Jesper Dalgaard - Ethics and Artistic Freedom

With this KUV project, documentarian Jesper Dalgaard aims to explore how we should navigate the field of creating art and narratives that mirror and reflect the world while also approaching it closely. Furthermore, it aims to be a contemporary space that cares for both the participants and the filmmaker.

Period: March 1, 2023 - November 1, 2023.

With this project, Jesper Dalgaard seeks to challenge the outdated mindset and romanticized image of the artist who self-destructively loses themselves in a painful abyss. This approach is hopelessly outdated, and the Danish film industry is on its way, but still lags behind in modernizing artistic practices. There is a growing need for a greater focus on mental well-being and a healthy working environment, which are obvious expectations one would have for any other workplace. When it's challenging for the artist to take care of themselves, it's also difficult to care for the participants and those we work with.

Artists still need to translate their inner lives into works and venture to the edge, but there is a necessity for a change in practice and support for filmmakers as artistic leaders to handle and facilitate these processes with care, fostering healthy, clear, and honest relationships with the participants. Perhaps there's a need to train psychologists specialized in this field.

The KUV project is a maturation project structured around seminars that bring together representatives from the film industry and experts in psychology, including Aneh Hajdu from the Association for Art and Mental Health / the REWRITALIZE Research Program, Maria Vang from the Center for Psychotraumatology at the University of Southern Denmark, and Jan Dirchsen (Executive Producer, Warner Bros).

Jesper Dalgaard

Jesper Dalgaard graduated as a documentary director from the National Film School of Denmark in 2017. He received a Robert Award for his graduation film, 'Weltschmerz.' In 2021, he premiered his first feature-length documentary, 'Kandis for livet,' which became a major hit with viewers on DR (Danish Broadcasting Corporation) and stirred public discussions about the boundary between staging and reality in documentary filmmaking. In 2022, he was honored with the Cinematek Denmark Talent Prize at the Bodil Awards, and 'Kandis for livet' received a Robert Award for Best Cinematography in the same year.