A Sony Pictures Classics Release " IN A BETTER WORLD " A film by Susanne Bier Official Selection: 2010 Toronto International Film Festival Winner: Marc’Aurelio Grand Jury Award for Best Film & Marc’Aurelio Audience Award for Best Film – 2010 Rome International Film Festival Official Selection: 2011 Sundance Film Festival Golden Globe® Award Winner, Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award® Winner, Best Foreign Language Film (Denmark) TRT: 113 min | Release Date (NY/LA): 04/01/2011 MPAA: Rated R| Language: Danish/Swedish/English DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT IN A BETTER WORLD sets out to explore the limitations we encounter in trying to control our society as well as our personal lives. It asks whether our own “advanced” culture is the model for a better world, or whether the same disarray found in lawlessness is lurking beneath the surface of our civilization. Are we immune to chaos, or obliviously teetering on the verge of disorder? -Susanne Bier SYNOPSIS Anton is a doctor who commutes between his home in an idyllic town in Denmark, and his work at an African refugee camp. In these two very different worlds, he and his family are faced with conflicts that lead them to difficult choices between revenge and forgiveness. Anton and his wife Marianne, who have two young sons, are separated and struggling with the possibility of divorce. Their older, ten-year-old son Elias is being bullied at school, until he is defended by Christian, a new boy who has just moved from London with his father, Claus. Christian’s mother recently lost her battle with cancer, and Christian is greatly troubled by her death. Elias and Christian quickly form a strong bond, but when Christian involves Elias in a dangerous act of revenge with potentially tragic consequences, their friendship is tested and lives are put in danger. Ultimately, it is their parents who are left to help them come to terms with the complexity of human emotions, pain and empathy.
IN A BETTER WORLD (Spotlight): TRAILER #1 (VO) - SELECTED CLIPS FOR SUNDANCE (VO): " I'm not lying" - " Aren't you going to do something about it?" - " You´re supposed to catch, Christian" - " Did you cut your hair?" - " We´re aware of the situation" - " That´s how wars are started. You hit hard enough the first time." - " I´m not afraid of you" - " I can be a very powerful friend" - " I never lied to you" -
In A Better World: Mikael Persbrandt by Morten Spborg. CREW SUSANNE BIER (Director) Susanne Bier is one of the most prominent Danish film directors working today. Bier’s Oscar nominated After the Wedding (2006) and the US-produced Things We Lost in the Fire (2007), starring Halle Berry and Benicio Del Toro, were both hits at the domestic box office. Her feature film debut, the Swedish-Danish co-production Freud Leaving Home (1990) was the recipient of international plaudits, as was her Danish-Swedish-Portuguese Family Matters (1993). Her next Swedish film Like It Never was Before (1995) was the recipient of the Critic's Award at Montreal. Following her Danish feature The One and Only (1999), a critics’ favorite, and bringing in nearly a million admissions in Denmark alone, her reputation as an established filmmaker excelled. Back in Sweden, Bier directed the tearjerker Once in a Lifetime (2000) and two box office hits followed: the Dogme film Open Hearts (2002), selected for San Sebastian, Sundance, and Toronto where it received Special Mention; and Brothers (2004), recipient of the Audience Award at Sundance and Best Acting awards at San Sebastian. ANDERS THOMAS JENSEN (Screenwriter) Anders Thomas Jensen is an award-winning scriptwriter and director. He has written and directed four short fiction films, all of which received Academy Award® nominations. His third short film, Election Night (1998) and his latest shot film The New Tenants (2009) won the coveted statuette in 1998 and 2009. During the past decade Anders Thomas Jensen has provided film scripts for a long series of popular feature films, including his successful collaboration with Susanne Bier on Open Hearts (2002), Brothers (2004) and After the Wedding (2006). He has also been highly successful as a director with Flickering Lights (2000) and Adam’s Apples (2005), among others. SISSE GRAUM JØRGENSEN (Producer) Sisse Graum Jørgensen is currently one of Danish film’s most productive producers. In addition to In A Better World she has produced films for widely acclaimed directors as: Susanne Bier: Brothers (2004) and the Academy Award® nominated After the Wedding (2006), Thomas Vinterberg Dear Wendy (2005), Dogme brother Kristian Levring’s Fear Me Not (2008), selected for Toronto, and Lone Scherfig‘s highly acclaimed Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself (2002) and Just Like Home (2007). In addition, Sisse Graum Jørgensen is the executive producer of Scottish Andrea Anorld’s feature film Red Road (2006), winner of the Jury’s Special Prize in Cannes 2006. Recently Graum Jørgensen has produced Pernille Fischer Christensen’s award winning A Family (2010). European Film Promotion selected Sisse Graum Jørgensen for the acclaimed title: Producer on the Move in 2003 and in 2004 Sisse participated in Variety’s tribute in Cannes: “10 Producers to Watch”. In A Better World: Markus Rygaard and Trine Dyrholm by Per Arnesen.