It Takes a Family


MON, JAN. 27, 4:45 PM + Q&A / Cinematheque


Director: Susanne Kovacs
Language: Danish
Year/Country: 2019, Denmark
Genre: Dokumentary
Length: 59 min. + 30 min. Director Q&A

Susanne Kovács knows that her paternal grandparents survived the Holocaust and fled to Denmark to begin a new life. That’s all she knows. The Hungarian couple kept their own story under lock and key throughout their lives and focused on immersing themselves into Danish everyday life as quickly as possible. A picture book life, seen from outside. To escape the memory of death, they smiled and remained silent. If no one sees the darkness, they hoped, normality becomes possible. But the unsaid did not fade but grew and finally began to darken the present.

Even as a child, Susanne felt that indefinable mix of fear, pain and rage that was bubbling under the surface. Long before she was able to put these feelings into words, they were in the room. But when, as a young woman, she decides to ask questions, she meets only rejection. May she dig up times against her grandmother’s will that are haunted by so many ghosts? Isn’t it better to remain silent after all this time? Who is allowed to speak and with whom? Which version of the truth is right? “It Takes a Family” is a courageous investigation of her own family story that makes it clear that at some point it’s no longer about guild, but about forgiveness.


It Takes a Family: School Program with Debate

Director Susanne Kovacs has challenged her parents and grandparents to confront the family past they are all characterized by, but which older generations would prefer to keep hidden. It is an alternately intense and intimate journey of discovery – which everyone can somehow reflect on.

After the film, we will hold an audience debate about family ties, the significance of the story, and the confrontation as a method – and perhaps also the way Susanne Kovacs portrays it all in her film.

The debate takes place in Danish and lasts approx. 30 minutes. Directed by Anne Boukris, director of the Copenhagen Jewish Film Festival.

TUES, JAN. 27th, 10:00 pm



WED, JAN. 29, 11:30 pm

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