'A HOUSE MADE OF SPLINTERS' NOMINATED FOR GRIERSON AWARD

Simon Lereng Wilmont’s documentary film A House Made of Splinters has been nominated for a Grierson Award in the category ‘Best Single Documentary – International’.

This years’ Grierson Awards is the 51st of its’ kind, and it will take place in London on the 9th of November. The awards, also known as British Documentary Awards, commemorate Scottish documentary filmmaker John Grierson (1898 – 1972) and are given to documentaries that “have made a significant contribution to the genre and that demonstrate quality, integrity, creativity, originality and overall excellence.”

Director Simon Lereng Wilmont explains, that “On the surface it (A House Made of Splinters, red.) is a story about neglect, but on a deeper level it is just as much an uplifting and universal story about hope and about children’s ability to survive and find the magic in life despite tragic circumstances.”

We are excited that A House Made of Splinters has been nominated, and we will follow the British Documentary Awards closely, as winners are revealed on November 9th. You can find out more about the awards and all the films that have been nominated here.

'A HOUSE MADE OF SPLINTERS' NOMINATED FOR FILM INDEPENDENT SPIRIT AWARD

We are so proud that Simon Lereng Wilmont’s film ‘A House Made of Splinters’ has been nominated at the Independent Spirit Award for Best Documentary.

‘A House Made of Splinters’ is directed by Simon Lereng Wilmont and produced by Monica Hellström.
The film follows three children at a temporary shelter, as war-torn Ukraine leaves devastating and enduring marks on the population. Through the eyes of kids, the film depicts a personal, tender, and simultaneously tragic and hopeful story about lives in limbo. Gorgeous, patient camerawork respects the children's vulnerability but expertly detects the unmistakable normalisation of violence in their desperate play, temporary friendships and fragile family connections.

The 38th annual award ceremony is set to return Saturday, March 4, 2023.

You can find the other nominees in the category here.

'A HOUSE MADE OF SPLINTERS' AND 'THE KILLING OF A JOURNALIST' AT DOCNYC

This years DOCNYC is right around the corner, and we are happy to announce that we have ‘A House Made Of Splinters’ and ‘The Killing Of A Journalist’ screening at the festival.

The Killing of a Journalist is directed by Matt Sarnecki and produced by Signe Byrge Sørensen, editing is by Janus Billeskov Jansen, and music by Kristian Eidness. The film is co-produced with GotFat Productions in Aarhus, Denmark, and Frame Films in Czech Republic, with support from the West Danish Film Fund and Czech Film Fund. The Killing of a Journalist premiered at HotDocs 2022, screened at Karlovy Vary Int FF, and recently won the TRUTH DOX award at DokuFest.

A House Made of Splinters is directed by Simon Lereng Wilmont, and produced by Monica Hellström, edited by Michael Aaglund, sound design by Heikki Kossi, Pietu Korhorhonen, Peter Albrectsen & Sune Kaarsberg, music by Uno Helmersson. The film is co-produced by Story in Sweden, Donkey Hotel in Finland, Moon Man in Ukraine and MDR in collaboration with Arte (GER/FR), with support from The Danish Film Institute, Danish Film Directors, The Swedish Film Institute, The Finnish Film Institute, AVEK, Nordic Film & Tv Fond & Creative Europe: TV Programming. A House Made of Splinters premiered at Sundance 2022, winning the Best Directing Award, and went on to also receive the Dragon Award for Best Nordic Documentary at Gothenburg Film Festival as well as the Politiken:DOX Award at CPH:DOX and two awards at Thessaloniki IFF.

See the full program for DOCNYC here

'A HOUSE MADE OF SPLINTERS' WINS AUDIENCE AWARD

We are super excited to announce that 'A House Made Of Splinters’ directed by Simon Lereng Wilmont has won the City of Malmö’s Audience Award at Nordisk Panorama Film Festival.

‘A House Made Of Splinters’ follows three children at a temporary shelter where a small group of strong-willed social workers work tirelessly to create an almost magical safe space for the kids to live in, as war-torn Ukraine leaves devastating and enduring marks on the population. Through the eyes of kids, the movie depicts a personal, tender, and simultaneously tragic and hopeful story about lives in limbo.

