At the end of the 1700th century, Denmark became the first country in Europe to ban the slave trade. But it was not until 1848 that slavery was abolished on Danish-ruled Saint Croix. An island in the Caribbean Sea that Anna Neye visited in 2015.
"I interviewed people there who had a completely different perception of history," she says.
Twisted depiction of history
In "The Wave", young enslaved boys wave feathers to fan the white society. One of several scenes that Anna Neye explains is meant to illustrate the absurd power relations that prevailed at the time.
The story of the film's main character, Anna Heegard, has also been twisted a notch.
"The Anna Heegard we have created is a person who has played the system to the max in order to gain privileges in a colonial context," says Anna Neye.
In the 1800s, the real Heegard was called a "free woman of colour". She was the mistress of the Danish governor Peter Von Scholten, who is said to have abolished slavery in the Danish West Indies, consisting of the islands of Saint Croix, Saint John and Saint Thomas.
"Never seen before"
In "Viften", Anna Heegard has become a governor's wife who lives in the colonial upper echelons. At her side is the enslaved servant Petrine.
Their relationship is yet another interpretation of the complex power relationship that prevailed on St. Croix during the last days of slavery. When there were blacks, enslaved people and the blacks who could buy their freedom.
"There are two Afro-Caribbean female characters at the center of the story. We've never seen that before in a Danish historical context on film," says Anna Neye.
See more in the video.