ERLEND E. MO Born 1967 in Norway. Lives and works in Kviteseid, Norway, and Copenhagen, Denmark   Erlend E. Mo, “Velkommen til Danmark” (Welcome to Denmark) (video still), 2003. © The Danish Film Institute, Copenhagen   Erlend E. Mo is a Norwegian freelance film director. He received his education at the University of Oslo, Norway (Comparative Literature and Scandinavian Language and Literature), at MRDH, Volda, Norway (Film/Television), and at NRK (The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation) (the Producer Program). He has worked as a director on a contract basis at NRK and DR (Danish Broadcasting Corporation) between 1994-98, primarily directing children's and youth programs. Among other things, he wrote and directed the fiction program, “Forbidden Love” (1998), that formed part of the series Sonar, which usually only featured documentary programs. “Forbidden Love” portrayed the co-operation (“interrupted by the Muslim girl”) between journalist Mette Weyde (who plays herself) and a Muslim girl whose story Weyde set out to tell. The program revealed – and constituted – a serious manipulation of media. For instance, the program does a U-turn at the end by showing Weyde's own outtakes that didn't support her understanding of the problems that arose between herself and the Muslim girl. Thus, the “documentary” unveiled itself as fiction right before the credits. The concept of the program was inspired by the debate on “foreigners” and disclosures of manipulated scenes in documentaries. “Forbidden Love” was subsequently screened at festivals around the world and has created a lot of debate on media's influence on the perception of minorities. The program also produced a lot of anger, for instance during the annual Input television showcase in the US in 1999, where the program was thought to undermine the traditional documentary genre. From then on, the theme of “foreigners” became Mo's main subject. In 2002, he got the opportunity as a freelancer to start shooting a “real” documentary about three refugees and their journey to what soon became “The New Denmark” (the bourgeois, neo-nationalist Denmark), shot over a period of three years. This material was edited down to the film “Velkommen til Danmark” (Welcome to Denmark), which has been screened on TV2 Danmark, YLE Finland, SVT 2 Sweden, and at a number of festivals. It was awarded Best Documentary Film at Odense Film Festival 2003, Denmark.   Contribution: Participates in Station 3: The Movie Theater East of Eden, Aarhus, with “Velkommen til Danmark” (Welcome to Denmark), Denmark 2003. Beta-Sp (color), 92 min. Courtesy of the artist and The Danish Film Institute, Copenhagen. The film is screened on Tuesday, October 19, 2004, from 7:30 – 9:15 pm.