Lea Hjort Mathiesen :: Szczecin Film Festival 2020

Lea Hjort Mathiesen

About the artist

Lea Hjort Mathiesen is an independent film director based in Copenhagen. She has made films in various parts of the world including the U.S., Kenya and Tunisia. Her award-winning documentary, “Malek Means Angel,” premiered at IDFA in 2014 and is currently screening at festivals in India, Egypt, and other parts of the world. In 2015, she graduated from the Documentary Film Directing program at The National Film School of Denmark with “Øde Ø” (“My Desert Island”), which was nominated for a Robert Award in February 2016 - selected by the Danish Film Academy. She is currently working on her next documentary film in collaboration with noted production company Sonntag Pictures, which was selected for project development at IDFAcademy in 2015.

Øde Ø (2015)
Malek Means Angel (2014)
Søster (2013)
Night Shift (2012)
The Renovation (2010)

Films

My Desert Island, 25'43''

Production: DK 2015

In this intimate and experimental film, we meet the Danish-Turkish writer Ayse Dudu Tepe (Dudu) and her friend, filmmaker Lea Hjort Mathiesen. A seemingly harmless conversation between the women paves the way back into the home where Dudu grew up. In a rare mix between cinema and poetry, “My Desert Island” tells the story of a woman having to flee her family and cultural identity in order to build her own.