Thomas Vinterberg on climate change miniseries ‘Families Like Ours’

It’s no coincidence that “Families Like Ours,” the climate change disaster miniseries in which Denmark literally shuts down due to flooding, is premiering in Venice, a city known for its own crisis due to rising sea levels.

“All the water here made it an obvious choice,” says Thomas Vinterberg, the series’ Danish director. “Families Like Ours” is his first TV series (and first project since his critically acclaimed Oscar-winning feature “Another Round”). “Even in my first letter to [Venice director] Alberto [Barbera]I said we can’t show this anywhere else but Venice.

In typical Vinterberg fashion, ‘Families Like Ours’ – as the title suggests – is about the dynamics and behavior of families and society in a plot in which the Danish authorities suddenly announce that the country’s citizens will be evacuated and spread all over the world to any country. accept them.

“It was actually conceived several years ago as a crazy, futuristic idea, and was rejected by some of my friends,” he explains. “And suddenly it has become a normality, which is a little scary.”

But the real disaster – the flood – is not seen on screen and is rather a looming threat, as the drama focuses on one family torn apart by the life-changing decisions they must make.

“I wanted to make this a reality, and I think Denmark is a country that wouldn’t wait for a flood; we would be prepared,” he said, adding that he believes a “fair way” would be found to save as many people as possible. possible. “So I think it would actually be a catastrophe movie in slow motion as it plays out.”

Given its global themes – and the many other countries for whom the climate crisis poses a very real threat – “Families Like Ours,” despite being so deeply rooted in Danish society, feels like a drama ripe for numerous global adaptations.

“My experience is that when I make something more general, no one is interested,” says Vinterberg. “But when I do something super specifically Danish, it travels.”

Coincidentally, Vinterberg’s specifically Danish journey was “Another Round,” a comedy-drama that followed four friends as they tried to maintain blood alcohol levels to improve their lives.

In 2021, it was announced that Leonardo DiCaprio would produce an American remake, and earlier this year Chris Rock was revealed as writer and director. Given America’s very different relationship with alcohol than Europe, many wondered how the story could translate for the U.S., and Vinterberg admits he had “a lot of the same questions.” But he notes that in the film there is “an engine, the story of an experience, that you could place anywhere,” and that the best way to approach the remake would be to “put the film in a different context and to make him truly American’.

That said, when Rock’s name was attached to the project, Vinterberg made comical comments about the star, telling a Danish newspaper, “If it’s nonsense, he’ll get another slap.”

“I’m afraid I said that,” he notes. “But I sent him an apology because he might not have found it funny.”