The Contest

"The Contest", based on a book by Gitte Løkkegaard, tells the story of 12 -year-old Karl who moves from the Danish west coast to the capital city with his mother. Nothing could have prepared Karl for his new surroundings, a rough and ethnically mixed area of Copenhagen, and soon Karl starts to plan his escape back to his grandparents. Sawsan, a young Turkish girl in Karl’s class, takes him under her wings and tries to integrate him into big city life with all its slang and hipness. When one of Sawsan's homemade songs is chosen for a big national song contest, she faces opposition from her family to follow her dream and sing at the contest. But Karl has other plans, and against all odds he and Sawsan embark on a common mission westward. (Zlín Film Festival)