''Drømmen'' (Danish "The Dream",
English: ''We Shall Overcome'') is a 2006
Danish film based on a true story about a young boy's crusade against a dictatorial headmaster of the
"old school", in 1969 Denmark.
The film is directed by Danish screenwriter and film director
Niels Arden Oplev
Niels Arden Oplev (; born 26 March 1961) is a Danish film director and screenwriter.
Life and career
Oplev was born in Oue, Denmark. His 1996 film ''Portland (film), Portland'' was entered into the 46th Berlin International Film Festival.
He d ...
and stars
Bent Mejding
Bent Mejding (14 January 1937 – 12 November 2024) was a Danish actor, stage director, and theatre manager. He won a Danish Film Academy Award in 1985 and 2007. He was married to actress Susse Wold.
Life and career
Mejding had his debut at ...
and
Anders W. Berthelsen. It won sixteen awards in 2006 and 2007.
Synopsis
The story opens in the Danish countryside of 1969. Denmark and the rest of the world are changing rapidly but Lindum-Svendsen, the headmaster of the rural school, hasn't noticed.
Frits is a young boy who spends his summer holidays watching the family's first television, and is influenced by the American
civil rights movement. The
sermons and speeches of Martin Luther King Jr., who was
assassinated in 1968, coupled with his own dreams of a better life, have given Frits courage and a desire for rebellion. The dictatorial Lindum-Svendsen steps over the line while punishing Frits, drawing the ire of youthful new teacher Freddie Svale, which encourages Frits to take up battle against the headmaster.
Cast
*
Bent Mejding
Bent Mejding (14 January 1937 – 12 November 2024) was a Danish actor, stage director, and theatre manager. He won a Danish Film Academy Award in 1985 and 2007. He was married to actress Susse Wold.
Life and career
Mejding had his debut at ...
as headmaster Lindum-Svendsen
*
Janus Dissing Rathke as Frits Johansen
*
Anders W. Berthelsen as Freddie Svale
*
Jens Jørn Spottag as Peder, Frits' father
* as Erling
* as Stine, Frits' mother
*
Gyrd Løfqvist
Gyrd Løfqvist (2 June 1921 – 1 May 2012) was a Danish film actor. He appeared in more than sixty films from 1945 to 2006. Löfqvist came from a Norwegian-Swedish family living in Denmark. His mother was Norwegian, which gave him the Norweg ...
as Frits' grandfather
*
Elin Reimer as Frits' grandmother
* as teacher Olsen
*
Kurt Ravn as school doctor
* as sexton
*
Sarah Juel Werner as Iben
* Daniel Ørum as Troels
* Lasse Borg as Søren
*
Joy-Maria Frederiksen as Iben's mother
Accolades
The film has won sixteen awards in 2006 and 2007.
References
External links
*
*
*
English film trailer of ''We Shall Overcome''
{{Robert Award for Best Danish Film
Best Danish Film Robert Award winners
Danish drama films
Films directed by Niels Arden Oplev
Films set in 1969
Films set in Denmark
Films scored by Jacob Groth