Empire
Director Fredrikke Aspöck and writer Anna Neye raise an eyebrow at Danish ideals of egalitarianism in this satirical period piece set during Denmark’s oft-ignored stint as a colonial power in the West Indies.
Saint Croix, under Danish rule 1848. Anna Heegaard occupies a rare space: A free, rich, powerful woman of color. She also happens to be the lover of the Danish Governor-General of the West Indies. Petrine is her close friend, but also her property. It all tugs along fine, until murmurings of a slave rebellion put every one of their relationships under pressure.
Empire is a colorful and visually decadent satire based on historical events. Writer Anna Neye, who also stars as Anna, uses at times absurd humor to pinpoint the social dynamics on display, never ridiculing the core story. The result is a film that welcomes both laughs and reflection.
Jenny Lund
Nordic Council Film Prize – Q&A
After the screening of VIFTEN on Friday, 01.09 at 20.15 in Ringen 3, the film's director, Frederikke Aspöck, will participate in a Q&A session.
About The Nordic Council’s Film Prize
The purpose of The Nordic Council’s Film Prize is to promote Nordic film production, the Region’s film market and the long-term international position of Nordic film.
It is awarded to a full-length feature that has roots in Nordic culture and displays high standards of artistic quality and originality. Innovation is also weighted heavily. The films nominated should preferably be in one of the Nordic languages.
Read more about the Film Prize here.
Director
Frederikke Aspöck (b.1974) holds an MFA in Filmmaking from Tisch, NYU. Empire is her fourth feature and her first-period piece. Her previous films have won major awards at international film festivals such as The Golden Star Award, at Marrakech for Out of Bounds (2011) and Best Director at Moscow for Rosita (2015). Out of Tune (2019) became a Danish box-office hit. Common for all of Aspöck’s films is a great belief in flawed human beings and a conviction that comedy and tragedy always go hand in hand.
This film is part of
Original title Viften
Country Denmark
Year 2023
Director Frederikke Aspöck
Screenplay Anna Neye
Cinematography Linda Wassberg
Producer Nina Leidersdorff, Pernille Munk Skydsgaard, Meta Louise Foldager Sørensen
Cast Anna Neye, Sara Fanta Traore, Claus Riis Østergaard, Jesper Groth, Tyler Errol Murray'
Runtime 1h 33m
Language Danish
Subtitles English
Genre Comedy, Drama
Format DCP
Age limit 12
Links IMDb
This film is in competition for the Audience Award.