Norsk filminstitutt

From a Kafkaesque office for social media in Germany into South Sudan military headquarters to conversations with an Iranian Ayatollah, Indian film censors, and Chinese news editors. Norwegian filmmaker Håvard Fossum has traveled the world to see what might happen if we give the state power to censor. Hearing the word censorship makes us cringe, but is it a misunderstood idea? This fresh and dynamic doc explores the murky world of censorship, allowing the censors themselves to state their case. With remarkable access to a secretive world, Fossum intimately follows the daily working lives of the censors, giving a rare insight into the ways information is controlled, from the Communist Party in Beijing to the corridors of power in Washington. If it’s one thing the censors have in common, it is that they’re all convinced they’re working for a good cause and that censorship is a bulwark against social chaos.  

A paradoxical project with both comical and tragic consequences. But in these disruptive times, where censorship itself is taking on new forms, there’s reason to listen. At once laugh-out-loud funny, deeply shocking and thought-provoking, this timely and intelligent doc will stay with you long after you watch it.  

Production and distribution

Production Year:
2020
Production country:
Norway
Co production country:
Denmark
Finland
Netherlands
Release date (international):
2020-03-25
Production company:
Medieoperatørene AS
Co production company:
Hansen & Pedersen Film og Fjernsyn ApS
Filmimaa Oy
Halal Docs
Financing company:
Norwegian Film Institute
Fritt Ord Foundation
Fond for lyd og bilde
Creative Europe
Producer:
Ingvil Giske
Co producer:
Malene Flindt Pedersen
Markku Tuurna
Olivia Sophie van Leeuwen
Sales agent:
Journeyman Pictures

Director

  • Håvard Fossum

    Håvard Fossum (b. 1985) is a director and cinematographer. He has an MA in Visual Anthropology from Goldsmiths, University of London and a BA in journalism. Fossum's Over to You, Trygve (2011) and Secondhand Land (2012) have been screened, among other places, in Tromsø and at Sheffield Doc/Fest.

    Håvard Fossum

Festivals

2020:
CPH:DOX
2020:
BIFF - Bergen International Film Festival
2020:
Investigative Film Festival Skopje
2020:
Nordic/Docs
2020:
Movies on War
2021:
Docville International Documentary Film Festival
2021:
Millennium Docs Against Gravity Film Festival
2021:
UNAFF - United Nations Association Film Festival

Crew

Screenplay:
Håvard Fossum
Director:
Håvard Fossum
Camera:
Egil Håskjold Larsen
Odd Reinhardt Nicolaysen
Editor:
Anders Villadsen
Sound Design:
Mark Lizier

Technical information

Format:
DCP 2k
Screen ratio:
1:1,85
Colour:
Colour
Sound format:
Stereo 5.1
Length in min's:
100'
Language:
Farsi
German
English
Hindi
Mandarin
Subtitles:
English

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