The rising Danish director’s sophomore film is produced by Zentropa, with support from Nordisk Film & TV Fond.

Petersen’s breakthrough film Uncle set in Southern Jutland, was nominated for the 2020 Nordic Council Film Prize and won the Grand Prix at the Tokyo Film Festival 2019.

Set in the director’s native small town of Tønder, Southern Jutland, the family drama Resten af livet (working title For Life) centres on the couple Maren and Egon who lead a quiet life in their yellow brick house and enjoy their daily life with their two adult children, until an unbearable tragedy changes their lives forever.

In the main roles are Jette Søndergaard, Robert nominated for her leading role in Uncle, Mette Munk Plum (Borgen, The Kingdom), Ole Sørensen (Norskov) and Lasse Lorenzen. Rounding off the cast are Eskil Tonnesen (Equinox), Ole Caspersen (Uncle) and Karen Tygesen.

Crew members include cinematographer Jørgen Johansson (Erna at War, Borgen, The Bridge), production designer Gitte Malling (Land of Mine, You Disappear), Julie Hennescke Hartmann, costume designer Rebecca Richmond (Queen of Hearts) and composer Flemming Berg (Uncle).

Speaking about the film, Petersen said: ”I want to paint a universal portrait of everyday family life, strong family bonds, and how this family is challenged by a tragedy. It’s the minute details of the relationships and conflicts that have my special attention and will form the focal point of the film,” said the director who will again draw from the familiar rural landscape for his creative inspiration.

”It is very meaningful to me to tell stories that unfold in the region of Denmark, where I myself was born and raised. I have great affection for my heritage. Southern Jutland stands apart from other regions of the country with its unique natural beauty, quaint sense of humour, and dialect, but the emotions and the human dilemmas that unfold there are universal and it is this unique combination that I find so fascinating,” he said.

Zentropa’s producer Jonas Bagger underlines the special support from Tønder Municipality and the West Danish Film Fund that made it possible for the film to get fully-financed and for the team to shoot entirely on location.

The film supported by Nordisk Film & TV Fond and the Danish Film Institute was produced in cooperation with Xee in Denmark, TV 2 Danmark, TV 2 Norge, Norway’s Mer Film Distribution, Nordisk Film Distribution. The domestic release is set for early 2022.