The film is produced by Monica Hellström for Final Cut for Real, and co-produced by Tobias Janson (STORY, Sweden), Sami Jahnukainen (Donkey Hotel, Finland) and Darya Bassel & Viktoriia Khomenko (Moon Man, Ukraine).

You can see the full list of winning films at Nordisk Panorama Film Festival, if you click on the link right here.

FOUR FILMS PRESENTED IN HOTDOCS' NORDIC PROGRAMME

It is our great pleasure to announce that we have four films screening at the HotDocs film festival, all of which will be part of the Nordic Bridges programme. These include: “A House Made of Splinters” directed by Simon Lereng Wilmont; “The Killing of a Journalist” directed by Matt Sarnecki; “Our Memory Belongs to Us” directed by Rami Farah; and “Outside” directed by Olha Zhurba. You can read more about each of them, including tickets and streaming info, below:

‘A House Made of Splinters,’ directed by Simon Lereng Wilmont and produced by Monica Hellström, follows three children at a temporary shelter, as war-torn Ukraine leaves devastating and enduring marks on the population. Through the eyes of kids, the film depicts a personal, tender, and simultaneously tragic and hopeful story about lives in limbo. Gorgeous, patient camerawork respects the children's vulnerability but expertly detects the unmistakable normalisation of violence in their desperate play, temporary friendships and fragile family connections. 

‘The Killing of a Journalist’, directed by Matt Sarnecki and produced by Signe Byrge Sørensen, explores the brutal murder of the Slovakian investigative journalist Ján Kuciak and his fiancée Martina Kušnírova. Their deaths inspire the biggest protests in Slovakia since the fall of communism. When prosecution efforts turn up honey-pot schemes, paid assassins and dubious political appointees instead of delivering justice, democracy itself may not survive in one of the European Union's most jaw-dropping corruption scandals

“Our Memory Belongs to Us” directed by Syrian filmmaker Rami Farah and produced by Signe Byrge Sørensen, Liana Saleh and Anne Köhncke, reunites citizen journalists Yadan, Odai and Rani in an empty theatre to watch smuggled footage on the big screen nearly 10 years after the beginning of the Syrian revolution. Together, they revisit the events, people and places that changed the trajectory of their lives. How does one survive - by forgetting or by remembering? Building to a shattering crescendo, this collective memory exercise provides a corrective history and chronology for the revolution that was reframed as a civil war by a dictator who preferred to displace over six million people rather than be deposed — and is confirmation that people must tell their own stories.

“Outside” directed by Olha Zhurba, produced by Darya Bassell and Viktoria Khomenko for Moon Man and co-produced by Anne Köhncke and Monica Hellström for Final Cut for Real, follows 13-year old Roma, an abandoned street kid adopted by random soldiers in Kyiv’s Independence Square during Ukraine’s Maidan Uprising. But when the media and military encampments cleared out, he was again discarded, this time to an orphanage. At 18, with just a knife and a lighter in his pocket, can he possibly take control of his life? Security footage, heartbreaking phone calls and chance meetings populate this expertly layered study of a lost soul who belongs to no one and has nowhere to go.

The Nordic Bridges programme is a year-long initiative led by Toronto’s Harbourfront Centre fostering cultural exchange between the Nordic Region and Canada. Working with partners across Canada, Nordic Bridges presents multidisciplinary contemporary art, culture and ideas throughout the year. 

To read more about the HotDocs film festival, online streaming or how to secure a ticket, click here.

'A HOUSE MADE OF SPLINTERS' WINS POLITIKEN: DOX AWARD

We are very happy and proud to announce that ‘A House Made of Splinters’ by Simon Lereng Wilmont and produced by Monica Hellström has receives the Politiken: DOX Award! The prize is awarded by Politiken's film critics, who choose a winner among the nominated films from this year's festival programme and the ceremony was held on April 1st 2022.

