Can any society ever fully confront the ambiguity of its own history, which is never as bright as we wish to see it? How can a single line of light spark a national controversy and unleash a sexist media and political shitstorm?

On May 4, 1995 – Denmark’s Liberation Day – artist Elle-Mie Ejdrup Hansen created a 532-kilometer-long laser beam along the country’s west coast, naming it „Peace Sculpture“. The light connected the remains from a massive fortification complex of more than 6,000 bunkers, built during the Nazi occupation. Are these constructions a sign of historic collaboration with the Nazis? How should they be understood? The artwork was neither a critique nor a celebration.

Yet despite its immense scale and public visibility, both the artist and her work were nearly erased from the nation’s collective memory.
Through extensive archival footage and interviews, The Light revisits this nearly forgotten chapter of both modern art and WW2 history – and uncovers how politicians and Danish resistance veterans sought to shut down the project. It also exposes the staggering sexism and mockery that followed, leading to death threats against the artist and physical attacks on the installation itself.

Did she expose Denmark’s Achilles’ heel? What legacy does this beam of light leave behind now, as the world is once again torn apart by escalating conflicts and wars?