(Madeleine Andersson) At the 24th International Children and Young People’s Film Festival in Malmö Schweden, the Church of Sweden Children and Young People’s Film Award 2007 was given out March 16th by bishop Christina Odenberg to the Danish film

“The Substitute” by Ole Bornedal.

The plot of the film is that the 6th grade gets a new substitute teacher, She wants to train the class for an international competition in Paris. But something isn’t right. How is she able to read kid’s minds? Why is she so mean? And how does she manage to convince everyone’s parents she is so great, when the whole class knows she is really an alien.

The motivation of the jury (Goran Kapetanovich, director, Ylva Liljeholm, film pedagogue, Lena Sjöstrand, diocesan curate and Elna Wahlgren Lundquist, vicar): “Through creating a fictive universe, the film  presents images of the universe we actually live in, and of what is within every human being. The classical struggle between good and evil takes new artistic expressions. The film is a hymn to man’s ability to feel empathy and to love. “The Substitute” is a science fiction thriller for teenagers. It deals with existential issues about love, empathy and compassion. Ole Bornedal is a well known director for film and television in Denmark.”