Martin Andersen Nexø

In the late 19th century, two Swedish emigrants, Lasse Karlsson and his son Pelle, arrive on the Danish island of Bornholm hoping to find work on a farm and save enough money to travel to the United States of America.

Ditte is born out of wedlock and lives as a young girl with her old beloved grandmother. As an illegitimate child she is teased in school and more than anything in the world she wants a father. When steady - utterly reliable - herring dealer Lars Petter shows up and tells her that he is marrying Ditte's mother, the little girl is very happy. Now Ditte must take care of three new sisters and brothers but gets nothing but complaints from her ungrateful, selfish mother. But the little girl finds consolation and support in both her sisters and brothers and Lars Petter.

From Martin Anderson Nexo's novel comes this loved story of a Swedish boy and his elderly father trying to make a better life for themselves in Denmark. A bleak future quickly becomes apparent when the two find employment on a farm full of misery.

Bornholm island in 1880, where quarry worker Johan Jönsson lives a miserable life with his wife and children. He hopes to escape his poverty by winning a lottery ticket. But it doesn't bring him any luck. Instead of spending his little money on a doctor to have his sick child treated, he extends the lottery ticket. The child dies and Johan, plagued by remorse, turns to alcohol. After he has gambled away everything, the lottery ticket brings someone else the main prize. Johan commits suicide, but his son Per has realized that gambling is not the way to change the miserable existence of the workers.

A psychological drama where the son escapes his father's brutality in the isolated far north of Sweden. The father is left with the pain and agony of having chased away his only child.

Martin Andersen Nexø talks about his writing, about writing novels and explains the background of the main characters in 'Pelle the Conqueror' and 'Your Child'. The film was shot on December 1, 1947 on the initiative of Johs. Øhlenschlæger.