Interview during the 81st edition of Venice International Film Festival with Thomas Vinterberg, showrunner of the series “Families like ours”, and actress Amaryllis August. The production, out of competition in the Series section, tells how the Danish Goverment decides to evacuate the whole country because of the risk of a great flood. In that context, a family tries to make the right decissions.
In their interview with FRED Film Radio, our guests told us that this is the first time of Amaryllis August in front of a camera. The actress -daughter of the director Bille August- was selected in a casting process by Vinterberg, who conceived the first idea for the series 6 years ago, during an afternoon of boredom.
“Families like ours” reunites the Academy Award winner –with “Another round”– with actress Paprika Steen, 25 years after “Celebration“. The series deals with the topics of climate change, immigration and the moral debate that every individual must face in front of such a lifetime crisis.
Plot
Countries disappear, love remains. Denmark, in a not-too-distant future. The rising water levels can no longer be ignored and the country needs to be evacuated. As people disperse in all directions, they must bid farewell to what they love, what they know, and who they are. Slowly but steadily, everything is different. All property becomes worthless, all fortunes change, and luck favours only a few. Those who can afford it travel to affluent countries while the less well-off depend on government-funded relocation to more challenging destinations. Families, friends, and loved ones are separated. Some will be overcome by hatred and division, while others will nurture love and foster new beginnings. Against this backdrop we meet Laura, a high school student in love for the first time and on the cusp of graduation. When news of the evacuation breaks, the course of Laura and her family's lives are changed forever, and Laura is forced into the impossible dilemma of choosing between the three people she loves the most.
Javier Bardem will be one of the major guests of the Rome Film Fest 2026, receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award and presenting Rodrigo Sorogoyen’s El ser querido.
A double victory for Woman Unknown, major prizes for established auteurs and a strong showing for political cinema, new talent and Italian performers. The complete verdict of the Venice Film Festival 2026.