It is the summer of 1969 and thirteen year old Frits' family have just acquired their first television set. Frits' father has recently suffered a nervo·us breakdown and young Frits is highly susceptible to events at home, at school and in the rapidly changing wider world.
With his father in hospital, Frits finds himself surrounded by other male figures of authority. His music teacher becomes his friend and confidant, introducing him. to inspirational singers and helping him to find his own identity. His headmaster, a respected member of the local community, is a tyrant who bullies children in private and eventually beats Frits so severely that he needs stitches for his injuries. Frits' grandfather is present but absent in his refusal to stand up to those around him.
But it is Martin Luther King who speaks to Frits all summer long through the newly acquired television set. King's speeches and dreams of a better life armour Frits with the courage and desire to stand up to the authorities. As the political seeds of rebellion are sewn in the world around him that summer, Frits goes on his own uplifting and very personal journey.
Directed by Niels Arden Oplev, he of the original film adaptation of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, the 2006 We Shall Overcome [Drømmen] stars Bent Mejding, Anders W. Berthelsen (both of whom featured in hit series The Killing), Jens Jørn Spottag (ID:A) and Anne-Grethe Bjarup Riis (Idioterne). The Observer's Philip French said of it: "This is a family film that will draw families together and I confess to the odd lump in the throat," and Amber Wilkinson at Eye for Film called it a "charming and beautifully acted Danish drama."
We Shall Overcome will be released on UK DVD on 22nd July 2013 by Drakes Avenue at the RRP of £15.99.
