The Trolls & I

LOGLINE: On a rocky Danish island, five-year-old Tobias sets out on a quest to find its famed mythological creatures in The Trolls & I.

SYNOPSIS: In the middle of the Baltic Sea, a mixture of rocks, big forests and waterfalls are breaking the surface of the waves - creating the little Danish island of Bornholm.

The Island is distinct from the rest of Denmark in various ways. Historically it is older, the weather and landscape is more dramatic - and especially one thing is extraordinary about this island. The underground.

In the short hybrid-documentary The Trolls and I, we are invited on a quest with Tobias. A five year-old boy with big curious eyes and an enormous love for Spiderman.

But every time he visits his grandparents on the island he forgets about all of that. On the island he is searching for the ancient mythology rooted in the rocks and deep in the forests. He is looking for magical creatures in the underground.

He is looking for trolls.

The Trolls & I is a hybrid documentary where we are invited into the magical universe of Tobias. We see the world through his eyes and while engaging in a story told through cinema vérité and super-8, we find ourselves in a place we all know from long time ago - but many have forgotten.

A place where giant sharks have dots and summer never ends - and where, but only on this island, little trolls are secretly following your journey.

  • Charlotte Madvig
    Director
  • Charlotte Madvig
    Producer
  • Charlotte Madvig
    Cinematographer
  • Anna Oline Frieboe Laumark
    Music
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Experimental, Short
  • Runtime:
    17 minutes 6 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    October 19, 2019
  • Production Budget:
    2,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    Denmark
  • Country of Filming:
    Denmark
  • Language:
    Danish
  • Shooting Format:
    HD
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Charlotte Madvig

Charlotte Madvig is a Danish journalist and documentary filmmaker currently living in New York.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

In the hybrid doc "The Trolls & I" I chose to tell the story mainly through cinema verité, pov of the protagonist Tobias and staged pov through the eyes of the trolls. This is to create a strong connection to Tobias and his world - a world where trolls and giant sharks live amongst people. A world we all know but many have forgotten.

The fables surrounding the trolls on this specific island trace hundreds of years back. They have always been a central part of how people lived their lives on Bornholm (the island) – and especially how the children are brought up.

I was one of these children, but The Trolls & I refer not only to trolls and to this island. The short documentary refers to any place where children have their own magical worlds.