Norwegian director Gunnar hall gensen A trademark of its fickle and bizarre self-paintings is made in which their reflections on life often echo a universal. His latest film, “Portrait of a Confused Father”, determined to find out his relationship with his son, drawing on footage filmed in 20 years. Wrapped three weeks before filming, he heard that his son was killed.
Hall speaks Jensen Diversity How did he get the courage to complete his film amidst the immense grief of him and his family. The trailer of the film, which has a Sunday world premiere CPH: DocksDebut below.
The highly individual documentary is a hearty and raw story of a middle-age control-manual father, who struggles to join with his son. This is the story of love, the difficulty and beauty of paternity, but also of disadvantages.
We see Gunnar – Filmmaker/Nayak – who tries his best to join his beloved rebel only, while navigating its traditional and slightly old concepts of masculinity. As Jonathan turns into a confident young man of confidence, tests his boundaries, Gunnar is confused, such as any parents with the children of General Z, but also because there was never a captain on a cruise ship in Gunnar’s own father-Karibian.
Then when Jonathan turns 18, things become south. After emptying his savings accounts, the young man disappears for weeks. When Gunar finally finds him, Jonathan is living a completely different life with a male social media affected in Brazil with more than 10 million followers. Drawing from the promise of the world of easy money and hyper masculinity, Jonathan starts losing control. One day, Gunnar gets a phone call that will change the life of him and his family forever. At the age of 21, Jonathan has been badly attacked. The duration of grief, and reconstruction as follows, in the form of Gunnar – who was separated from Jonathan’s mother – comes back with her.
Talk to Diversity Regarding his experience, Hall Jensen says: “Three weeks before the completion of the filming (in November 2023) I received a message that the parents are the most afraid of: Jonathan – 21 years old – was killed. After the shocking news, I really wanted to die only. It was too much. It was cut out of the world in a young age.
“I was broken in something that could not be cured. I know that most of the parents who lose a child feel like this. But a contradictory keeps breathing. And after the first months of the logistics from hell, I clearly saw that the film was to be completed, with the terror of my son, I also saw it as a duty to my son. saw.
“First, it is a representative of love between a son and father, how difficult and rewarding it can be.
“Secondly, I also saw the film as a relevant representation of that time, which we (inherent) are living in threats. How easy it is for a young man to get lost in today’s chaotic world how to become successful and rich in today’s chaotic world, promoted affected by today’s gurus, coaches, affected by today’s gurus, coaches, affected.
“Third, we have the overload of books and films around mother/daughter relationships, but have very few authentic stories about father and sons.”
Hall Jensen says that to complete the film, it was very difficult to undergo his son’s footage, and included “a lot of tears and pain”. However, the filmmaker developed a method.
“During the day, by going through the material, I closed my feelings as a father as much as possible. I observed the content as a filmmaker. I forced myself to be professional to tell a story in the best way. Then, in the evening, I broke a couple of wine.”
Two people were important in helping the hall Jensen to help Jensen’s structure and find the right tone: his long -time editor Erland Harr Ericason, and BBC Storyville’s Commission editor Lucy Con, who, who did the film’s sales agent Dr. The project was rode on the project in the initial phase through sales.
Hall Jensen says, “Lucy bought a personal film about a father and son trying to connect. Then after the tragedy, I decided to move forward with the film and include the tragedy and what happened due to this. Lucy was on the board, completely,” Hall Jensen says. “It was difficult for me that the film was converted into a greater explanatory work with an artistic fickle and light-filled documentary, but Lucy helped a lot, in taking out both scenes, which seemed irrelevant now, with intensifying the story in a more explanatory way and was going heavy in the voice-over Koran. I could help him take it to a level.”
One of the challenges in the script was to decide when to announce the shocking news to the audience. Hall Jensen says that the long discussion on the subject was with Harr Ericson and Con. The director says, there were two options: either he will tell the tragedy that the story comes out, chronological, or he will do so in the beginning, an option he had gone. Not only was it that the natural way of telling the story from his perspective as a narrator was known about the tragic events, but also a way to draw the attention of the audience, so his decision was also to insert a tragedy reminder through voice in various intervals. It has been said, as the director states, the film is “somehow a true crime story”, as it is first and most important “trying to connect a story about a father and son.”
“Being a decent father is a difficult ride,” Hall Jensen says, who remembers his son as “an invincible force of nature”. “I don’t have a solution, but I hope this story of father and son will resonate with the audience. I also want to warn other parents of internet hazards, and need to monitor children and teenagers,” they say.
Kim Christian, Executive Producer, Dr. In-charge of documentaries and co-production in sales, Hall praises Jensen’s achievement. “It is incredible how Gunnar has succeeded in completing the film and we are proud to ‘present a confused father’s picture’ for both at the industry and especially CPH: Docs. Despite the sad result, it is important to tell that this is the most beautiful father and son love story that I have come in any style.”
The film has been produced by Norway’s top banner Pranthi film, which is credited for Hall Jensen’s previous film “.Oh, this Hz!“(CPH: Dox, 2021), Hymvard Bustnes’ Festival Hit” Phantoms of the Sierra Madre, “and” Two Resouring Grinks. ,
The film is produced in the film by International by Ingrid Aun Fallch, Christian aun Fallch and Torstein Perellius, and with cones in BBC Storyville, France’s Little Big Story and Sweden’s film Vaisnorand are being assumed by Valerie Montmartin and Anders Justin. John Rofacamp and Freddy serve as an executive manufacturer.
CPH: After its screening at Dox, the documentary will be dramatically released by Nork Filmdistribusjon in Norway in Norway, which before the launch of a TV on NRK in Norway, Yle in Finland, DR, Svt, SVT, SVT, SVT, SVT, SVT, SVT, SVT, RTS in Switzerland, BBC and BBC in Britain First.
