On March 27, the feature film titled “Copenhagen” came to the Gasparilla International Film Festival. The film won the award for best feature film of the festival. Written and directed by Mark Raso, this film follows William, played by Gethin Anthony, a man who is on the search for the few family members that remain for him in the city of Copenhagen.

  William starts his search for his family at a cafe after his best friend abandons him to run away to London to get married. At the cafe, he meets a young woman named Effy, played by Frederikke Dahl Hansen, who spends a few days helping him find his family and taking photos of William in the same places that Williams father visited as a child.

  The tagline of the film says it all, “When the girl of your dreams is half your age, it’s time to grow up.” When William discovers that Effy is not quite yet an adult, in fact she is barely a teenager, he is faced with the decision to choose whether to do the right thing and grow up, or give into his desires.

  While the film featured beautiful camera shots and top-notch cinematography, after the age of Effy was revealed, I couldn’t help but feel, for lack of better words, skeezed out. Once you are aware of her age, you begin to see all of the signs that were revealed along the way: hindsight is 20/20 after all. The thing that I found so interesting about the film is that Hansen, the actress playing Effy, looked mature and was believable as an adult, and once she says her age, you look at her and notice her more girlish features. It was amazing to me that once you see it, you can’t un-see it.

  The film was shot in its title city, Copenhagen, a city that was very dear to Raso’s heart when he was writing the script. “I actually met my wife in Copenhagen,” Raso said. “But don’t worry, she wasn’t 14 when we met.” he added with a laugh. The city was almost a character of its own in the film, integrating beautiful historic architecture with newer buildings, it made me realize that, while I never had a desire to visit Copenhagen, I certainly want to visit now.

  Overall, the film had its good and bad qualities, but due to its beautiful location and a storyline that had more twists and turns than a bendy straw it was able to win the 2014 GIFF Feature Film award. With some luck, this film will be able to get distribution deals and will come to a theatre near you.