Too stupid to die on a Wednesday

I am engaged in a year-long process of creating the documentary series Too stupid to die on a Wednesday, which portray my mother and her three siblings. Although they all share a similar childhood, their adult lives have developed extremely differently. What unites them, however, is their rich inner worlds and their openness in expressing who they are - for better or worse. While each film offers an individual portrait, together they form a broader generational study - an exploration of family dynamics, inheritance, and the enduring influence of one generation upon the next. During their childhood, my grandfather would often tell his children and their mother that they were “too stupid to die on a Wednesday.” He used this phrase whenever things did not go his way. In the winter of 2022, just before her 80th birthday, my grandmother offered a subtle response by passing away on a Wednesday. The first film in the series, ’Onkel Henrik’, is an intimate portrait of a middle-aged man who lives his life on the edge of society and himself. Based on their relationship, his niece spends an evening interviewing him in his new business apartment in Copenhagen. The work depicts an uncle’s many life stories about the establishment of a brothel with sex dolls, a tragic childhood, family dynamics, relations, doing time in jail, mental disorders, failures of the Danish psychiatric system, his time as a multimillionaire and much more. In the second film, Majbritt, a Danish expatriate is living at a remote hotel in Cuba with her husband. Her days unfold by the pool and the ocean, immersed in books, contemplation, and clashing with the hotel staff as cultural differences surface. Filmed through the eyes of her eldest daughter, the documentary offers an honest exploration of Majbritt’s background, behaviour, private sphere and everyday struggles. Majbritt’s reflections touch upon themes of feminism, family relations, and existential contemplation of life and death. These reflections unfold against handheld footage of Cuban life, and the audience gain a personal insight into how the realities of communism affect people living there. In the series, the camera becomes secondary, and the focus rests on the intimacy and presence between myself and the portrayed. Throughout 2026, I will begin the production of the third film which will portray my other uncle, Lars. He is in the process of leaving his job in Denmark and preparing to sell everything he owns in order to sail around the world. He will record video diaries throughout the journey, and when he reaches South America, I will meet him on his boat and begin documenting his new life while living with him for two months.