Valgaften

It is election night in Denmark and the polls are close to closing. With a busy day behind him sending off blankets to war-torn countries, Peter has completely forgotten to vote and, being a very socially conscious citizen he sets out to try and get to the polls before they close. However he abandons his first taxi after he encounters racist views that he does not want to hear – but then he doesn't have a great deal of luck trying anything else.

This is a great little short film that deals with a complex and difficult issue – racism, or rather the way we have of looking at people differently on the basis of their skin colour or ethnic origin. In a way I'm sure this film is more meaningful in Denmark than it is in other places because many films will capture the spirit of the nation as well as wider issues (many good British plays etc are very much set in the British experience) but I still got something from this despite not being a Dane! The film starts us off with a clear cut case of racism – few of us would support the taxi driver's views. However it then gets progressively more subtle and wide spread until Peter himself reveals himself to see others differently ('I doing it for you people' he tells the black employee). At this point we realize the point of the film – what is racism? What is acceptable forms of it and don't we all, regardless of colour, treat people a bit differently based on colour, dress, class etc?

The film does not propose to answer these questions or offer solutions but rather just challenges us and leaves us to make our own minds up. In this way I appreciated it – it ends with a comic moment as Peter just slumps into accepting the world for what it is, but this is a mature way to leave it, not banging a drum but simply putting this situation out there and letting us see it for the complex issue that it is.

A great short that is simple but very well written. The cast deliver their characters well but it is the steps down in behaviour that compares and contrasts 'racist' behaviour where it succeeds in showing us how complex the issue is and how wide spread it is, even if we don't see it we all do view others differently depending on their jobs, their race, their accent, their intelligence, their colour, their class, their clothes etc. That the film offers no solutions to this is not a failing – it is responsible and respectful.

Anders Thomas Jensen's Oscar-winning "Valgaften" ("Election Night" in English) is about prejudices and how people will often vote based on these. Well, sure enough it came true. The current president of the US ran an entire campaign pandering to everyone's prejudices, and now those sorts of people are making inroads in Europe's governments. Could this in fact be the end of civilization as we know it?

I haven't seen any of the other movies that got nominated for Best Live Action Short Film that year. They'd be hard-pressed to make as good a point as this one made. It might not be the greatest short of all time, but I recommend it as a warning of what can happen when people's base instincts manifest themselves. Worth seeing.

The Oscar-winning Danish short-film of Kim Magnusson and Anders Thomas Jensen is their third short-film to be nominated to an Oscar. It is, as always, an ironic film about a very heavy subject. The Danish mentality is the keyword in this fantastic short-film. Don´t miss it for anything in the world.

A simple story about the right to vote, idealism and different forms of racism. A nice short film about people, seductive for performances, dialogue and humor nuances , proposing a simple story and a bitter moral.

A man has forgotten to vote, 10 minutes before closing the polls, he takes a cab but The Taxi-driver turn him on with racist comments, he change to others cabs - but the same situation occurs.

Humorous short movie, that indicate that intolerance is found at many levels.