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european-films.net - review: AFR (IFFR 2007)

european-films.net - review: AFR (IFFR 2007)
Sammy King  |  by european-films.net. All rights reserved. 23.04 | 16:19

AFR film reviewA faux documentary about an extramarital affair that leads to the assassination of Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen (who is still very much alive in real life) will test the power of the words uttered by the politician when he defended freedom of speech in the face of the Mohammed cartoons controversy last year.

Called AFR, the impressive film might be all about generating a controversy of its own on the surface, but its conception and execution is strong enough to let it stand comfortably on its own as a piece of investigative journalism in which the viewer is allowed to participate. Rookie director Morten Hartz Kaplers not only casts himself as Rasmussen rsquo;s assassin but also proves to be equally apt at constructing an intriguing narrative that poses a lot more questions than it answers. Beyond Danish screens, this will be a niche item that could find an audience at festivals and on DVD and TV.


Foreign audiences will experience a different film than Danish viewers, because the many talking heads (including many local political hot shots) are not identified on screen, though what they say is enough to distinguish between those that are part of the Danish political landscape and those from the circle of family and friends of Rasmussen and Kaplers rsquo; character, who is called Emil in the film. The abundant use of heavily rearranged archive footage mixed with new material filmed over a period of seven months demonstrates how it possible to create documentary truths that do not correspond to any known reality. The force of AFR is that it not only reflects on the power and the responsibility of the media and of the leader of a Western-style democracy, but also on the nature of freedom of speech itself.

Kaplers has assembled such a convincing case that even though it is clearly fabricated, it is still able to instil doubts in the viewer. Should that at all be possible, and does the fact that it does say more about freedom of speech or human nature?

This film was screened as part of the 2007 International Film Festival Rotterdam.


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