How To Get Rid of the Others

“HOW TO GET RID OF OTHERS” grew out of the debate we have in Denmark, I don’t know how much you know about it. Denmark is one of the European countries who joined the coalition of the willing and has the most strict immigration policy in Europe that is bordering on being racist and has an extreme right wing government much like the one in the US. Out of this debate where they always ask foreigners how much are you worth, what do you do for the Danish society, why should we support you financially, why are you so dumb, why is your religion no good, why are your children dumber than the real Danish children? Everyday in the newspaper foreigners are confronted with this. If we applied the debate in Denmark onto ourselves, what would it look like? This is how HOW TO GET RID OF THE OTHERS came about.” (Anders Ronnow Klarlund)

A mid-level data-analyst for the Danish government calculates that 5% of the Danish population accounts for the majority of social service spending and in jest circulates a manifesto: The New Copenhagen Criteria. Citizens who meet at least three of the seven criteria for poor citizenship: drug addicts, criminals, deadbeat parents, long-time welfare recipients and fraudulent pensioners will be immediately executed. What started as a joke falls into the hands of the conservative party who quietly pass the legislation right before the national vacation month.

This 2007 pitch-black comedy seems eerily prescient and all the more urgent with the nationalism and fascism on the rise, not just in the US and Denmark but around the globe.

HOW TO GET RID OF THE OTHERS blindsided audiences at Fantastic Fest with its back in 2008 and we are extremely pleased to be sharing this title again 12 years later as we deep dive explore the multifaceted beauty of Danish comedies.

Anders Ronnow Klarlund crafts one of the darkest political comedies imaginable, which not only deftly probes the unproductive sector of society, but takes a very deep and personal look at foreign policy in today’s hyper-sensitive climate of questionable immigration policies. From its opening sequence where the SWAT Teams swoop in and whisk senior citizen Gerda (still sitting in her scooter) away underneath a helicopter, we know that this film isn’t going to be the usual political satire. As it plays out like a stage play meets THE BREAKFAST CLUB gone wrong, we follow several people labeled as socially unproductive, all with varying dreams and vices, who either try or don’t care to save themselves from getting killed.