A couple of months back we got chatting to Danish film director Jesper Isaksen who had been working on promoting his new psychological horror movie Victim of Love. He was due to attend a showing of the movie as part of a horror film festival in the UK but due to COVID and other challenges he was unable to attend – that didn’t stop us here at Minnis2Society getting an opportunity to catch the movie which we thoroughly enjoyed.
Given its small budget and the fact that Jesper juggles almost everything he can to help get the movie distributed he has done an incredible job. At the time he was already picking up plenty of recognition and awards and even now a month later the movie continues to get a lot of love.
We caught up with Jesper and actress Siff Andersson with our new feature – 5 Minute Fika!
You are keeping busy with screenings of your movie Victim of Love – what else have you got coming up?
- Jesper: Well, Monday the 23rd of November Victim of Love will had it’s digital release exclusively in Denmark on a string of streaming services. Needless to say that the goal is worldwide streaming and my sales agency and I are working hard to make that happen in 2021. Also, the festival run is far from over and 5 wins and 9 nominations leaves me with a taste for more, now that it seems the film is picking up momentum at the festival scene. Besides my focus on Victim of Love I’m currently working on 12 different ideas, I know it seems daunting, but in fact it’s not. We are not taking scripts here, but merely synopses and then I’ll shop ’em around to producers and production companies in order to find out what eventually will become my second feature film and then an actual script will be written together with a seasoned scriptwriter. I don’t think I’ve ever had so many ideas at once, but it feels nice.
- Siff: At the moment, you can also see me in a very nice Danish school project called “Selvmordsmord” (“Murder for suicide”) on Ekko Shortlist by the Danish film magazine, Ekko. In 2021 (and maybe 2022) I’m featuring in 3 short films. One is called “Kakerlak” by Kasper Juhl and another is called “Holdet” by Poul Erik Madsen. The third one is also by Kasper Juhl, but has no title yet. Other than that, I’m auditioning and developing a lot of my acting skills and techniques. I try to have as big a range as possible, and I have recently found a group of people that can help me with that, by training.
Jesper – you seem to be a master of all talents – is it true you are also a school teacher?
- Yes, that’s true. I’m actually working full time as a school teacher and have been for the past 15 years. That’s why we had to shoot Victim of Love in the school summer holiday. It kinda sounds weird, but having a job as a school teacher keeps me grounded and also gives me a chance to be present elsewhere and not think about movie making all the time. It’s a mental relief for me. It also gives me money I can use on my films – important note.
Siff – your transformation in the movie is impressive – ever considered revisiting it?
Haha, I assume you mean Felicija’s style – both fashionably, but also mentally maybe? I did have a very short emo period as a teenager, but it only lasted a couple of months, because it got too depressing for me. I’m a very lively girl and I love colors! But her self-confidence is something I can learn from. I love the outgoing, not-giving-a-fuck type, like her. Sometimes you have to push yourself through life, in order to be that badass bitch, you know you are deep inside.
What is your favourite coffee and cake combination? (Jesper & Siff)
- Jesper: Hmm… I would have to go with cortado and nougat croissants, that’s a pretty yummi combo.
- Siff: I drink tea and I like a small piece of raw nougat cake.
