Private Project

A Family Portrait

On a summer’s day in an upscale Danish summer house, a successful neurosurgeon arrives to collect her son from her ex-husband. When he refuses to leave with her, she must confront the cost of years spent putting her career first - and fight for her place in a family that has moved on without her.

  • Taleb Fartous
    Director
    Petanque, Kramnad
  • Taleb Fartous
    Writer
    Petanque, Kramnad
  • Pelle Bethlowsky Kristensen
    Producer
    The Girl With the Needle, Bullshit, The Shift - Season 2
  • Janus Nabil Bakrawi
    Key Cast
    "Mounir"
    Pizza King, The Killing, Matters of the Heart, Ørnen
  • Lila Nobel
    Key Cast
    "Tulin"
    Cry Wolf, The Last Viking, The Rain, Off the Record , Chaos
  • Amanda Bøgestrøm Isaksen
    Key Cast
    "Inga"
    The Sommerdahl Murders, Darkness: Those Who Kill
  • Sami Bülow Hansen
    Key Cast
    "Noah"
  • Arash Mosaddegh
    Key Cast
    "Faddy"
  • Jonah Pinny
    Director of Photography
    The League, Petanque, OsWorld, Superposition, The minds of 99 - 3 døgn i parken
  • Mads Jøns Frausig
    Editor
    The Bitter Taste of Michelin, Hold My Hand, Guru, Efterretningstjenesten
  • Gustav Nordentoft Nissen
    Editor
    Brief History of a Family, Superposition, Breeder
  • Severin Wedel
    Sound Designer
    Secrets We Keep, OsWorld, The Dead Don't Hurt
  • Jason Lee Cameron
    Sound Recordist
    Only God Forgives, How to Kill a Cloud, Klaphat, The Chestnut Man
  • Hektor Bille Hornsleth
    Production Coordinator
    Another Round, Riders of Justice, Families Like Our
  • Line Schmidt Myhlendorph
    Artwork
  • Azita Katerina Shahbazian
    Production Design
    Tidsrejsen 2, Høst
  • Jonathan Schou
    Composer
    Petanque, Ronde Nocturne, Himmeltelefonen
  • Anthon Brounéus
    Colourist
    The League, Patrulje, Little Christina
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    Et Familieportræt
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Runtime:
    20 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    August 1, 2025
  • Production Budget:
    12,000 EUR
  • Country of Origin:
    Denmark
  • Country of Filming:
    Denmark
  • Language:
    Danish
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    1.85:1
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Digital Cinema Package:
    Unavailable
Director Biography - Taleb Fartous

If I had to describe my stories using a painting, it would be "Stańczyk", the sad court jester who sees the world for what it really is.

I like when my characters never quite succeed in what they’re fighting for, because I believe that’s exactly what an unjust world looks like. That’s the kind of reality I want to portray in my films.
And while I hope my films offer a strong cinematic experience, I also hope they give people something to talk about, and maybe even challenge how we think about the emotions and issues I explore on screen.

I was born on the 1st of April 1994 and raised in Copenhagen by parents who were political refugees from Syria and Iraq. Politics have always been a part of my childhood, even though I found it too dry for my taste. And even though I still do, the older I get the more attracted I get to the absurdity of it. This interest has found it’s way into my work, make which make me describe my own work as satirical.

I studied TV directing at the Danish School of Media and Journalism before being admitted to the National Film School of Denmark as a fiction director. In between, I worked as a director’s assistant for commercial director Martin Werner, who has directed ads with Zoe Saldaña and collaborated with, among others, DOP Thimios Bakatakis. I assisted Werner with everything from writing and location scouting to casting and editing.

In 2022, I made my first short film, Kramnad, followed by Petanque (2023), a story about a football court in a housing project being replaced by a petanque court for the new middle-class neighbors.

Most recently, I directed A Family Portrait (2025), a short film about an upper-middle-class family searching for meaning through tarot and qi gong in a nationalistic ideal danish setting, based on paintings by renown painter Krøyer.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

A Family Portrait is my personal grief therapy, a tragicomedy told through the eyes of a mother.

One of my deepest, most irrational fears is that one day my daughter will tell me she no longer wants me in her life. But what if it isn’t irrational? What if it actually happens? How would I respond? How could I respond?

This film visualizes one of those worst-case scenarios, a chain of bad choices and bad outcomes, ultimately showing me that there may be no “right” way to face this fear, except to accept it.

Through absurd Danish humor and flawed, authentic characters, A Family Portrait aims to give audiences a strong emotional experience: to leave them frustrated with the mother’s actions, yet still deeply sympathetic toward her.