Nikolaj Bendix Skyum Larsen

In 2003, the Danish artist Nikolaj Bendix Skyum Larsen was in Sharja, U.A.E. and was instantly fascinated by the country's firm belief in progress. Two years later he is back to try to find out if there is anything else to Dubai and Sharja than endless rows of shopping malls, skyscrapers, an exploited workforce and non-existent history.

On the morning of July 7th 2005, Mikkel H. Eriksen found himself on the underground train that was blown up at Edgware Road Station during the terror attacks on London. That day, four young Muslims killed themselves and took 52 people with them. Mikkel walked away unharmed, and decided to turn his experience and all the questions that followed into a constructive exploration of how young muslims' everyday lives in London had been affected after the attacks.

‘Quicksand’ tells the story of Jason, a man fighting for his life in the Mediterranean Sea. The film amplifies tendencies within present day Europe and sets it in the near future in a hostile environment where the manufacturing industry is long gone, job security is a thing of the past, and people are competing for work that is poorly paid and on a casual basis. The economy has imploded, hospitals and state schools are closing, trains rarely run. Politically, the far right has become increasingly influential, taking advantage of people’s frustrations to stoke resentment against immigrants. EU has collapsed and throughout Europe, borders have closed. It is against this backdrop that Jason, a husband and father has decided to join the exodus of people who pay people smugglers to help them leave Europe in the hope of starting a new life ‘somewhere else’. Jason’s journey ends when the boat he is in capsizes and he and many other European migrants are struggling to survive.