On Sunday 25th of August funeral services were held for former IMAGO President Andreas Fisher Hansen DFF at Tibirke church in Tisvilde, Denmark. A substantial crowd of mourners was present, consisting of next of kin, family, friends and colleagues from the world of cinema from both near and far away.
Those of us who made the trek from a foreign country, uneasily anticipating a somewhat depressing service held in a dark and gloomy church, were very pleasantly surprised to find that the memorial ceremony was held outdoors in a beautifully idyllic countryside churchyard under a clear blue sky. The circumstances and setting could hardly have been improved upon.
Everyone gathered around a minor sea of beautiful flower decorations by the family grave, where Andreas’ son Julius opened the proceedings by greeting everyone welcome. He then followed a wonderful speech honoring his father by handing over the stage to his uncle.
And when Andreas’ brother Tobias walked up in front of the crowd to pay tribute to his brother, many of us bystanders were a little startled by the situation. Because Andreas and Tobias were identical twins, and standing in front of us now, paying a heartfelt tribute to his brother, is a man who looks and sounds and has exactly the same mannerisms as Andreas!
Tobias tells us a wonderful story of how, for their 13th birthday, both brothers were given a stills camera by their father. Tobias admits to not having used his camera much at all, but Andreas on the other hand immediately started taking photographs, and basically kept on doing it ever since.
As the ceremony drew to a close, and those who wished to make a speech had done so, everyone returned to the parked cars for a short ride to Andreas’ nearby house. It is a beautiful structure in the traditional style of danish countryside residences, complete with the classical thatched roof, every firefighter’s worst nightmare. In the open courtyard we all gather and share wine, beer and sandwiches. Here more impromptu speeches are held, and one in particular stands out as Tony Costa AIP, as representative from the Portuguese Society of Cinematographers, reminds everyone of Andreas’ many qualities and accomplishments, calling Andreas ”an unbelievable human being”.
Tony Costa points out in particular Andreas’ invaluable contributions towards making the world a better place for cinematographers and film crews in general. ”He was the most relevant president that IMAGO ever had”, mr Costa emphasizes, ”he was the president with his entire soul and spirit”.
During the afternoon, many heartwarming anecdotes are shared among those present, and one in particular stuck with me. As he was getting older. Andreas’ friends would put a fresh cigarette in his breast pocket, but make sure he didn’t have a lighter or matches on him, because then when he fancied a smoke he’d have to stop a stranger, and -Andreas being who he was- inevitably he would get into a wonderful conversation, essentially making new friends that way.
In summing up, the whole day was a fitting tribute to a person, who in his lifetime was loved and warmly appreciated for his ability to make everyone feel at ease in his presence, and basically all of this amounted to a shared experience entirely in that same spirit.
And it felt entirely appropriate that Andreas, though no longer physically among us – somehow from that ”Undiscovered Country”, as Shakespeare puts it, managed to let so many people from all walks of life, and all corners of Europe, share a wonderful afternoon full of warmth and hope and compassion.
Lars Pettersson FSF
