Thomas Vinterberg on the origins of The Hunt:

Thomas Vinterberg: "Through the internet, the world's become a small village full of rumours."

Mads Mikkelsen

The entire crew for The Hunt, directed by Thomas Vinterberg and presented In Competition this Sunday, responded to questions from journalists.
 

Thomas Vinterberg on the origins of The Hunt:
We carried out an enormous amount of research before shooting the film. We were inspired by a number of cases of sexual abuse that appeared in the press. In a case like this, the children are victims too as they suffer from having to lie to adults to satisfy them. In Denmark, we have a saying that only children and drunks always speak the truth. This is false. Many doors are opened in this film. We leave the choice to the viewer.
 

Mads Mikkelsen on the film and his character, Lucas:
Lucas's character is stubborn. Yet paradoxically, he finds it hard to say no and move forward in life. He loves children, but this love will lead him to a feeling of fear. We are not questioning the fact that too many children are victims of paedophilia. Lucas is the innocent adult victim of a witch hunt. It is this situation that we wanted to present.
 

Thomas Vinterberg describes the rumour theme:
The film takes place in the microcosm of a village where information spreads quickly, like a virus. Through the Internet, the world's become a small village full of rumours. But what matters most in this film is the love between the characters. They try to get close to one another despite the misunderstandings.