Michelle Williams and Gael García Bernal star in Lukas Moodysson’s Mammoth. Photo: Memfis Film

Swedish film in focus

Much has changed since Ingmar Bergman first captured human angst on celluloid. A number of young and ambitious Swedish filmmakers have appeared on the scene keen to experiment with new film techniques — and reach as wide an audience as possible.

Lukas Moodysson is one of the most challenging and prominent voices in Swedish cinema, making films that both engage and enrage audiences. His breakthrough came in 1998 with Show Me Love (Fucking Åmål) about a lesbian affair between two girls. In Lilya 4-Ever (2002), Moodysson portrayed the tragic life of a Russian girl abandoned by her mother and coerced into prostitution in Sweden. It is still used by police, authorities and human rights organizations as a cautionary tale in the fight against human trafficking.

Josef Fares is one of the hottest properties in Swedish cinema, and one of the most wide-ranging. In the semiautobiographical Zozo (2005) an orphan finds refuge from the Lebanese civil war in Sweden. His most recent release, Leo (2008), is a drama about street violence and its aftereffects. He made his breakthrough in 2000 with Jalla! Jalla!, a comedy about love bridging the cultural divide. The farcical police comedy, Kopps, followed in 2003.

Maria Blom combines a deep understanding of the desires, dreams and needs that drive people with wry humor. In 2004, she filmed her play, Dalecarlians (Masjävlar), which explored the town-country divide and family life. Her second film, Nina Frisk (2007), centered on an air hostess’ search for happiness and peace of mind. The summer of 2008 saw the arrival of what was actually her first film, Fishy.

Roy Andersson announced his arrival with the film A Swedish Love Story (En kärlekshistoria, 1969), a tale of teenage romance defying the odds. In 2000, he won the Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival for Songs from the Second Floor (Sånger från andra våningen). Another tragicomedy about humankind, You, the Living (Du levande), won the Nordic Council Film Prize in 2008.

Jan Troell’s latest film, Maria Larsson’s Everlasting Moment (Maria Larssons eviga ögonblick), won Best Film in the 2008 Guldbagge awards, the Swedish equivalent of the Oscars. It was also selected to represent Sweden at the Academy Awards in 2009. Troell made his debut in 1966 with the widely acclaimed This is Your Life (Här har du ditt liv).

In The Queen and I, Nahid Persson Savestani meets fellow Iranian Farah Diba. Photo: J.A.

Gifted documentary makers

Sweden continues to produce award-winning shorts and documentaries.

Mats Olof Olsson won the Deutsche Kinderhilfswerk Special Prize for best short film at the 2008 Berlin Film Festival with My Uncle Loved the Color Yellow (Min morbror tyckte mycket om gult).

Johannes Nyholm’s The Tale of Little Puppetboy (Sagan om den lille Dockpojken) picked up the International Jury Award and the Audience Award at the 2008 Hamburg International Film Festival. The film (Sagan om den lille Dockpojken) had its premiere during Directors’ Fortnight at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival.  

Hanna Heilborn and David Aronowitsch, whose film Slaves (Slavar) won the Silver Club competition for documentaries up to 30 minutes at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam in 2008.

Nahid Persson Savestani’s The Queen and I (Drottningen och jag), a film about Farah Diba, widow of the Shah of Iran, competed in the World Documentary Cinema category at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival. Prostitution: Behind the Veil (Prostitution bakom slöjan) won a Guldbagge for Best Documentary in 2005.

Åsa Blanck and Johan Palmgren were awarded a Guldbagge for Best Documentary in 2007 for The Substitute (Vikarien), which follows a teacher through a crisis-ridden Swedish school system. Their latest film, The Swindler (Bedragaren, 2008), is about György Zemplenyi, a Hungarian conman who took the Swedish city of Malmö, and the world, by storm.

Director, screenwriter and sound engineer Babak Najafi’s Elixir (2004) centers on a gang of young immigrants on a Stockholm housing estate who get hold of a drink that turns them into real “Svens” (true Swedes). Gösta & Lennart (2001), Pablo’s Birthday (Pablos födelsedag, 2001) and Skolan (2003) have also won critical acclaim.

Animated films — not just for children

Sweden has many creative and talented animators working with feature-length and short animated films. In 2006, director Per Åhlin won the Swedish Golden Shoot award (Gullspira) for his extraordinary contribution to films for children. Among those working in short animated film production, Magnus Carlsson is best known internationally. Director Tarik Saleh is also making a name for himself. His adult-friendly Metropia, due to be released in fall 2009, is set to break new ground with a digital technique developed by the Swedish production company Atmo Media Network. Jonas Odell’s Lies (Lögner) won the Silver Hugo prize for Best Animated Short Film at the 2008 Chicago International Film Festival.


Arn — The Knight Templar is the product of the most expensive production in Swedish film. Photo: Erik Aavatsmark 

Swedish film financing

Swedish film policy aims to support the production, promotion and distribution of worthwhile films, to preserve and promote Sweden’s film heritage and to make sure that Swedish films are represented internationally.

Other tasks include supporting regional and local film culture, and improving the conditions under which women filmmakers operate.

Film policy funding and other support measures are distributed and administered by the Swedish Film Institute, which was founded in 1963.

Under the Film Agreement, which came into force on January 1, 2006, Swedish cinema receives funding from the government, the cinema industry and TV companies. In 2008, contributions totaled about SEK 339 million (about EUR 32 million/USD 42 million). The agreement runs until December 31, 2010.

Cult vampire film Let the Right One In is based on the book by John Ajvide Lindqvist. Photo: Hoyte van Hoytema/Sandrew Metronome 

Regional filmmaking

Regional filmmaking has boomed over the past decade, with more films being set outside Stockholm than ever before.

Trollywood
The regional production center Film i Väst in southwest Sweden is better known as Trollywood (for Trollhättan, the town where it is based). Glowing Stars (I taket lyser stjärnorna, 2009), Mammoth and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo were all filmed there in 2008. Lars von Trier’s Antichrist is in the pipeline for 2009.

Filmpool Nord
A growing number of films are either wholly or partly produced in the north of Sweden, among them Let the Right One In, Leif Lindblom’s Sunstorm (Solstorm, 2007), and Daniel Alfredson’s Wolf (Varg, 2007).

Stockholm
Production companies based in Stockholm have Johan Kling’s Darling (2006) and Daniel Wallentin’s One Eye Red (Ett Öga Rött, 2007) to their credit. In the spring of 2009, shooting will begin on the romantic comedy The Midsummer Party (Midsommarfesten), featuring Luke Perry. The film, directed by Ian McCrudden, revolves around the culture clash between Sweden and America. 

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