International Sales AB Svensk Filmindustri SE-169 86 , Phone: +46 8 680 35 00 Fax: + 46 8 710 44 60 [email protected] www.sfinternational.se You will hear only the sound of my voice You will hear only the numbers counting down Calm now, there’s no reason to be afraid No reason to be afraid No reason to be afraid There’s a reason to be afraid In the middle of a dark December night, psychiatrist Erik Maria Bark is woken by a telephone call from a Synopsis hospital in Stockholm. Detective Inspector Joona Linna asks for his immediate help in treating an unconscious patient suffering from acute trauma. He hopes that Erik will be able to communicate with the young boy through hypnosis, enabling the police to question him. They hope to find out who so brutally murdered his parents and younger sister, in order to track down and save his older sister before it is too late.

But it has been ten years since Erik last practised hypnosis, and he has promised never to do it again. Painful memories from that time make their presence felt, contributing to his decision not to help the police.

When Erik finally allows himself to be persuaded, it is as if the floodgates have been opened to a torrent of unforeseen happenings. Without warning, this violent and inexplicable course of events impacts with full force on Erik’s life. His son disappears, and to have a chance of saving his life, Erik has to confront himself with the past, with the times when his research-work was laid in ruins and his marriage seemed on the verge of collapsing. Director’s The Hypnotist is a character-driven thriller that really attracted my interest. I have always been wanting to try my hand at the thriller genre, but not Statement many opportunities to do that have opened up for me in the US. It is not what people expect from me, so I was never really considered for them. Mattias Edwall

Though I may have focused on gentler fare in the past, I will not shy away from the violent aspects of this story. I want to tell it in a real and honest way, and as always I want to see to it that the characters come alive-performances are always important to me.

Having spent my first 40 years in Stockholm, I know it quite well and hope to make it a moody backdrop to the story, trying to pay attention to detail and the LASSE HALLSTRÖM atmosphere of a Stockholm winter. I have always been interested in stories that are genre crossovers. After decades of international successes with films such as What’s Eating Gilbert Grape?, Something The drama comedy is a genre mix that I have felt very to Talk About, The Cider House Rules, Chocolat, comfortable with, and hopefully adding the thriller An Unfinished Life, Casanova, , Dear element won't feel foreign to me. I am looking John and Oscar-nominated , Lasse Hallström will direct his first Swedish feature film forward to returning to work in my home country, in 25 years, The Hypnotist. for the first time in 25 years! Based on International best-seller The Hypnotist by Lars Kepler Production Facts Director Lasse Hallström Genre Thriller Country of Origin Sweden The Hypnotist Production Year 2011/2012 First Release September 28, 2012 Duration TBA International Sales AB Svensk Filmindustri

Cast , Tobias Zilliacus, , Jonatan Bökman, Oscar Pettersson, Helena af Sandeberg, Anna Ascarate, Eva Melander. Production Company AB Svensk Filmindustri & Sonet Film AB Producers Börje Hansson, Peter Possne & Bertil Ohlsson Script Paolo Vacirca & Peter Asmussen D.O.P Mattias Montero Editor Tomas Täng & Sebastian Amundsen Production Designer Lasse Westfelt Costume Designer Karin Sundvall Make-up Designer Jenny Fred Sound Designer Aleksander Karshikoff Composer Oscar Fogelström Stills Photographer Fredrik Hjerling & Alexandra Aristarhova Cast

MIKAEL PERSBRANDT TOBIAS ZILLIACUS LENA OLIN The Hypnotist Dr. Erik Maria Bark Detective Inspector Joona Linna Simone, Wife of the Hypnotist (The Hobbit, In a Better World) (Upswing, Beyond Enemy Lines) (Remember Me, Chocolat)

