Danish filmmaker Malene Choi has started production on her new feature The Quiet Migration, in the countryside on the Djursland peninsula in Denmark.
Filming began on August 30, and will continue until October 8.
Choi’s last feature was the 2018 documentary/fiction hybrid The Return, which world premiered in Rotterdam and played dozens of other festivals including Goteborg, Vilnius, CPH:DOX, Hot Docs, Seattle, New Horizons and Edinburgh.
The Quiet Migration, her first fully fictional feature, also looks at the consequences and complexity of transnational adoption, as seen in the story of Carl, originally from South Korea and adopted by a Danish farming family. When he is 19, he dreams about reconnecting with his origins, especially after an unpleasant gathering with his extended Danish family.
Choi, who herself is adopted, said, “My intention is to make our hidden lives visible and show from an insider’s perspective some of the unforeseen consequences that this habitual form of migration creates.”
Maria Møller Kjeldgaard (Songs in the Sun, Chasing Tornado) produces for Manna Film.
Sissel Dalsgaard Thomsen (Breeder) has written the script after also collaborating with Choi on The Return.
The cast features newcomer Cornelius Won Riedel-Clausen as Carl, with The Kingdom’s Bodil Jørgensen and The Hunt actor Bjarne Henriksen as his adoptive parents. The ensemble also includes Anders Baggesen, Lene Poulsen, Claus Flygare, Ole Boisen, Vigga bro, Johan Hermann, Joen Højerslev, Camilla Bendix, Bodil Lassen, Dawid Sciupidro, Victor Marcussen, Lone Rødbroe and Dawid Ściupidro.
The film was shortlisted for Torino ScriptLab and developed at New Horizon Studio, Sources and presented at the Discovery initiative in Goteborg.
Expected to premiere in 2022, The Quiet Migration is budgeted at $1.7m (11mDKK) and is supported by Danish Film Institute, Den Vestdanske Filmpulje, DR, Nordisk Film & TV Fond.
Øst for Paradis is handling distribution in Denmark, while Mer Film is the Norwegian distributor.
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