Seal woman myth to be portrayed in Danish movie

Danish film director Tea Lindeburg made a name for herself internationally with the popular Netflix series ‘Equinox’ from 2020 and the ‘Du som er i himlen’ movie from 2021.

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Director Tea Lindeburg

The 45-year-old director has now turned her artistic attention to the Faroese tale of the seal woman.

According to Danish cinema website Kino.dk,  Lindeburg’s next feature film will be a tragic love story in which seals play leading roles.

Kópakonan – the Seal Woman

Lindeburg has written the screenplay to ‘The Seal Woman’ movie, which is based on the popular Faroese myth ‘Kópakonan’.

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Photo: Esbern Christiansen

According to the myth, seals originated from humans who voluntarily sought death in the sea.

Once a year, on the Twelfth Night, the seals are allowed to strip off their skins and amuse themselves as humans, dancing and playing in seal caves and on the beaches.

Old myth with a new twist

Lindeburg’s movie is a new rendition of the old myth.

Wanting to meet his deceased wife, the main character, Aske, visits the location where seals turn into humans on the Twelfth Night.

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Photo: Esbern Christiansen

In his effort to prevent his dead wife from returning to the sea, he steals her seal skin and hides it away.

At first, his wife does not remember their shared past, but eventually this memory returns, revealing a dark past.

Shooting location unknown

According to Kino.dk, we can expect a dark adventure film in the fantasy genre.

Although the movie is based on perhaps the most famous Faroese myth of them all, it is not clear at this point whether the movie will be shot in the Faroes.

Kino.dk writes that shooting is scheduled to start next year “somewhere in the North Atlantic”, with no exact location mentioned.

One thing is clear, though. The movie will not reduce the flow of tourists to Kalsoy, where the seal woman stands in all her splendour at the Mikladalur shore.

Read the Faroese version of this article here.

More Faroese News in English.