‘A House Made of Splinters’ follows three children at a temporary shelter, as war-torn Ukraine leaves devastating and enduring marks on the population. Through the eyes of kids, the movie depicts a personal, tender, and simultaneously tragic and hopeful story about lives in limbo.

To read more about the other winners and nominees of this year’s CPH: DOX click here.

'A HOUSE MADE OF SPLINTERS' WINS GOLDEN ALEXANDER AND FIprESCI AWARD AT THESSALONIKI DOCUMENTARY FESTIVAL

We are very happy to announce that ‘A House Made of Splinters’ directed by Simon Lereng Wilmont has won the grand prize for Best Documentary of the International Competition as well as the FIPRESCI award at Thessaloniki Documentary Festival! The award for Best Documentary was one among two under the International Competition awards - A joint jury reasoning for the selection was thus given for ‘A House Made of Splinters’ and ‘Young Plato’ by Declan McGrath & Neasa Ní Chianáin:

“There are two films that stood out for us. Two profoundly moving and intricate films that, in many ways, struck us as companion pieces, and that deserve to be seen together. The Special Jury Award goes to a film that can only give us hope in future generations and their capacity to make the world a better place. The award goes to Young Plato. The Golden Alexander Award goes to an unforgettable film that shines a light on the burden carried by children for the horrors and mistakes perpetrated by the world of the adults who should be caring for them. The Golden Alexander Award goes to A House Made of Splinters”.

‘A House Made of Splinters’ follows three children at a temporary shelter, as war-torn Ukraine leaves devastating and enduring marks on the population. Through the eyes of kids, the movie depicts a personal, tender, and simultaneously tragic and hopeful story about lives in limbo.

To read more about the 24th Thessaloniki Documentary Festival, click here.

'A HOUSE MADE OF SPLINTERS' WINS BEST NORDIC DOCUMENTARY AT GOTEBORG FILM FESTIVAL

We are very proud to announce that the Dragon Award Best Nordic Documentary at Göteborg Film Festival went to director Simon Lereng Wilmont for ‘House Made of Splinters’.

In the statement of motivation, the jury expressed their considerations in selecting Wilmont’s film:

The jury has been challenged by a wonderful selection of documentaries that have surprised us, made us cry and provoked us with a wide range of stories and ways of storytelling that truly has made us proud of the filmmakers of the Nordic region. 

The award goes to an exceptionally beautiful film. A film that with its presence and despair is more urgently burning than ever possible. With poetically unforgettable images, it gives a voice to the children’s heartbreaking stories, with a brutal war in the background. The story and the images that carry so much weight, sometimes feel light, like a soap bubble floating carefree in a room. In its total darkness, there is a little shimmer, a spirit of warmth and hope. 

The award ceremony was held 28th January and lasted until 6th February.
To see the full list of nominees, go to goteborgfilmfestival.se.

'A HOUSE MADE OF SPLINTERS' SELECTED FOR SUNDANCE 2022

We're so happy to announce that Simon Lereng Wilmont’s new feature documentary A House Made of Splinters, produced by Monica Hellström, will have its world premiere in January, as part of the World Documentary Competition at Sundance Film Festival 2022. The film has been selected along with 9 other documentaries from around the world. This year Sundance will be a hybrid between online and in-person attendance taking place from January 20 to January 30 2022 in Salt Lake City, US.

A House made of Splinters is a follow-up to Wilmont’s debut feature The Distant Barking of Dogs, both films showing the lives of children in war-torn Eastern Ukraine. The film from 2017 won a string of ​​awards, including for best first film at IDFA. A House Made of Splinters follows a small group of strong-willed social workers who strive tirelessly in a special kind of orphanage to create an almost magical safe space for kids to live in while the state authorities and courts decide the future fate of the children and families.

Click here to browse through the full lineup at the Sundance website.

Or read DFI’s coverage about this exciting news here!

FILMS AVAILABLE FOR SCREENING AT DRTV

We are happy to announce that a selection of films produced by Final Cut for Real are now available for screening at DRTV. The films are listed below and accompanied by a link to DR’s website. Enjoy!

