Photo: Fra filmen "Speechless" af Ric Esther Bienstock
Lucia Odoom is a cultural journalist at Politiken and an author. She is also the host of the popular podcast Poptillægget, which often explores American youth and pop culture topics. This evening, you can experience Odoom in conversation with Canadian instructor Ric Esther Bienstock about the polarised cultural and identity politics warfare that Speechless deals with.
Ric Esther Bienstock is an award-winning Canadian director. She is known for her investigative documentaries, and for approaching complex subjects with curiosity and depth. In 2024, she received a U.S. Emmy Silver Circle Honour for her significant contribution to the industry.
As a prelude to the mid-term election in the United States, you can experience the sensational film Speechless in the Queen's Hall for this special event.
With her controversial work Speechless, director Ric Esther Bienstock turns her gaze to American universities to focus on the growing polarisation between left and right wing in American politics – and leaves the viewer speechless.
You now have the opportunity to experience the documentary on a big screen in the Queen's Hall and participate, when we get an extraordinary visit from the director, Canadian Ric Esther Bienstock, who will discuss the film's themes together with Lucia Odoom, an expert in American pop and youth culture.
Originally, the documentary, which has been nine years in the making, was supposed to be about language, identity, and inclusion in American universities, however, the identity political uprising turned out to be part of a much larger ideological conflict – because once the university demonstrations have gained media attention, they are immediately weaponised by politicians, in a fight that reaches far beyond the microcosm of the university campus.
It is precisely this polarised cultural and identity-political warfare that Speechless deals with, and which makes it so incredibly relevant in the run-up to a midterm election. At the same time, it is important to ask ourselves: what does this struggle mean for us in Denmark? What does the identity-political struggle look like in Denmark, and can we even transfer American conditions to a Danish context? These, and many more questions will form the setting for the conversation with Lucia Odoom and director Ric Esther Bienstock - inviting the audience to join in.
The event, made in collaboration with The Why Foundation, which focuses on human rights through storytelling, is for members of Students Only! – Royal Danish Library's free membership offer for students. The screening of Speechless is a part of the documentary campaign WHY FREEDOM?, which studies freedom of expression.
Photo: Ric Esther Bienstock
Ric Esther Bienstock is an award-winning Canadian director. She is known for her investigative documentaries, and for approaching complex subjects with curiosity and depth. In 2024, she received a U.S. Emmy Silver Circle Honour for her significant contribution to the industry.
Lucia Odoom is a cultural journalist at Politiken and an author. She is also the host of the popular podcast Poptillægget, which often explores American youth and pop culture topics.
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