Dreaming of Denmark

Director Michael Graversen’s film investigates what happens to one of the many unaccompanied minor refugees who disappear in Europe after their asylum claim is rejected. Over the course of four years the director follows the faith of the young afghan Wasiullah from the careless days at the children's asylum centre in Denmark to the illegal life through Europe where Wasi ends up in a homeless existence in Italy. The dream of one day returning to Denmark is what keeps Wasi going until he breaks down in the end and loses his memory.{{cite web|url=http://www.dfi.dk/faktaomfilm/film/en/94902.aspx?id=94902|title=Drømmen om Danmark|publisher=}}

Dreaming of Denmark premiered at CPH:DOX and was nominated for a F:ACT Award.{{cite web|url=http://cphdox.dk/en/programme/film/?id=3216|title="Dreaming of Denmark", CPH:DOX, 5 November 2015|publisher=}} It was broadcast in a primetime slot on Danish national TV DR1.{{cite web|url=https://www.dr.dk/tv/se/droemmen-om-danmark/-/droemmen-om-danmark|title=Drømmen om Danmark - TV - DR|publisher=}}

After the release in Denmark the film hit the headlines in danish media and sparked debate about the conditions of the unaccompanied minor refugees in Denmark.{{cite web|url=http://ekstrabladet.dk/112/uledsagede-flygtningeboern-udvises-til-hjemloeshed/5810925|title=Uledsagede flygtningebørn udvises til hjemløshed|publisher=}}{{cite web|url=http://www.dr.dk/p1/p1-debat/p1-debat-2015-11-05/|title=P1 Debat: Skal flygtningebørn sendes hjem, når de bliver 18 år - P1 - DR|website=Radio - DR}}{{cite web|url=https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/kultur/film/filminstruktoer-om-afslag-til-uledsagede-flygtningeboern-vi-har-et-ansvar|title=Filminstruktør om afslag til uledsagede flygtningebørn: Vi har et ansvar|publisher=}} The director Michael Graversen has since regularly appeared in the public debate in Denmark advocating for the rights of young and child refugees {{cite web|url=http://www.b.dk/kommentarer/nedlaeg-boerne-asylcentrene|title=Nedlæg børne-asylcentrene|date=4 August 2016|publisher=}}{{cite web|url=https://www.information.dk/debat/2016/04/lever-skyggerne-aldrig-del-samfundet|title=De lever i skyggerne og bliver aldrig en del af samfundet|date=7 April 2016|publisher=}} as well as traveling internationally with the film speaking about its subject to the press and participating in debate panels.{{cite web|url=http://tdf.filmfestival.gr/default.aspx?lang=en-US&page=1323&newsid=2237|title=18th TDF: Press conference - Nanfu Wang (Hooligan Sparrow), Sophia Luvara (Inside the Chinese Closet) and Michael Graversen (Dreaming of Denmark)|publisher=}}

Danish film magazine EKKO wrote in a review of the film: "What is at stake in the portrait, is the human consequences of a youth growing up as a shadow existence with nothing to cling on to than the hope to be let. Wasis Sisyphean existence is a profound input in the refugee debate and Dreaming of Denmark is something as rare as an important film.".{{cite web|url=http://www.ekkofilm.dk/anmeldelser/drommen-om-danmark/|title=Drømmen om Danmark|publisher=}}

The film has been selected to several international film festivals and won the Amnesty Award at Giffoni International Film Festival.{{cite web|url=http://dokincubator.net/dreaming-of-denmark-gets-double-success-the-amnesty-international-award-and-the-second-prize-at-giffoni-international-film-festival/|title=Double success of Dreaming of Denmark: Amnesty International Award and the second prize at Giffoni International Film Festival - DOK.Incubator|website=dokincubator.net}} Huffington Post wrote after the Greek premiere at Thessaloniki Documentary Festival where the film was a part of a highlighted segment focusing on films about the refugees crisis: "My favorite was Michael Graversen’s Dreaming of Denmark, which directly puts you in the shoes of an Afghan teenager who, unable to get residency in Denmark and afraid to be deported, leaves Denmark with nothing on his back to find a new life in Italy".{{cite web|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/karin-badt/the-thessaloniki-document_b_9584150.html|title=The Thessaloniki Documentary Film Festival: From Janis Joplin and Bjork to Refugees from Syria|first=Karin|last=Badt|date=1 April 2016|publisher=}}

When the film was screened on the national Austrian broadcasting channel ORF it was followed by an hour long debate about human rights{{cite web|url=http://www.ots.at/presseaussendung/OTS_20151214_OTS0120/kreuz-und-quer-am-15-dezember-daenischer-alptraum-fluechtlinge-in-der-warteschleife|title="kreuz und quer" am 15. Dezember: "Dänischer Alptraum – Flüchtlinge in der Warteschleife"|publisher=}} and ABC News interviewed the director focusing on the plight of children seeking asylum.{{cite web|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-05-07/documentary-highlights-plight-of-children-seeking/7392850|title=Documentary highlights plight of children seeking asylum|date=7 May 2016|publisher=}}

