Description
The conflict between the city and the countryside, the bohemian lifestyle and conservative village traditions is relevant for both Denmark and Belarus. For the director Lisa Jespersen, the dramedy "Persona non grata" is autobiographical at certain extent, because in her youth, the author, just like her heroine, moved from the countryside to a big city. She will share the story of the creation of the film to an interview with Variety film critic Alissa Simon specially for the Nothern Lights.
Language of the event: English with Belarusian subtitles
Participants
Lisa Jespersen. Film director, the athor of "Persona non Grata" (Denmark)
Lisa Jespersen was born in the countryside of Denmark in 1988. Her interest in filmmaking grew as she attended the European Film College and later studied film directing at the National Film School of Denmark. She has made a handful of short films - all with an interest in the comic aspect of people’s existential crises. Her graduation film “September” received a lot of attention for its precise and very emphatic portrait of a woman in her sixties and the difficulties that come with that age. ”Persona non Grata” is Lisa’s feature film debut, produced by Hyæne Film.
Alissa Simon. Film curator, film critic at Variety (England/USA)
Alissa Simon is a film curator for more than 25 years, she is the Senior Programmer of the Palm Springs International Film Festival and a programmer for an international festival in Minneapolis. She was named a 1999 Chicagoan of the Year for her innovative work as Associate Director/ Programming at the Film Center of the School of the Art Institute where she worked for 12 years. Alissa began her career at the Film Department of Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, MN and at the International Museum of Photography at George Eastman House in Rochester, NY. In addition to her curatorial work with festivals, she writes about films, filmmakers and film festivals for the U.S. trade paper Variety and has served on international film festival juries in Pusan, Belgrade, Amsterdam, Sarajevo, San Francisco, Torino, Ljubljana, Sochi, Cluj, Vancouver and Montreal. She is a member of FIPRESCI and the Chicago Film Critics’ Association. Many years ago, as an undergraduate at Yale, Alissa was a British Studies major and she now splits her time between London and Chicago.