Sara and her family proudly belong to Jehovah's Witnesses. In the local community they go from door to door and preach on Judgment Day and eternal salvation for Jehovah's chosen ones. But when Sara falls in love with Teis, she is confronted with her most difficult choice in life. Teis is not a Witness, yet their love grows through stolen, secret meetings. Sara is torn between her conscience, faith and passion; forced to make a choice between her love and her family that are worlds apart.
Niels Arden Oplev graduated from the National Film School of Denmark in 1989 when his film KYNDELMISSE and his documentary HUGO FRA HIMMERLAND provided him with an impressive debut. For DR/Danish Broadcasting Corp, Niels Arden Oplev directed the drama documentary DEN SOVENDE (1990) and the short fiction films TUSMØRKE (1990) and NØGEN (1992), the documentary RITUALER, ENERUM (1992), and the television film EN SUCCES (1993).
Oplev directed nine episodes of the Channel One (DR) series Taxa/Taxi. His work for television continued with the 2002 International Emmy Award winner Rejseholdet/Unit One (2000-2003), as he developed the visual concept for the series, cast the recurrent roles and directed the first three episodes. After doing the same work for Forsvar/Defense (2003-04 – TV2/Danmark), he continued the conceptual work as the director of Ørnen/The Eagle (2003-2006), which also won the International Emmy Award in 2005.
His feature debut PORTLAND (1996) was the first and most controversial film in the “new wave” of Danish films from the mid nineties. The film, portraying a violent underground in the northern and rural part of Denmark, was selected for competition at the Berlin International Film Festival (1996). Niels Arden Oplev then made the black comedy FUKSSVANSEN/CHOP CHOP (2001), which won 3 Danish Film Awards.
His third feature, WE SHALL OVERCOME (Drømmen) was the highest grossing Danish film in 2006 and it won 30 international awards, including the Crystal Bear at the Berlin Film Festival. Oplev went on to direct WORLDS APART (To Verdener) in 2008, a box office hit in Denmark. It was an official selection at the Berlin Film Festival, Tribeca Film Festival and AFI Film Festival and won the SIGNIS prize at the Festroia International Film Festival in Portugal.
THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO (Mænd der hader kvinder), based on the book by the late Swedish writer Stieg Larsson, is Oplev’s fifth feature film. It has been a huge success in Europe, having been well received by critics and audiences alike. The film is the most successful Scandinavian film in history.