Leve blant löver

Eighteen months with Lars, Kristin and Ingunn who mobilise their youthful energy to struggle against their cancer. “I have wanted to make a film about death for a long time. About the paradox that death gives meaning to life. And about how, by banishing death, by hiding it away in institutions, we lose an important perspective on life. I have tried to make a film about death that can be an affirmation and tribute to life. Living Amongst Lions refers back to a scene from Karen Blixen’s novel My African farm. She describes an episode where several oxen have been killed by lions, and her foreman suggests that they should poison one of the dead oxen, so that when the lions come to eat, they will die from the poisoned meat. Karen Blixen says that the lions should not be poisoned; they should be shot. When the foreman asserts that this is too dangerous and he doesn’t dare, Karen Blixen replies, ‘Those live free, who can die’. Then she goes on a lion hunt. I have followed several young people who have been diagnosed with cancer and told they are going to die. I have stayed with them through their process of learning to ‘live amongs lions’. For me this is a film about their existential experiences, crises, growth and reflections, that can teach us quite a bit about what life is all about’. (Sigve Endresen)