1943. You are sitting in a boat with Josef. He is rowing from occupied Denmark to safety in neutral Sweden. As the boat crosses the ocean, the sea gives way to the streets and people that populate his mind. Your journey together becomes a living landscape of painful recollections from the night of his escape. As dawn draws near, you will witness the trauma of escape and the guilt of surviving—when those you love are left behind.
‘End of Night’ is a story that probes how the choices we make in the present eventually become a memory. I want the audience to have a personal meeting with a refugee, someone whose life is defined by memories. I worked with the story of my family, as well as the stories of escape that occupy my native city. However much they may be part of the past, exploring them became a way to understand that escape is not something that only happens to other people in other places. It has happened and is happening in our time. In Josef, the character of the refugee, I kept encountering the conflict between wanting to tell my story and share my pain, with the fear of exposing my weaknesses and shame.
AWARDS
2022
Sandbox 2022 – Best Immersive Story
Sandbox 2022 – Pico X SIF Talent Award
2021
Red Sea IFF 2021 – The Golden Award
CPH:PIX 2021 – The Crystal Ball
Venice Virtual Reality Expanded 2021 – Best VR Story
Screenplay: Hans Frederik Jacobsen, David Adler
Director: David Adler
Production: Makropol (Mikkel Skov, Mads Damsbo), NovelabMain
CAST
Josef (Old) Jens Jørn Spottag
Josef (Young) Niklas Herskind
Sarah Lea Gregersen
Doctor Lars Brygmann
Fisher Captajn Rudi Køhnke
Fisherman Aske Bang
Police Officer Troels Thorsen
Eva Natalie Nitchev
