The film “People and places – A personal view of Lund and its university” takes a plunge into the history of Lund. While it is informative and educational, Lundagård’s reviewer feels that the film does not show many historically influential women.
Next year Lund University will enter its 350th year. Because of this, Bengt Olle Bengtsson and Jens Jansson have made what they call a jubilee film about the University. Those interested will be able to watch it in 2016; however, the exact method of how has not been decided yet. The idea is that people from all over the world should be able to see the film in order to get a notion of what Lund University is, and will presumably also be shown at Kulturen.
People and places – A personal view of Lund and its university consists of ten smaller segments, plus a preface and an epilogue. Bengt Olle Bengtsson was the chairman at universitetshistoriska sällskapet (The University History Association) and it is he who guides the viewer through the film. It is evident that he loves Lund University, where he has worked for 25 years, as he tells its history with enthusiasm and feeling.
Both the story and the film begins in the year of 1666, in Lund Cathedral, and is concluded in 2014, at LTH. We meet students that have influenced the University in the latter half of the 1600s. For instance, Hilma Borelius who was the first female student to defend her thesis at the University. The film also shows places of historical importance to the students of that time.
Jens Jansson has done a very good job with the camera, as he shows beautiful, idyllic images of Lund to the audience. The film itself is informative and the history of Lund is presented educationally in a chronological order. But I wonder if Hilma Borelius is the only woman of importance in the history of the University. Based on the film, it may seem so; however, I really doubt that this is the reality. Presumably, it is harder to find influential women in the archives, but more effort could certainly have been made to do so.
Text: Camilla Göth
Translation: Viktor Jönsson
