Amaryllis April August and Albert Rudbeck Lindhardtl in Families Like Ours (2024)

Prague-shot ‘Families Like Ours’ gets debut teaser as it premieres at Venice and Toronto film festivals

Families Like Ours, a new mini-series from Oscar-nominated director Thomas Vinterberg (Another Round), has received its first teaser trailer ahead of its premiere at the Venice International Film Festival on August 31. The series, which was partially filmed in Prague in 2023, will also screen at the Toronto International Film Festival, which kicks off next weekend.

Families Like Ours takes place in a not-too-distant future where Europe faces mass evacuations due to climate change and rising sea levels. The seven-episode series produced by StudioCanal and Zentropa is screening in full at the fall film festivals ahead of a premiere on Denmark’s TV 2 in October. A rollout on streaming platforms in other countries, including the Czech Republic, should soon follow.

“As people disperse in all directions, they must bid farewell to what they love, what they know, and who they are,” reads the official synopsis for Families Like Ours. “Slowly but steadily, everything is different. All property becomes worthless, all fortunes change, and luck favors only a few.”

“Those who can afford it travel to affluent countries while the less well-off depend on government-funded relocation to more challenging destinations. Families, friends, and loved ones are separated. Some will be overcome by hatred and division while others will nurture love and foster new beginnings.”

Families Like Ours marks the TV debut for Vinterberg, who earned a Best Director Oscar nomination for 2021’s Another Round. The director and Bo Hr. Hansen (The Art of Crying) co-wrote the series, which stars Amaryllis April August, Nikolaj Lie Kaas (Riders of Justice), Paprika Steen (The Celebration), David Dencik (No Time to Die), Esben Smed, Thomas Bo LarsenAlbert Rudbeck LindhardtlHelene Reingaard NeumannMagnus Millang, and Asta Kamma August.

“To be selected for the Toronto International Film Festival is a great honor and tremendously important for the series’ promotion in North America, but first and foremost it is always an uplifting experience to premiere before the super attentive and engaging Canadian audience and the esteemed TIFF-festival directors,” Vinterberg states through a press release.

“I am very grateful to return, and thrilled that they have chosen to screen all seven episodes!”

Amaryllis April August and Paprika Steen in Families Like Ours (2024), at Czechia's Slapy Reservoir.
Amaryllis April August and Paprika Steen in Families Like Ours (2024), by Czechia’s Slapy Dam.

In Prague, production of Families Like Ours was coordinated by Sirena Film. The series filmed at locations in Old Town, Žižkov, Holešovice, Břevnov, Vyšehrad, and Prosek, in addition to areas by the Václav Havel Airport in Ruzyně.

Outside of Prague, the series also shot in locations in and around Central Bohemia including Hradec Králové, Hýskov, Bílina, Milovice, Modletice, Zámek Bon Repos, Hubenov, Zvánovice, Kryštofovo údolí, Slapy, and Kladno.

In addition to the Czech Republic, filming for Families Like Ours also took place in locations across Sweden and Denmark.

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Jason Pirodsky

Jason Pirodsky has been writing about the Prague film scene and reviewing films in print and online media since 2005. A member of the Online Film Critics Society, you can also catch his musings on life in Prague at expats.cz and tips on mindfulness sourced from ancient principles at MaArtial.com.

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