Erna at War
The year is 1918. The Great War is raging through Europe while Erna Jensen tends to her ordinary, tranquil life at home in Bramstrup where she lives with her simple-minded son, Kalle.
That is until the day when everything changes as the village constable Meier shows up to conscript Kalle for military service for the German Empire of which Southern Jutland, at this time, is a part.
Ever since Kalle’s dramatic birth, Erna has promised the Lord that no one should ever be allowed to touch so much as a single hair on the boy’s head and now she has to hand him over to the
German war machine.
Erna realises that if she is to save Kalle from an uncertain fate in the trenches, she must follow him through thick and thin. As fate would have it she rescues a deserting soldier and the two of them swap clothes and identities. Now disguised as Private Julius Rasmussen, Erna heads towards the front. In her encounter with soldier Anton Seiersen, the blacksmith from Jels, new previously unknown sides are awoken in Erna.
PÖFF 2020, Jury Prize for The Best Actor – Ulrich Thomsen
Biography
Henrik Ruben Genz (b. 1959) graduated in 1995 from the National Film School of Denmark. In that same year, his „Cross Roads“ won awards for Best Film and Screenplay at the Munich International Film School Festival. Of his documentaries and short dramatic films the most successful has been „Theis & Nico“ (1998), which brought him an Oscar nomination and a Glass Bear at Berlin. Genz’s first feature, „Someone Like Hodder“ (2003) was honoured by the juries of several festivals, including Chicago, London, Poznan and Zlin. His next features „Chinaman“, „Terribly Happy“, „Satisfaction 1720“ and "Word of God" were screened at PÖFF programme in 2005, 2008 2016 and in 2017. „Erna at War“ is Genz’s eight full-length feature.
Filmography
Omveje (Cross Roads, 1995), Brormin bror (Theis and Nico, 1998), En som Hodder (Someone Like Hodder, 2003), Kinamand (Hiinamees, PÖFF 2005), Frygtelig lykkelig (Hirmõnnelik, PÖFF 2008), Undskyld jeg forstyrrer (Excuse Me, 2012), Good People (2014), Tordenskjold & Kold (Satisfaktsioon 1720, PÖFF 2016), Gud taler ud (Jumala sõna, PÖFF 2017), Erna i krig (Erna at War, 2020)
Grand Prix for The Best Film, grant of 20 000 euros from the city of Tallinn, Award for Best Director, grant of 5000€ from Alexela
