"Nomansland" - A film about choices

by Ray Freer
and Robin Dorner

This 35-minute Danish film's art is in how life confronts us with great ugliness. The movie is replete with unattractive aspects of life and relationships; about acceptance and choices, and the consequences of all those things.

Written by Flemming Klem, and brought brilliantly to realization by director Karsten Geisnaes. It is a gem, but perhaps the stone as it first comes from the earth. It is in so many ways coarse, and dirty and unattractive. The journey to being polished and beautiful is the story and the lessons we take from it.

“Nomansland was originally thought as a full length movie. The director and my co-producer Karsten Geisnæs and I applied the Danish Film Academy and funds. But we got no support, so for a short while, we paused the project,” said the film’s producer Peter Gibbons in an exclusive interview with The Gayly.

“But since a lot of very talented people within the film environment in Denmark wanted to support the project and help us, we decided to make it despite, for our own funds. We wrote it into a long short, in Denmark called a novel-movie, with the title Nomansland.”

Christian, played with great pathos by Pater Plaugbord, suffers great loss and consequence in his life, due to choices. One of the choices is simply about who he loves. However, the family of his boyfriend who rejects them for being gay, blames everything and everyone who was part of their son's life choices for all the ill that came to him. They claim to love their son, but even in tragedy, they cling to rejection and hate.

“We put a lot of effort not only into the storyline but also the whole technical part,” added Gibbons. “The music for the film and title song 'Nomansland' were handmade for this movie.”

So often, rejection, stigma and choices are realities of our lives. So too is the primary message we take from this film. Of the many lessons to be found here; poor choice's and the devastating consequences of them. These provide the heart of a cautionary tale. They include many...drugs, rejection, and unprotected sex (many of us later come to regret are the hardscrabble path we must trod to acquire the lessons to be gained from it all). If we learn nothing from the mistakes of our past, then what was the point of the journey?

“The film is thought as a current day story,” adds the producer. “Our idea was to make a film that described not only the darker sides of gay life, but also the more masculine gay-environment. Most movies where gays are portrayed in Denmark the characters are caricatured and often the 'jokes' in a story. We wanted an up to date story that gay men could relate too. A modern homosexual love story with angles of the both light but also dark sides of being a human being and gay man.”

This isn't an easy film to watch. It is confrontational and harsh, and in so many ways shows an ugliness we can't imagine ourselves ever being a part of. Of course, I would imagine, or hope, most of us can still see ourselves in parts of this film. Maybe our choices were different, but we must still take ownership of the pain these choices inevitably bring. Not just to ourselves, but to those in our lives we care about.

“The title Nomansland is covering the no man’s land described in the story, of wanting love and a relationship at one side, but also living with the temptation of partying and having promiscuous sex at the other. The “Nomansland” between love and escapism. This is a story about finding your true self, stand up for yourself and the importance of forgiveness and unconditional love.”

Gibbons said the intolerant family described in Nomansland is not common in Denmark these days. Denmark was the first country in the world to allow gay-marriages and there is a large amount of tolerance at all levels.However, very close to Denmark are Poland and Russia where the pride-marches have been violently attacked the past years. LGBT intolerance and hate is very strong in those countries.

“Nomansland is thought as a story that could be found and told around the world, and therefore we also had it translated into a lot of languages; of them Russian since we want to launch it online in Russia later this year.”

Gibbons went on to say, “A film-company asked us to change the story from a gay story with HIV into a straight story with a guy that got cancer! So Karsten and I put our own funds into it, to maintain full control and artistic freedom, to ensure that the films theme and message would not vanish in a compromise for the sale of the film.

“The film has a star cast and crew of professional talents from within Danish film and theatre, and they all supported this project in a stunning way. The entire cast and crew have worked free or for very little money. The big cost wen to the whole technical part, since we wanted it to have a full professional movie-quality in both filming and sound. 

After its release in Denmark, Nomansland received the Audience Award as best film and nominated by The Danish Film Academy as best short in Denmark. Since then, this film has gone around the world at festivals and has received many awards.

The Gayly – June 9, 2015 @ 9:40am.