In 2016 the director was awarded the Salaam Film Prize 2016{{cite web|url=http://www.salaam.dk/salaams-filmpris-2016/|title=Salaams Filmpris 2016 - Salaam Film & Dialog|date=13 September 2016|publisher=|access-date=17 January 2017|archive-date=2 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170402024434/http://www.salaam.dk/salaams-filmpris-2016/|url-status=dead}} for his work filming the unaccompanied minors in Denmark not only in Dreaming of Denmark but also in the predecessor No Man's Land (2013){{cite web|url=http://www.dfi.dk/faktaomfilm/film/en/87941.aspx?id=87941|title=Ingenmandsland|publisher=}} set before the refugee crisis.

Not all the reactions towards the film has been positive. After the TV broadcast in Denmark the director participated in a chat at the newspaper Ekstra Bladet's website. Some users took offence of the directors portrayal of a refugee. The broadcast was two days after one of the terrorist attacks in Paris and some users meant that the director had the blood of the victims on his hands making an emphatic film about a refugee as refugees could also be terrorists.{{cite web|url=http://ekstrabladet.dk/flash/filmogtv/tv/lige-nu-live-chat-med-instruktoeren-bag-droemmen-om-danmark/5828755|title=Lige nu: Live-chat med instruktøren bag 'Drømmen om Danmark'|publisher=}}

• Amnesty Award, Giffoni International Film Festival{{cite web|url=http://www.dr.dk/om-dr/nyheder/omdiskuteret-film-vinder-amnesty-pris|title=Omdiskuteret film vinder Amnesty-pris|publisher=}}
• 2. prize Best Documentary, Giffoni International Film Festival {{cite web|url=http://cineuropa.org/nw.aspx?t=newsdetail&l=en&did=313320|title=Giffoni Film Festival: The winners of the 46th edition|website=Cineuropa - the best of european cinema}}
• Lübeck, Nordische Filmtage {{cite web|url=http://www.luebeck.de/filmtage/en/programm/movie/view/2016/7796.html|title=Dreaming of Denmark – Movie details – Nordische Filmtage Lübeck|website=www.luebeck.de}}
• Japan Prize, International Educational Program Contest{{cite web|url=http://www.nhk.or.jp/jp-prize/english/2016/entrylist_contents.html|title=JAPAN PRIZE International Contest For Educational Media|website=www.nhk.or.jp}}
• Helsinki International Film Festival {{cite web|url=http://hiff.fi/en/elokuvat/dreaming-of-denmark/|title=Dreaming of Denmark - 30th Rakkautta & Anarkiaa|access-date=5 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170205181851/http://hiff.fi/en/elokuvat/dreaming-of-denmark/|archive-date=5 February 2017|url-status=dead}}
• Thessaloniki Documentary Festival {{cite web|url=http://www.ekathimerini.com/205810/article/ekathimerini/life/thessaloniki-doc-fest-tunes-in-to-refugee-crisis|title=Thessaloniki doc fest tunes in to refugee crisis, Harry van Versendaal - Kathimerini|publisher=}}
• Bucharest One World, Romania {{cite web|url=http://oneworld.ro/2016/l/en/dreaming-of-denmark-246/|title=Dreaming of Denmark|publisher=}}
• Document Human Rights Film Festival, Glasgow {{cite web|url=http://www.documentfilmfestival.org/films/dreaming-of-denmark/|title=Dreaming of Denmark - Document Film Festival|publisher=}}
• Human Rights & Arts Film Festival, Melbourne {{cite web|url=http://2016.hraff.org.au/event/dreaming-of-denmark/|title=Dreaming of Denmark - Human Rights Arts & Film Festival|publisher=}}
• BUFF International Children's Film festival, Malmø {{cite web|url=http://buff.se/filmer/dreaming-of-denmark/|title=DREAMING OF DENMARK - BUFF Malmö|publisher=}}{{Dead link|date=February 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
• Human Rights Watch Film Festival, Amsterdam {{cite web|url=https://ff.hrw.org/film/dreaming-denmark|title=Dreaming of Denmark - Human Rights Watch Film Festival|website=ff.hrw.org}}
• Salaam Film Prize 2016 {{cite web|url=http://www.salaam.dk/salaams-filmpris-2016|title=Salaams Filmpris 2016 - Salaam Film & Dialog|date=13 September 2016|publisher=}}
• CPH:DOX, F:ACT Award nominee {{cite web|url=https://cphdox.dk/en/programme/archive/programme-2015/?ser=2015007|title=Programme 2015|publisher=}}

{{reflist|30em}}

• {{IMDb title|5254908}}
• [http://www.screendaily.com/home/blogs/idfa-docs-highlight-refugee-crisis/5097251.article Screen Daily: Documentaries highlight refugee crisis]

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Category:2015 films

Category:Danish documentary films