Amy and Chantal are both Canadian nationals and are the creators and hosts of The Borgen Podcast.
Amy is currently residing in and records the podcast from Istanbul, Turkey, and Chantal is currently residing in and records the podcast from Toronto, Canada.
For the first time since pre-pandemic, I (Chantal) returned to the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) in September 2023, and what a return it was! I am grateful to live in this magnificent Canadian city which is the centre of arts and culture. Each year, I always make it a habit to search for my favourite actors, actresses, and directors and when I saw that Sidse Babett Knudsen was starring in a short film I immediately bought my ticket!
It was my first time seeing Sidse Babett Knudsen on the big screen! As someone who lives in Toronto, Canada, we don’t always get the same access to films and television shows as the European countries and so getting the chance to see Sidse Babett Knudsen on the big screen at one of the most prestigious film festivals in the world was quite surreal and exciting!
The short film she starred in was called WOACA (Women Of A Certain Age) and it was written and directed by my fellow Canadian, MacKenzie Davis, and it made its world premiere here at the 2023 TIFF. Prior to this, Davis worked as an actor in theatre, film, and television. She worked on the San Junipero episode of the Netflix anthology series, Black Mirror which received 2 Emmy Awards; she was also in Blade Runner 2049, Terminator: Dark Fate, and the 2020 holiday rom-com Happiest Season in which she co-starred alongside Kristin Stewart, just to name a few pieces of her work. WOACA is Davis’ directorial debut which screened in the “Short Cuts” program at the 2023 TIFF.
This 14 minute short was a satire about the relationship some women have to the beauty world. In a world where women are taught from a young age that youth and beauty are their greatest currency, it was quite comical to see this short. Sidse Babett Knudsen was the only character and it was a non-verbal role for Sidse Babett Knudsen.
The entire story is set in a bathroom. It begins with Sidse Babett Knudsen character standing in front of the mirror intently staring at her face and proceeding to apply various anti-aging creams, serums, and mists to her face. With each application, she immediately stands back and holds her hands up with palms facing up, as if in prayer, and carefully analyzes her face to see if any changes have been made after applying the multiple anti-aging products she’s applied to her face.
The audience gets the sense that this is her daily skincare routine and that she’s keen to halt and reverse any aging she’s noticed on her skin. As the minutes pass in the film, the treatments become more intense (turning this film more into a horror!) until she notices extreme changes happening to her face. She goes full rogue and then finally surrenders.
I won’t say more to reveal any spoilers but this was really well done with a lot of detailed special effects. The audience and I were thoroughly engaged, gasped out loud, and there were a few scenes where I covered my hand over my mouth in shock and disbelief at how the story was progressing. It was visceral and the special effects were grand and spectacular, giving the audience the understanding of how out of control (metaphorically and literally) things were becoming.
In the Danish TV series, Borgen, SBK has the lead role and we are not used to seeing her play such a comedic and physical role. The character she plays on Borgen is Prime Minister Birgitte Nyborg (and years later in Borgen: Power and Glory released in 2022), we see Nyborg’s character as very composed, professional, elegant, poised, and classy. This character in WOACA was completely the opposite. We recently released a podcast episode called “Articles and Interviews” in which we talked about an interview with Camilla Hammerich whereby she talked about the casting of Sidse Babett Knudsen for the role of Nyborg. Hammerich spoke of Sidse Babett Knudsen coming from a comedic background and it was certainly a delight and coincidence to see her in this short at the TIFF in this very memorable, unique, and comedic role.
