Frelle Petersen's drama Home Sweet Home [+lire aussi :
critique
interview : Frelle Petersen
fiche film] has just premiered in the Panorama section of this year's Berlinale. The very intimate film is the portrait of a home care worker, who tries to do her best to make a difference in her patients' life. We talked to the Danish director about his motivation to shed light on this profession. 

Cineuropa: Was there a specific event that pushed you to make the film?
Frelle Petersen: Yes. There was an important moment that made me want to do this film. I visited an elderly couple, that I've known for about 20 years and who are very good friends of mine. They are both in their 90s. The husband developed dementia some years ago, so when I came that time, about two and a half years ago, he couldn't recognise me. He couldn't recognise his daughter and grandchild either. It felt very strange sitting in the living room with him, because I could tell that he felt so alienated, I had the impression that there was fear in his eyes that I'd never seen before. But then at one point, he lit up and became very happy, because this home care worker arrived. She comes by three times every day, or nearly every day. She felt like the real family member. When she came into the room, he just started a conversation and made fun, like he always did with us. I then thought that this must be such a wonderful job to have, to be able to make a difference like that in other people's lives. I knew it's also a very hard job. From there, I became very curious and I started doing a lot of intensive research. 

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Could you tell us more about the kind of research you did?
I worked as a home care worker myself. First, I started interviewing home care workers and asking them about the job and I was told a lot of great stories. But I felt that I needed to go further, as I've done on my other films. For Uncle [+lire aussi :
critique
bande-annonce
fiche film], for example, which takes place on a farm, I worked as a farmer for four months. So, I contacted this small community in Southern Jutland, where I usually make my films and where I grew up, and I asked if it was possible to do some research. They said they always need extra people, so that I could start helping out directly. I got trained by an experienced care worker, who also acts in the film. I was doing everything, she was standing next to me and I could ask her if I had questions. That was probably the most life-affirming experience I've had in a job. It was so amazing to create a relationship with these people and it was so much fun to work with them. There are of course these cases where you are not welcome. You have to be very respectful once you go into people's private homes. They don't want you there, but they do need help, too. It is important to find a balance with that. I also experienced how consuming the job is, how little time you have per person. I did the research for about a month. 

Corporality is an important topic of the film. Did you want to bring in gymnastics as a contrast to the less mobile bodies Sofie deals with at work? 
Yes, exactly. I became very interested in the body. I wanted to contrast the bodies with signs of weakness with these young bodies, which are still very flexible. I liked this mirroring. 

You also challenge the definition of what a good mother might be in society's view. 
I think there's a lot of pressure today on parents in general and on single mothers especially. It's a really big task. I know a few people who are living lives like our protagonist and it's really hard to both have a job and still have the energy to come home and also give a lot of attention and care to your children. In these times, some people live perfect lives on Instagram, but they are probably not really that happy otherwise. I think there's so much pressure especially on young people today, and young families, [saying] that you have to be the best every day, every minute. It's just not possible, and it wasn't like that in my youth. My parents have been very loving and always took care of me and my siblings, but of course there have been lots of moments in our life in which they didn't have the same energy and that was perfectly fine. I wanted to show that we try to balance everything, but it's just not humanly possible.