TAKE THE MONEY AND RUN
In his Tribeca 2025 doc, TAKE THE MONEY AND RUN, Ole Juncker takes us behind the scenes of a story that rocked the art world. Jens Haaning is internationally known for his tongue-in-cheek approach to art. The Kunsten Museum commissions Haaning to recreate an original piece for an exhibit centered on labor. They gave Jens half a million kroner, meant to be displayed. When the frames showed up at the museum, the canvases were empty. Kunsten decides to sue. The flurry of international press sparks a broader debate about paying artists and who determines the value of art.
Editor Lars Juul utilizes animation sequences, home videos, and photos as transition packages under Haaning’s narration. Jens describes a rather sad childhood, and when we discover he is coping with bipolar, the manic behavior he exhibits up until this point in the film suddenly makes sense. Jens is a whirling dervish, both physically and in erratic decision-making. The camera almost struggles to keep up with him, pacing the room as he tries to find 800,000 kroner in a few hours. With his new assistant, Ditte, a woman with the patience of a saint, we observe Jens yelling at the bank, unloading ideas onto his agents, and offloading one of his pieces for half price. The audience begins to question their reality.
TAKE THE MONEY AND RUN is wildly immersive. Rune Palving‘s sound design heightens the chaos by piping in high-frequency tones over Jens’ manic episodes, while Juul’s quick-take editing that mimics his brain is brilliant.
Is Take The Money And Run a work of genius or a scam? Jens is adamant that his art comes from a damn-the-man mentality, and his argument is entirely valid. Once Juncker reveals more about Jens’ previous exhibits, all of them unsold, a clearer picture comes into view. Or does it? Alongside this head-spinning race for cash, Kunsten’s trial against Jens rapidly approaches. The verdict sends him spiraling. It is then, and only then, in the final few minutes of the film, that we discover what inspired the piece. But is it the truth?
Ole Juncker puts us inside the dizzying mind of an artist. If you’re an art fan, you will love it. If you weren’t one before, I defy you to say no to a gallery visit. TAKE THE MONEY AND RUN allows the viewer to decide what art is and who the potential villain is. It will have everyone talking, and isn’t that the point? What a perfect match of film and festival.
Directed by Ole Juncker
Director: Ole Juncker
Producer: Mette Heide
Screenwriter: Ole Juncker
Cinematographer: Ole Juncker
Editor: Lars Juul
Co-Producer:Bjarte Tveit Mørner
DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT
By Ole JunckerDocumentaries can be an escape into a completely different world and another person’s mind. TAKE THE MONEY AND RUN is just such a film. If you live an ordinary life like me, it’s liberating and intoxicating to enter the twisted mind and tumultuous life of artist Jens Haaning as he does what we all dream of but dare not: namely, run with all the money. Jens’ action set off a firework inside my head. For me personally, it was an escape from everyday life to follow Jens’ adventure. Are you crazy or a genius if you dare to change the rules so drastically? I was immediately fascinated by Haaning and the story, which was both humorous and thought-provoking, and I love how an art-piece ended up being widely discussed in all parts of society and around the world.
ABOUT JENS HAANING
Jens Haaning (born 1965) is a Danish conceptual artist who graduated from the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts. He has had solo exhibitions at Wiener Secession, San Francisco Art Institute, and Gallery Nicolai Wallner, among others, and has participated in group exhibitions around the world, such as Documenta XI in Germany, the Istanbul Biennial, MoMA in New York, and the Sydney Biennale. TAKE THE MONEY AND RUN
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The Pact
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