The Producers

Award winning film director Ditte Haarløv Johnsen grew up in Maputo, Mozambique in a family where both parents were involved in governmental development work. She is a stills photographer and has exhibited her photography in Syria, Canada, Denmark and South Africa. She graduated from the docuumentary department at the Danish Film School in 2007 with her much acclaimed film ”One day” about a Nigerian prostitute in Copenhagen. ”Days of Hope” is Ditte´s first feauture lenghth documentary

Vibeke Vogel is a producer and partner in Bullitt Film. Her background is in experimental film and video, and over the last 20 years she has rpduced award winning documentaries for national and international audiences. Her work includes ”Turning”, a music film by Antony & the Johnsons directed by Charles Atlas and ”The Agreement”, an inside look at EU-negotiations between Kosovo and Serbia. Vibeke holds a master from Film and Media Studies and a BA in Cultural Leadership.

Minka Jakerson is a Swedish cinematographer and film director. She graduated as cinematographer from the Danish Film School in 2007 and she is Ditte´s long term collaborator having worked on three films. Minka Jakerson lives in Sweden and debuted as a filmdirector in Berlin 2012 with the film The Yearning Room.

Making The Film

Filmed on location in Nouadhibou, Syracusa and Copenhagen, DAYS OF HOPE was produced by a very small and dedicated team. The recordings in Nouadhibou and Copenhagen in particular took place over a long period of time, allowing film director Ditte Haarløv Johnsen and cinematographer Minka Jakerson to have a genuine relationship with the characters and their struggle to move away from their desperate situation. In Syracuse filming was more restricted due to the regulations of the ”asylums” where the surviving boat refugees were kept while waiting for papers.

Our way in to the subject matter about African immigrants and their fatal longing for a new life in Europe came through a contact with a catholic reverend in Nouadhibou, Father Jerome, who has a short appearance in the film. His work is all about encouraging people to stay and make a better life for themselves where they are.

The film became the most popular Danish film during Cph:Dox 2013 and it caused us to open up a hostel for the foreign homeless in Copenhagen last winter through a crowd funding campaign.