Exclusive: DR Sales has secured major pre-sales on the Norwegian documentary directed by Gunnar Hall Jensen (Oh,It Hetz!).

With his earlier films, the festival hits Gunnar Goes Comfortable (2003), Gunnar Goes God (2010) and A Cup of Tea (2014), Gunnar Hall Jensen has displayed a talent for making personal stories universal, tackling important topics with playfulness and humour. This time around, the director explores fatherhood, through his own relationship with his son.

In the film, we meet Gunnar, a newly divorced man after 20 years of traditional middle-class marriage, as he looks back on his tumultuous relationship with his son. On his 18th birthday, his son Jonathan disappeared and left his bewildered father behind. The old-fashioned Gunnar eventually finds his son, living a very different life from what he imagined in Brazil, where he is an Instagram influencer and part of the vibrant LGBTQ+ community.

Kim Christiansen, DR Sales’ executive producer, said boarding the film was a no brainer. “I had worked with UpNorth before [on Blackhearts, Newtopia, Golden Dawn Girls]. They are a really strong team and I’ve been very impressed with some of the director’s previous works.”

Christiansen said on the back of the film’s successful pitch at CPH:FORUM this year, he was able to close a deal with BBC Storyville. Broadcasters attached to the film so far include NRK, DR, SVT, YLE, BBC, RTS, as well as France Television, secured via French co-producer Little Big Story.

“Broadcasters look for strong stories which can resonate with a younger audience. The story of Gunnar and his lost and found son is gripping, funny, contemporary and very universal. I believe when you hit today’s reality with a portion of humour that reflects a deeper seriousness, this is a perfect way to approach broadcasters”, noted the senior documentary executive who expects other TV partners to board the film at rough-cut stage.

The film has also received support from the Norwegian Film Institute, Nordisk Film & TV Fond, Midtnorsk Filmsenter, Fritt Ord Foundation, Sparebankstiftelsen in Norway, in addition to Film i Vestnorrland in Sweden where the director has been living for many years.

“We have been very fortunate with the fact that a lot of great people have seen the potential in our film so far,” said Christian Aune Falch, who serves as producer, together with Ingrid Aune Falch and Torstein Parelius.

Commenting on the challenge of making this film, Hall Jensen said the journey so far has been both “a tumbling ride”, due to his son and his own’s strong personalities, and a rewarding experience, which gave him the opportunity to face what he called his ‘Achille’s heel’. The director who grew up without a father figure, had to figure out by himself what being a good father is.

For the moment, he is starting the editing process with his regular editing partner Erlend Haarr Eriksson, and sorting out the huge volume of personal footage, filmed over 20 years.
“I always film what happens in my daily life, and the people around it, and I have especially filmed myself and my son a lot from the beginning of his life and onward, simply because he was my first and only son and meant much to me,” explained the director, who is eager to find the structure for his film.

“Even though it is a documentary, in my films I always try to surprise the audience during the stories I lay out, so that one cannot anticipate, foresee, what comes next,” said Hall Jensen.

Portrait of a Confused Father is expected to premiere late 2023.