Denmark in 1945, shortly after the end of the Nazi occupation. Marie, a young housemaid working for a wealthy older widower named Christian, develops an intimate relationship with her employer. Preparing for marriage, she tries to settle into her new life by altering Christian’s late wife’s wedding dress to fit her. But she harbours a closely guarded secret: during the war, she had a romantic relationship with a German soldier. In newly liberated Denmark, women suspected of associating with the enemy face severe public shaming and reprisals. Now Marie’s past threatens to catch up with her.
"There was collective shame that welled up in Denmark after the war /.../. As a small nation, we chose a policy of collaboration to get through the war without too many casualties. /.../ I think our national pride and self-understanding were hurt by not resisting the Nazis more fiercely earlier – and that’s why some members of society became desperate to lash out and find scapegoats. And among the hate figures were the women – the horizontal collaborators and often also their children – who had no power whatsoever to protect themselves." (May el-Toukhy)
May el-Toukhy
Born in 1977 in Charlottenlund, Denmark, to a Danish mother and an Egyptian father, El-Toukhy has been strongly influenced in her filmmaking by her father’s experience as a first-generation immigrant. She graduated from the Danish National School of Performing Arts in 2002 and from the National Film School of Denmark in 2009.