Swedish #1 2013 • A magazine from the Swedish Film Institute Film ESKIL & TRINIDAD Ships and ice hockey in Sweden’s far North TPB AFK: THE PIRATE BAY AWAY FROM KEYBOARD SWEDISH A documentary thriller SHORTS IN BERLIN B ELLEVILLE BABY 9 Memories of love lost in Paris SHOOTING STAR! Nermina Lukač makes a stunning debut in Eat Sleep Die www.sfi.se scp reklambyrå Photo: Simon Bordier Repro: F&B Repro: Factory. Bordier Simon Photo: reklambyrå scp One million reasons to join. DRAGON AWARD BEST NORDIC FEATURE OF ONE MILLION SEK IS ONE OF THE LARGEST FILM AWARD PRIZES IN THE WORLD. GÖTEBORG INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL IS ALSO THE MAIN INDUSTRY WINDOW FOR NEW NORDIC FILM AND TALENT, FEATURING NORDIC FILM MARKET AND NORDIC FILM LAB. WWW.GIFF.SE 750 SCREENINGS • 450 FILMS • 22 VENUES • 180,000 VISITS WELCOME Director, International Department Pia Lundberg Phone +46 70 692 79 80 Equality and freedom [email protected] It’s tIME FOR this year’s Berlinale. In Sweden Everyone must be aware of the message Festivals, features we’ve been biting our nails in anticipation as sent out by a country that cannot recognise a Gunnar Almér to which of our shortlisted films would be good film or see beyond gender boundaries Phone +46 70 640 46 56 accepted. We’re starting to get a little spoilt when judging the talent of a director. [email protected] by our successes on the international front. This means that as a financial backer of The fact that our Swedish Searching for Sugar films one has a heavy responsibility to Festivals, documentaries Man by Malik Bendjelloul has been nominat- scrutinise the films one chooses to finance Sara Rüster ed for an Oscar for best documentary is hard and to question why. I am proud that Sweden Phone +46 76 117 26 78 to beat, but getting accepted for Berlin is also has come so far in this regard. [email protected] a major achievement. We are now very proud of our twelve films ONE FILM THAT doubtless reflects Sweden as that have made it here. Naturally, it feels a country where freedom has come a very Festivals, short films Mirja Hildbrand wonderful for a small country like Sweden to long way indeed is Simon Klose’s TPB AFK: Phone +46 70 519 59 66 have so many films at a major festival. But The Pirate Bay Away From Keyboard. It’s a [email protected] one shouldn’t judge a country on which or controversial film which follows the how many films have been accepted, that’s founders of The Pirate Bay, a website that not the whole story. But of course, it does would have been banned in many countries. Special projects speak volumes about the climate for films, After just two days on YouTube the trailer Petter Mattsson Phone +46 70 607 11 34 and in any case we know that one is judged had received more than a million hits, a clear [email protected] by the outside world based on the actual indication of how topical the issue is. One of films that have been chosen. the key functions of documentary films is to comment on the times in which we live. And Special projects WE MAY PERHAPS strengthen the myth of Simon Klose has certainly managed to Josefina Mothander Sweden as the country of freedom where encapsulate the challenge of present-day Phone +46 70 972 93 52 [email protected] everyone’s naked and anything goes (several filmmakers both to get paid and to reach out of our short films are decidedly naked). My to their viewers. I believe the film will attract hope also is that everyone will be able to considerable attention, and I look forward to Head of Communications work out from the competing films that hearing all the reactions. & Public Relations Sweden is the country of complete equality. Åsa Garnert We have six films directed by men, six Phone +46 70 615 12 41 [email protected] directed by women. And what do I mean by that? Partly, that Press Officer it’s important to count. The bottom line is Jan Göransson always the clearest indication of how far a Phone +46 70 603 03 62 country has come with equality. But I also [email protected] mean to puncture the myth that women don’t have the same competence as men, that they Anna Serner don’t have the same amount of talent as men. CEO, Swedish Film Institute Swedish Film Institute International Department P.O. Box 27126 SE-102 52 Stockholm, Sweden Phone +46 8 665 11 00 Fax +46 8 661 18 20 www.sfi.se Issued by The Swedish Film Institute Publisher Pia Lundberg www.twitter.com/swedishfilm Editors Mattias Dahlström, Bo Madestrand Art Director Markus Edin Download the Swedish