagen and as musician in
Copenhagen, Århus and Kolding.
Marianne-Erika teaches flute at
Ebeltoft Municipal Musicschool.
She has worked on several institutions
with pre-school and younger
children. Marianne joined EFC in
October 2003 and she is assisting
Jim Fernald with the library.
Kitchen
Mariannne Udsen:
Kitchen manager
Danish. Educated as kitchen
matron at Midt-Jylland’s Husholdningsskole.
She was formerly
matron at the technical school in
Århus, in the department store
Magasin in Århus and in various
other institutions. Marianne
joined the EFC in 1993.
WHO´s WHO
Jan Foldager:
Chef and kitchen
manager
Danish. University graduate in
Maths and Data. Worked in the
industry for a year before deciding
to become a chef. He worked and
trained in the La Tour restaurant
in Århus before joining the EFC
team in May 1994.
Ingvar Møller:
Kitchen assistant
Danish. Truly a man of many talents,
Ingvar has previously worked
among other things as a farmer,
salesman and restaurant inspector,
and has for many years been a mem-
ber of the EFC’s kitchen team.
Mona Larsen:
Kitchen Assistant
Danish. Trained as kitchen assistant
from Vejlby Husholdningsskole.
Mona initially came
to the EFC for 8 months in 1997
while Marianne Udsen was on
maternity leave and subsequently
worked at Tirstrup airport. She
joined the EFC as a
permanent member of the kitchen
team in March 1999.
Mona Sørensen:
Kitchen Assistant
Danish. Mona first came to the
EFC for a month’s training in
1998, and returned for further job
training in 1999. She was hired as
a permanent Kitchen Assistant in
2001.
Marianne Andersen:
Catering trainee.
Danish. Marianne previously
worked at Thor Fisk in Grenaa
and started at the EFC in January
2001.
Jean Jensen:
Trainee Kitchen
Assistant
Danish. Previously worked in
Bøgehøj and started at the EFC in
January 2001.
Annette Kristiansen
Trainee Kitchen
Assistant
Danish. Born 1981 on a farm
where she grew up. Started her

education as a kitchen assistant in
the summer of 2002 and joined
the EFC in January 2003. Has had
various jobs in the service industry
before beginning her education.
Plays football and is a coach for a
girls team.
Jannie Sloth
Johansen:
Trainee Kitchen
Assistant
Danish. Came on board last year
in September as kitchen assistant
after having been a trainee
at the EFC. Worked previously
at Stenvad Modebrugs-
center and theTechnical School in
Grenaa.
Ulla Brøste:
Kitchen assistant
Danish. Ulla is trained in
kitchen management and as
a dietist. She worked for 20
years at a training institution
and joined the EFC kitchen team
in 2003.
International
department:
Irene Pentikainen
Paaske:
Administrator
Finnish. BA in English and Spanish.
Has previously worked in tour-
ism, for the first few years as a
guide and destination manager in
Italy and Austria, and later conduct-
ing overseas tours. Irene joined the
EFC in January 1999.
WHO’s WHO

WHO´s WHO
Photos: Pola Schirin Beck

Students 2003-2004
Adler, Sonny
Anastasiadou, Artemis
Andersen, Louise Brix
Awwad, Nahed
Baud, David
Bechtle, Eberhar Franz August
Beck, Pola Schirin
Berg-Nielsen, Christian
Bille, Johan Peder
Blak, Nynne
Blazevski, Dejan
Brabrand, Christian Hynne
Brandt Rasmussen, Louise
Bredal Zinckernagel, Sophie
Brinch Hansen, Bo
Brown, Jacob Krause
Bækgaard, Ditte Milsted
Bækgaard, Morten Appel
Camp, Pablo
Charlet, Franck Louis Henri
Christensen, Jacob
Clarke, Stephen
Comay, Shir
Dahl, Christian
Daneman, Justin
Dayan, Emmanuel
Diers, Christoffer Andreas
Domi, Indrit
Dorrer, Manca
Eggert, Johanne
Fasolo, Antonio
Filippusson, Arni
Fløe Svenningsen, Anders
Fonseca de Sousa, Luis Miguel
Foufa, Antonia
Friberg, Ludvig
Grage, Mads Rosenkrantz
Gritschneder, Eugen
Grün, Anna
Gøthgen, Peter
Hansen, Karina Maria
Hansen, Thomas Krogh
Hoeck, Kristian
Hoffmann Frederiksen, Julie
Hoffmann, Eva Maria
Hoydal, Durita Kristina
Høie, Hilde Veronika
Jarek, Jacob
Jensen, Mikael Kyster
Jessen, Jonas
Johansson, Mikael
Karl Christian
Kjær, Jannie
Kobzevs, Jeugenijs
WHO’s WHO
Kofod, Mikkel
Kokkonen, Elina
Kunkel, Alina
Kæseler, Rene Ribberholt
Langager, Anne Eggert
Larsen, Thorvald Andreas Vig
Lenken, Sanna
Lomholt-Thomsen, Maria
Lorentsen, Thomas
Madigan, Josiah ames Michael
Matejovsky, Miriam Cordia
Mbumba, Mutaleni
McNaughton, Catherine Rose
Mechler, Pia Maria-Patricia
Miliou, Persefone
Miller, Liatte
Mody, Lena
Møller Jensen, Martin
Mørk, Kjetil
Noe-Nygaard, Jon Evald
Nybro-Nielsen, Anne Katrine
Ochsner, Thor Martin Duus
Olafsson, David Oskar
Olofsson, Eva Kristina
Otake, Saori
Petersen, Bue Bukh
Pors, Katrin
Poulsen, Juulut
Poulsen, Karen Stokkendal
Rahgozar, Morvarid
Rhaman, Mofizur
Robertson, Keira Mary Rosalyn
Rulle, Ieva
Rusev, Peter
Rørup Petersen, Rie
Schnedler, Bo Johan
Schultz, Kasper Lykke
Sigurdardottir, Ragnhildur
Skaarup, Carl
Sonquist, Nikolaj Skov
Sousa, Miriam Amaro de
Sundbye, Fredrik
Svendsen, Bjarke de Koning
Tamosaitis, Tomas
Thalmann, Johanna Katharina
Tornbjerg, Kasper
Tornbjerg, Mette Johanne Fraes
Vavouris, Nikolaos
Viborg, Nikolaj
Vidina, Zelma Diana
Voigt, Adam
Wiegell, Caspar
Zacho, Derek Gilbert
Ziegler, Laurent Sixtus