A boy, a dog, and the family that won't fit him—20 minutes of heartbreak you won't forget.
August has to put up with quite a lot. Ever since his parents separated, his father no longer seems to have any time for him. To console him, his Dad gives him a sweet little dog. But his mother refuses to have the animal in her house and before long there are shouting matches on the phone again. August can hear them arguing through his bedroom door – it's something he seems to have become used to. When his mother remains adamant about not having the dog, August packs his bags to move in with his father. But there’s no place for him in his father’s new family either. And so the boy makes up his mind to create a drastic wake-up call. Told from the boy’s perspective, this coming-of-age drama describes the situation for children who are caught in the middle when their parents decide to separate.
Acting
Stefan Søe Iwan's wordless resilience anchors every frame.
Direction
Kiørboe's child's-eye framing refuses easy adult sympathy.
Writing
Economical storytelling—twenty minutes, zero waste.
Director
Kristoffer Kiørboe
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Danish cinema's 'gode intentioner' tradition—well-meaning adults, catastrophic outcomes for children.
The dog was reportedly harder to direct than the child actors—method acting or actual chaos? Both worked.
DK
