KUUNTELE

Denmark, Finland

Synopsis

A foreign woman in a burqa brings her young son to a Copenhagen police station to get away from her abusive husband, yet the translator assigned to her seems unwilling to convey the true meaning of her words to the police, thus corrupting the truth of her terrible situation.

Director's Statement

We directed a cast and crew whose first languages were Danish and Arabic, which both of us don’t speak, so we had our own experience of miscommunication, at least at the beginning. After a dodgy first day, we learnt how to communicate, sometimes without even speaking the same language. Lots of big gestures and focus and we understood each other’s needs - it was fascinating.

Links / Reference

Hamy Ramezan
Hamy Ramezan is a Finnish-Iranian film director and scriptwriter. He studied film in England, graduating in 2007. His short film OVER THE FENCE (2009) was a world-wide festival hit and was screened at more than 40 international film festivals, earning many awards. KEYS OF HEAVEN, among other awards, won four prizes at the Tampere FF 2014. He is currently developing his first feature, MOTEL OF A THOUSAND ROSES.

Rungano Nyoni
Rungano Nyoni’s films have screened at more than 200 film festivals world-wide. In 2012, her most recent short, MWANSA THE GREAT, was nominated for an African Academy Award and a BAFTA. With her partner, she wrote and he directed THE MASS OF MEN which premiered at Locarno FF, garnered more than 60 prizes and was shown at 100 film festivals. In 2013, she was selected for Cannes Cinefondation Residency for her first feature film, I AM NOT A WITCH.
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Cast & Crew

Directed by: Hamy Ramezan, Rungano Nyoni

Written by: Hamy Ramezan, Rungano Nyoni

Produced by: Valeria Richter, Helene Granqvist

Cinematography: Lars Vestergaard

Editing: Rikke Selin Lorentzen

Production Design: Jakob Stig Olsson

Costume Design: Camilla Nordbjerg

Original Score: Kristian Selin Eidnes Andersen

Sound Design: Thomas Jæger

Cast: Zeinab Rahal (mother), Amira Helene Larsen (translator), Alexandre Willaume (policeman), Nanna Bøttcher (policewoman), Yusuf Kamal El-Ali (son)

Nominations and Awards

  • European Short Film 2015