Questions and Answers with Torill Kove, Director of The Danish Poet

The Danish Poet is a story of longing, growth, and the little everyday details that entangle everyone. It has garnered director Torill Kove her second Academy Award nomination; her first was in 2000 for My Grandmother Ironed the King's Shirts, and the National Film Board of Canada’s sixty-ninth. In a recent email conversation, Ms. Kove talks about her hand drawn animation and what it’s like competing with Disney, Pixar, and 20th Century Fox.

Where did you get the inspiration for The Danish Poet?

Inspiration came from many places over a period of time. I had wanted to write a story about coincidence, connectedness, and the bizarre turns that life can take for the silliest reasons. Once I had a grip on this concept, my inspiration came from many sources, like for example how my parents met (though, The Danish Poet isn’t about them at all).

Your film is a coming of age type love story that doesn’t get too sappy or overly dramatic. How did you avoid these pitfalls?

I guess don’t think of it as a coming of age film (though that’s an interesting interpretation), and maybe that’s how I avoided those pitfalls. But in general, the great thing about making an animated short is that it is actually possible to have complete artistic control. Since I wrote and directed it, I was able to steer clear of anything that I don’t like.

The art style in this film is minimalist yet very emotive; what prompted you to use this particular style over another perhaps more complicated or busy style?

The style is deceptively simple but since the film was digitally colored I did have other options that could have rendered it into a more visually complex film. I declined to go that route, mostly because I was worried that it would no longer completely match the narrative. Once the artwork is combined with the narrative the outcome is something that works for me and audiences have responded to the film for the most part.

It looks like your film was hand drawn with minimal help from computers, how long did it take to create this film?

Yes, the animation is all hand drawn and none of it, except the camera moves, is computer generated. For instance my drawings on the film are complimented by Montreal based artist Anne Ashton whose original oil paintings of the sky are included. The film took about three years to make, more or less.

Your choice of soundtrack really illuminates the characters’ state of mind. Was it difficult to find the right sort of music to fit your film?

Article Author: Danny Smooth

Visit Danny Smooth's author page — Danny Smooth's Blog