Joachim Morre’s corrective vision: The YDA Gold-winner pushes back against prison clichés

What was your journey into directing? Have you always wanted to make films? 

On my first day of high school, I met someone who told me he wanted to be a film director. At that point, I had never heard anyone say anything like that. I had always loved watching films, but I never thought about the people making them.

From then on, I just started immediately. We got a camera - let’s go! 

I think it’s very much about meeting the right people at the right time in your life. Encouraging each other and playing around with it. Especially if you don’t grow up in a big city or have any connection to the industry to begin with, you need to have your people.

What does it mean to you to win two YDA Golds?

It’s a great honour, and I hope it will provide me with more chances to tell the stories I like to tell —-in the way I like to tell them. 

I had always loved watching films, but I never thought about the people making them.

I’m grateful to be acknowledged for this specific project, because the format differs a lot from what you usually see in the industry. 

I love working on these longer formats that allow for character, nuance and depth

Can you walk us through the project's journey from ideation to completion?

When I got on board, the good people from the agency, Primetime, had already decided to tell a research-based fiction series. They’ve worked with the client for a long time and had a general knowledge about the content that was really valuable in development.

I wrote the main character with Mathias Rahbæk in mind. We’ve worked together before, and he’s such a talented and generous actor.

From there, it was all about understanding a world that was new to me. This meant talking to prison guards, reading, watching documentaries and following officers on shift in a Danish prison. I experienced a lot of freedom in writing the scripts, and we had some fun and challenging days on set a few months later.

Could you tell us about the casting process and how you chose your key actors?

I wrote the main character with Mathias Rahbæk in mind. We’ve worked together before, and he’s such a talented and generous actor. I often work like this - writing with a specific cast in mind - and it really helps me add a specificity for the character already on paper. He was my starting point, and this project would be so different without him.

For the role of Niklas, I spoke to a few different people. I had never worked with Simon Kongsted before, but I had admired his work for some time. The two of them together ended up feeling like the right match for the project, and I feel very lucky to have worked with both of them on this one.

Above: Director Joachim Morre

What kind of research did you do to ensure the story was told with accuracy and integrity?

Research was crucial to telling the story in an authentic and honest way. The tone of the series comes directly from observing officers and individuals serving time as they communicate. I learned a lot just by listening — sometimes asking simple questions.

The narrative is based on real-life cases, and we had real-life officers on set throughout for discussion and inspiration.

What message do you hope people will take away from it?

I had prejudices about these dynamics myself before starting, and I learned a lot during the process. I hope people have a similar experience from watching it. It was eye-opening for me how much fiction has shaped my idea of life in prison - and, as I see it, exploited the drama of the job into one-dimensional and misleading representations.

Research was crucial to telling the story in an authentic and honest way.

We wanted to avoid the sensationalism of violence and power struggles, and instead focus on the human complexity of everyday life in prison.

In Denmark, there’s a growing challenge around recruiting prison guards. This has serious consequences for the officers’ working conditions, as well as the freedom of the individuals serving time - less time for human interaction, fewer visiting hours, and harder conditions for rehabilitation. That all makes it so much tougher to support people in getting back on track.

I hope the story’s emphasis on rehabilitative work can offer nuance - and inspire more people to apply for the job.