30/5 — 5/6/2024
64th International Film Festival
for Children and Youth

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Section: Panorama

The Contest (2013) 12

Denmark | 2013 | 95 min.

"The Contest", based on a book by Gitte Løkkegaard, tells the story of 12 -year-old Karl who moves from the Danish west coast to the capital city with his mother. Nothing could have prepared Karl for his new surroundings, a rough and ethnically mixed area of Copenhagen, and soon Karl starts to plan his escape back to his grandparents. Sawsan, a young Turkish girl in Karl’s class, takes him under her wings and tries to integrate him into big city life with all its slang and hipness. When one of Sawsan's homemade songs is chosen for a big national song contest, she faces opposition from her family to follow her dream and sing at the contest. But Karl has other plans, and against all odds he and Sawsan embark on a common mission westward.

CountryDenmark
Year2013
Duration95 min
Rating12
LanguageDanish
SubtitleEnglish, Czech
Directed by Martin Miehe-Renard
Screenplay Gitte Løkkegaard, Martin Miehe-Renard and Hans Hansen
Director of Photography Lars Reinholdt
Music Frans Bak, Keld Haaning Ibsen
Edited by David Rue
Contact Danish Film Institute

Biography

Martin Miehe-Renard (1956) is a Danish screenwriter, director, producer and actor. He graduated from the National Film School of Denmark. He's worked for a long time in television, where he has made a number of series. He made his debut with the family film Pixie Panic (Pyrus på pletten, 2000). He's shot a series of children's films; My Sister's Kids in Jutland(Min søsters børn vælter Nordjylland, 2010), My Sister's Kids Home Alone (Min søsters børn alene hjemme, 2012) and My African Adventure (Min søsters børn i Afrika, 2013).