‘Safe House’ Team Talks ‘Suspenseful’ Goteborg Opener as TrustNordisk Debuts Trailer: ‘Part of History That Needs to Be Told’ (EXCLUSIVE)
Based on true events, G?teborg opening film “Safe House” – about a group of people trying to survive in a hospital in conflict-torn Bangui in 2013 – could be a harrowing watch. But lead actor Kristine Kujath Thorp found hope in the story.
“What really stuck with me was that even though the world is a very complicated place, most people want good, they want love and to live in peace. It’s just a few bloody bastards at the top. If only a few men can do such harm, think of what we could do if we weren’t so indifferent and stood together,” she told Variety.
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Directed by Eirik Svensson, “Safe House” also features Alexander Karim, Bibi Tanga, Alma P?ysti, Tracy Gotoas and Mattis Herman Nyquist. Produced by Fantefilm, it’s sold by Trust Nordisk, which has shared the trailer in exclusivity with Variety.
Kristine Kujath Thorp’s headstrong character was inspired by Lindis Hurum, stationed in the Central African Republic when its capital was suddenly swept by violence. Hurum, who wrote a book about the ordeal, is now the General Secretary of Doctors Without Borders in Norway.
“It’s one of those many forgotten wars and crises. To be honest, I’d never heard about it before I read the script,” said the actor, also known for “Ninjababy” and “Promised Land.”
“I’ve been in touch with Lindis, trying to understand how it felt to be an aid-worker in the middle of that very difficult situation. It’s a part of history that deserves and needs to be told. It’s very relevant today and it will, unfortunately, continue to be relevant until the end of time. Humans keep on hating other humans, they keep on being scared of them and are unable to see past the hatred.”
Svensson was also touched by Hurum’s experiences.
“When she came back home, she told her close friends about the incident. One of them works for the company that ended up producing the movie. It didn’t take me long to decide I wanted to do it. We live in a very turbulent world, plagued by conflicts and disasters, and the civilians are always caught in between.”
When a Muslim man seeks refuge in the hospital, fleeing Christian opponents, the stakes get even higher. But Svensson wanted to show people who, despite everything, still “try to make a difference.”
“I think I’m not the only one who has become a little numb. There’s so much information – you don’t know when to protect yourself and when to take it all in. But numbness leads to inaction. Here, they’re working on resolving this situation. Seeing how far people are willing to go to save others, that gave me hope,” he stressed.
His fast-paced, thriller-like film is still a “humane” story.
“It all happens within less than 24 hours and one of the ways to engage the audience was to make them feel like they are there with them. When I talked to Lindis, she also agreed it should be suspenseful. We have this sequence when there’s an emergency C-section, then they bring in a wounded soldier and they have this huge dilemma,” he observed.
“We’ve been talking to surgeons who’ve been in similar situations, trying to understand how they hold the scalpel, what lingo they use. It’s research, but it’s also choreography. Combining all that with emotions and catching some private moments was a big task, especially because the situation becomes tense and dramatic very early on.”
While the Nordics still seem like a “relatively safe place,” it’s important to think about “what responsibility we have and what possibilities we have to help those who aren’t in the same situation,” said Svensson, wary of the “white savior” trope.
“It’s good to reflect on these things: How should we tell these stories, from whose point of view? This one came from a real person with a Nordic background, so a lot of it revolves around her, but I tried to underline that nine out of ten aid workers were locals. It’s an ensemble: they’re all leaning on each other in order to get through the day.”
It’s “frustrating” that so many of these tales are never told, he added.
“All this happened in a country a lot of people haven’t even heard of. They felt very alone and it was very dangerous to be there. Still, I don’t think they ever thought: ‘What’s the point?’ They saw all the kids they were helping, the women giving birth. They saw the point of their work every hour of every day.”
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