'THE SUNKEN CONVENT'
(org. title: 'Det Sjunkne Kloster').
Short film from 2016 written and directed by Michael Panduro. Produced by Jón Hammer at Zentropa Productions with the support of Nordic Twilight, an initiative of Filmværkstedet / The Danish Film Institute, Aarhus Filmværksted, Odense Filmværksted and The Animation Workshop.
DIRECTOR'S STATEMENT
The first time I read Hans Christian Andersen's reworking of Gottschalk's 'The Sunken Convent', I was fascinated by the short story. It has a peculiar feeling of impending doom, which we've tried to match in this very free adaptation. I'm fascinated by how we as people apparently crave our own demise. How our actions often prefer habit over logic despite sometimes fatal consequences. A good example is our handling of the environment. Despite all our knowledge of the subject and a number of possible solutions already established, our planet is still as doomed as it was the first time we learned about climate change and global warming. We know how to change things in the right direction, yet we do nothing. This paradox intrigues me.
'The Knight' in the story becomes a grotesque picture of these patterns of behaviour. A man so stuck in old habits, that he actively weighs himself down - a selfdestructive dinosaur. As such, you could say that the film is a satire on modern day apathy - a film about how human nature will undoubtedly lead to our demise.
AWARDS & NOMINATIONS
- Shortlisted for a Robert (Danish Academy Award) for best short film.
- Winner Best Cinematography, LatronicHorror 2016
- Winner Best Cinematography, Independent Horror Movie Awards
- Winner Best Atmosphere, Independent Horror Movie Awards
- Winner Best International Short Film, Feratum Fantastic Film Festival 2016
- Special Mention, Best Actor, Claus Flygare, Terror Cordoba 2016
- Special Mention, Ploiesti IFF 2017
- Winner Best Actor, Claus Flygare, Cryptshow FFF 2017
- Winner Best Director, Short Film, Nightmares Film Festival 2017
- Winner Best Int. Short, Dracula Film Festival 2017
- Nominated, iHorror Awards 2017
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