Island of Hope

(2021, 52 min. and 58 min.)

What happens when 200 asylum-seeking boys arrive on a small Danish island in the ocean?

There is concern on Ærø when two centers for unaccompanied boys open during 2015. Here in the middle of the Funen Archipelago, a relationship story unfolds that Helle Toft Jensen has documented for five years with her camera.

We meet Karl Ove, who is very skeptical, “mama” Rie, who is hired at the center, young Emma, who becomes a volunteer, Rita, who takes Hamed under her wing, the sailor Hans, and Lennart, who is a police officer and a municipal council member for the Liberal Party. And we witness the lives of several boys as they try to make a life for themselves while waiting for an answer to their asylum case.

Island of Hope is a warm and touching story about a broad cross-section of Danes whose lives, thoughts and relationships are moved by their encounter with strangers. A movie that points to the universal in all people – that we need to be seen and be part of a community.

Director & producer: Helle Toft Jensen, editor: Oskar Fanta, editor: Morten Giese, executive producer: Vibeke Vogel, sound design/mix: Patrick Svaneberg Vejen, composer: Toni Martin Dobrzanski

READ MORE ABOUT THE MOVIE HERE