One Day

We never see her in full, the 36-year-old Ghanaian prostitute who earns a living in a suburb of Copenhagen. Still, we get to know her in a short time as a strong, lonely woman who misses her daughter. The camera captures her body in fragments, discrete and respectful, using close-ups that never reveal her entire face. The cameraman managed to find beauty in this disconsolate environment. We watch her from behind, waiting in front of the window, surrounded by blinking lights and staring at a rainy windowpane. The phone conversations with her daughter are affectionate but also painful, especially when her daughter tells her that she used to mistake her aunt for her mother. Shortly after she hangs up the phone, a customer calls and asks how much 30 minutes of her services will cost. She is not available. Meanwhile, we see grainy images of the surveillance camera that records the customers on the sidewalk, and she performs a mysterious Ghanaian ritual in her kitchenette. Just a day in her life.