Content on DRTV can only be accessed in Denmark.

The Distant Barking of Dogs

The Distant Barking of Dogs is director Simon Lereng Wilmont's first feature. It is set in Eastern Ukraine on the frontline of the war. The film follows the life of 10-year-old Ukrainian boy Oleg throughout a year, witnessing the gradual erosion of his innocence beneath the pressures of war. Through Oleg’s perspective, the film examines what it means to grow up in a war zone. It portrays how a child’s universal struggle to discover what the world is about grows interlaced with all the dangers and challenges the war presents.

The Act of Killing

Joshua Oppenheimer's Oscar nominated documentary The Act of Killing, explores the massive genocide that took place in Indonesia in the 1960s from the perspective of the perpetrators. The government of Indonesia was overthrown by the military in 1965, and more than a million people - communists, people of Chinese descent and intellectuals were executed. The movie is set in the city Medan on the island Sumatra. Here the filmmakers challenge the death squad leaders to dramatize how they participated in the genocide. The result is a surreal cinematic journey into the mass murderers ideas and fantasies about themselves and their victims. Simultaneously the movie presents us to a frightening and extremely corrupt regime, where the murderers have faced no judgement but instead are celebrated as heroes.

The Look of Silence

The Look of Silence, is a companion piece to The Act of Killing, The film follows a young optometrist as he attempts to bring the past into focus. The family discovers how their son was murdered during the Indonesian genocide - as well as the identity of the men who murdered him. The film documents the confrontation in the absence of any truth and reconciliation process, while the murderers remain in power.

Pervert Park

Pervert Park by Frida and Lasse Barkfors, is a film about the people no one wants as a neighbour. It follows the every day life of the sex offenders in a Florida trailer park as they struggle to reintegrate into society, and gives us a chance to understand who they are and how the destructive cycle of sexual abuse and silence can be broken.

Death of a Child

Death of a Child is Frida and Lasse Barkfors’ second film in a trilogy exploring social stigma. Pervert Park was the first. It is an exploration of the lives of parents who have caused their own children’s deaths. The film encompasses many different situations in life where tragedy hits and where someone is at fault, because of mistakes, accidents, neglect or mental illness. There is however something with what these parents have done that seem to trigger a specific social rage and condemnation. Because what kind of parent forgets a baby in a car?

Land of the Free

Land of the Free, directed by Camilla Magid, is a moving portrayal of life after prison in the US. In South Central, Los Angeles, we follow Brian, a 42-year-old man, just released after having spent his whole adult life in prison. On his own, he must adapt to a modernised and changed society. He has to tackle the challenges of the Internet, getting a driver's license, and finding love. The film tackles hard hitting cultural issues and works to show the humanity in a deeply troubling environment where the prison industrial system often targets and holds back people of color.

Håbet bag hegnet / Les Sauteurs

Les Sauteurs, a film directed by Estephan Wagner and Moritz Siebert in collaboration with the film's protagonist Abou Bakar Sidibé, is ultimately a film about making a film. It is Abou's portrayal of the human struggle for dignity and freedom on one of the World's most militarised frontiers. In northern Morocco lies the Spanish enclave of Melilla: Europe on African Land. On the mountain above live over a thousand hopeful African migrants, watching the land border, a fence system separating Morocco and Spain. Abou from Mali is one of them - the protagonist in front of the camera, as well as the person behind it. For over a year, he has ceaselessly persisted in attempting to jump the fence.

'THE DISTANT BARKING OF DOGS' NOMINATED FOR TVPRISEN 2020

We are very proud to announce that The Distant Barking of Dogs is nominated for Tvprisen 2020. The film, directed by Simon Lereng Wilmont, is nominated in the category for Best Documentary along with nine other nominees.

Tvprisen is an annual event arranged by the Danish Producers’ Association. An award show where the TV-industry acknowledges and celebrates the best Danish TV-programmes of the year.

The 2020 awards will be presented on January 18th at Tivoli Hotel & Congress Center in Copenhagen.