Film Contributing Editor Josefina Mothander app for iPad and Android for free. Contributors Jenny Damberg, Niklas Eriksson, Malin Krutmeijer, Camilla Larsson, Hynek Pallas, Karolina Ramqvist, Ulf Roosvald, Alexandra Sundqvist, Magnus Västerbro, Johan Wirfält, Per Zetterfalk Photography Karin Alfredsson, Johan Bergmark, Frans Hällqvist, Sara Mac Key, Sandra Qvist The Swedish Film Institute’s aims include the promotion, support and development of Swedish films, the allocation of Illustration Dennis Eriksson Cover photo Frans Hällqvist Translation Derek Jones grants, and the promotion of Swedish cinema internationally. Print Norra Skåne Offset, Hässleholm Advertising Fredrik Johnsson [email protected] ISSN 1654-0050 3 CONTENTS 1/2013 39 10 30 35 , 26 NDERSSON X A A , M ARI S NAGRAM , A OLTAN ON , Z X RI VA E ALIN ) M RISTARHO A LEFT TOP ANDRA X LE FROM 18 , A ISE W CLOCK BERGMARK ( HOTO OHAN J P 5 News 26 Nermina Lukač 39 The Sarnos Malik Bendjelloul’s Searching for Sugar Man competes for This year’s Shooting Star in Berlin gave a stunning A tender portrait of a porn-peddler and his wife. an Oscar, Swedish shorts in Berlin and at Sundance, and a performance in her debut Eat Sleep Die. view of the competitiveness of Swedish film. 40 Us 30 Eskil & Trinidad Gustaf Skarsgård stars in a film about destructive love. 16 New talents An inspirational family film about growing up in a broken “There’s hardly a girl alive who hasn’t suffered from body family, described by its director as “a film in which nobody 42 New kids on the block image problems,” says Sanna Lenken about her film dies.” A change of guard at the Swedish Film Institute with the Eating Lunch. Plus: the actors stand out in a new appointment of new commissioners and the signing of a adaptation of August Strindberg’s play Miss Julie and a 32 The Pirate Bay new Film Agreement. much-hyped television series about the aids epidemic. Director Simon Klose used crowd funding as a way to finance his controversial documentary about internet 46 New Films 20 What’s next? piracy and file sharing. Everything you need to know about current Swedish films. Lisa Langseth examines group behaviour in Hotel, Johannes Nyholm’s anticipated follow-up to Las Palmas 35 Tito on Ice and Göran Hugo Olsson’s documentary about violence as A dictator makes an unexpected comeback in a means of liberation. Max Andersson’s surrealistic road movie. 22 Belleville Baby 36 Sanctuary Director Mia Engberg traces a broken relationship in a A father and his daughter escape to the deep forests to semi-fictitious yet highly personal documentary. evade the police in Fredrik Edfeldt’s dark drama. 4 NEWS Hi there… Malik Bendjelloul, nominated for an Oscar for his documentary Searching for Sugar Man. Searching for Sugar Man (2012) hasn’t only been nominated for an Oscar, but for various Swedish Guldbagge awards and a Bafta too. That must be invaluable for promoting the film, but what does it mean to you personally? “I don’t know yet. I’ve never made a film before. Maybe I’ll get a lot of performance anxiety? The Oscar nomination itself feels very special. It’s the only award my auntie’s cousin in Algeria knows about – the only award everyone knows about. It has an almost surrealistic ring to it: Oscar.” Will you have to upgrade your wardrobe? , “I don’t think so. Apparently the people who organize the Oscars ceremony give you a NDERSSON tuxedo.” X A A Producing the film seems to have been , M quite arduous, with you yourself having to ARI S do so much at home. But all that has paid NAGRAM , A OLTAN off in the Guldbagge Award for Best ON , Z X RI VA E Documentary. ALIN “Yes. I never intended to do so much but ) M RISTARHO the money was tight, so I had no choice. A LEFT Before I started on Searching for Sugar Man TOP ANDRA X I’d mostly worked as an employee. The film LE FROM , A became my baby, so to speak. And not just ISE W mine, but the expert professionals who also CLOCK BERGMARK ( worked on it, people like Camilla Skagerström behind the camera and the animators from HOTO OHAN J P Filmtecknarna.” Your background is in journalism. what’s your next step, would you like to make a feature film? Searching for “That might be Sugar Man interesting. I’ve written fiction previously. But I don’t know. I have a couple of alternatives which are miles apart from each other. I chanced upon the story HAL WILSON of Rodriguez when I was backpacking in South America and Africa. So one idea is to undertake a similar journey and see what story I might find.