NCE MASTERCLASS @ IDFA: MICHAEL AAGLUND
Op Saturday, November 11, Danish editor Michael Aaglund was the guest of honor at the Annual International Masterclass on Documentary Editing, organized by the NCE in collaboration with IDFA.
In a conversation with moderator Pelle Asselbergs, NCE, the award-winning documentaries that Aaglund edited for director Simon Lereng Wilmont were extensively discussed. A House Made of Splinters (2023) and The Distant Barking of Dogs (2017) are both set in East Ukraine, before the start of the full-scale Russian invasion.
Filmed from a very close perspective, we follow young children whose lives are heavily influenced by the raging war in the background. Their stories are being told through beautiful and engaging scenes, edited so fluently that they almost feel like scripted scenes. Michael refers to drama in the conversation but also mentions: ‘in a feature film you have to pump life into it, but in a documentary it’s already there.’
The new IDFA location, the auditorium in the Vondelpark Pavilion, was filled with editors, students, and accredited film professionals. In a coffee break all attendees got a chance to meet each other and in the Q&A at the end of the session, everybody had an opportunity to ask their own questions to Michael.
Photography: Ivar Iding – © Ivar Iding / NCE
