The Self Portrait

Dir. Katja Høgset, Margreth Olin, Espen Wallin, 2020, 77’| Norway

Lene Marie Fossen is a photographer with an international-level talent and a serious illness – she suffers from anorexia. In photographs Lene is fascinated with the ability to stop time, and, in a similar fashion, she wanted to gain complete control over her body and never grow up. When Lene was 10, she stopped eating. At age 15 she received her first photo camera as a gift from her parents. She speaks very openly about her illness in her art, and sheds light on the internal conflicts and irreversible consequences of anorexia. The Self Portrait is Lene Marie’s journey and battle. “If only I could simply snap my fingers and begin eating again…”

Lene Marie died in October of 2019, aged 33. Prior to that, she watched the film together with her parents, and wished for the whole world to see it. After her death Lene’s self portraits were published in a book, The Gatekeeper.

September 1-6, 2020
*available on the platform filmas.lv, only in the teritory of Latvia