Director: Ada Bligaard Soby

Run Time: 17:30m

Web site: WWW.SUPER16.DK

Official Film Festival Selection: : NPS New Arrivals Competition, Holland, 2009; Nominated For Screening At Rotterdam International Film Festival, 2009; Kinemastik International Short Film Festival; International Competition, Malta, 2008; Odense International Film Festival, International Competition - Odense, Denmark, 2008

After being hit by a car, a thirty-something American awaits an eye operation in a Berlin hospital. He calls the only other person he knows in Berlin, a female Icelandic ex-patriate whom he involuntarily stood up because of the accident. To his surprise, she too is confined to her apartment following recent knee surgery. In their isolation they begin to rely on one another’s voices as the only relief; and for a brief moment they connect and share an intimacy that defies the physical space between them.

Born in Denmark in 1975, Ada Bligaard Soby studied film at the School of Visual Arts in New York City and photography at Fatamorgana in Copenhagen. Currently Ada is a member of the Copenhagen-based film collective Super 16. She has received the Danish State Art Funds two-year working grant for young artists in 2000. She has worked as an assistant to photographers Terry Richardson and Francois Halard in New York City. Her documentary film “American Losers” with music by Devendra Banhart ws in competition at Nordic Panorama, Copenhagen Dox and the 2006 Cinequest Film Festival and is distributed by Firsthandfilms, Zurich.

What inspired you to make this piece?

I had a knee injury that wouldn’t heal. I went to the Berlin Film Festival on crutches and was suppose to meet actor Norman Reedus, but he was in a traffic accident. So we never met. So i made a film about it. And Norman played himself in the film.

Briefly tell us about how you made your film or video: what camera and format did you use to shoot your piece, and what system did you use to edit it? What is your working process? Did you use any special techniques to make this work?

I shot it in Berlin and Copenhagen with very talented Danish DP Lars Reinholdt on HDcam. Afterwards i edited in avid with French editor (Lars Von Trier etc) Francois Gedigier.

What is the relationship between your work as a video/filmmaker and life in the New York metropolitan area?

I moved to New York one month after my 20th birthday. I had never been there before, i had no money and i didn’t know anyone. New York is my favorite place in the world. Its where i get all of my ideas, stories, characters, dreams and inspirations. New York is full of mistakes. I love mistakes.

What films/videos and makers have inspired you or influenced your work? And why?

I’m inspired by weird long French films that makes no sense. I like the neurotic element and the emotional drama. I also like Jonas Mekas although his films are a bit too long. Albert Maysles is a genius.

If viewers are interested in obtaining copies of your work for rental or purchase, whom should they contact and at what address and phone number?

Contact: Morten Kjems Juhl, Fine and Mellow Productions (Denmark) mj@finemellow.dk