Persbrandt is one of Sweden’s greatest Tobias Zilliacus trained at the Theatre Lena Olin trained at the Stockholm actors of all time. He has worked at Academy 1991-1995. After Academy of Dramatic Arts 1976-79. the in graduating from the academy, he During the 1980s, she joined the Royal Stockholm, and has appeared in began working at the Viirus Theatre Dramatic Theatre in Stockholm where countless film and TV roles. In in Helsinki where he appeared in she took part in many productions January 2009, he won a Guldbagge some 20 productions and also directed by . Her Award for best leading actor in Jan directed for the stage. Zilliacus’s feature film breakthrough came with a Troell’s , and in feature film debut was in Upswing specially written lead role in Ingmar 2011 played the lead role in Susanne (2002), after which he played the lead Bergman’s TV film After The Bier’s film In A Better World, which role in the war drama Beyond Enemy Rehearsal (1984). The role led to her went on to win an Oscar for best Lines (2004). In 2009, Tobias starred landing the part of Sabina in The foreign film. He also plays the lead as the mortally ill gardener Visa Unbearable Lightness of Being (1988), role in the upcoming trilogy about Vuorio in the film One Foot Under, which became her international Agent Carl Hamilton based on the and most recently he played the male breakthrough as an actress. Lena Olin novels by , as well as the lead in the children’s film Iris (2011). enjoyed a further breakthrough in role of Beorn in 's Tobias will be playing Joona Linna in 2002, when she landed the role as Irina The Hobbit. all eight upcoming thrillers based on Derevko in the American spy series the books by Lars Kepler. . The role won her an Emmy nomination for best female supporting actress in 2003.

LOCATIONS

The Hypnotist was shot in different locations in the Stockholm as well as in the north of Sweden. The first Behind winter footage was shot in December to capture the city’s Christmas atmosphere, whereas the final scenes, shot at Production the end of an unusually sunny and spring-like March, had to be covered in fake snow to keep their winter mood.

The scenes at the cabin where Benjamin is taken by Lydia were shot during a week in Städdejaur, as well as a week at the Kronan Studio in Luleå in the north of Sweden.

The end scenes with the old bus going through the ice proved a tough challenge, and were eventually shot at the Barrandov Studio in Prague in collaboration with SFX company Flash Barrandov Special Effects Ltd. The shooting took place in mid-April and completed 58 days of filming.

CAMERA TECHNIQUE

Camera: Alexa ST. 4:3 censor Vantage Anamorphic lens 2.0 Recording Format: ARRI RAW – 2880 x 1556 pixels 24 fps Format: 1:2,35 Cinemascope

The Kepler The Hypnotist is the first one out in the planned series of eight films and principal shooting took off in January 2012, with a Swedish theatrical release planned for September 28, Film Series 2012. The Paganini Contract is planned for a 2013 release and the work on the script has already begun.

The Hypnotist Produced by: AB Svensk Filmindustri and Sonet Film AB Producers: Börje Hansson, Peter Possne and Bertil Ohlsson

The Paganini Contract Produced by: AB Svensk Filmindustri and Sonet Film AB Producers: Börje Hansson and Peter Possne

Börje Hansson and Peter Possne have been involved in most of the Swedish box-office hits over the last 20 years like the Oscar-nominated As It Is in Heaven and the 2011 Swedish Oscar entry, Simple Simon. Bertil Ohlsson was executive producer for the International successes Amadeus and The Unbearable Lightness of Being, and he also produced Lasse Hallström’s What’s Eating Gilbert Grape? Who is Alexander and Alexandra Ahndoril, both established writers with several books published, teamed up professionally for the first time to write The Hypnotist. Lars Kepler? The pseudonym Lars Kepler allowed them to separate their earlier, independent work, from this new common authorship. As they wanted to be judged without prejudice, they decided to submit the manuscript to the publisher anonymously. Five days later the publisher, Albert Bonniers, knew they had a nail-biting best-seller in the vein of Stieg Larsson's novels.

Still the Ahndorils did not want to reveal their true identity. With successful separate careers, and a well

Anna-Lena Ahlström functioning life together with their three children, they felt no need to come clean. As expected, the media launched a huge investigation, and it did not take long before one of Sweden's largest tabloids paid them a visit at their summer house, urging them to confess that they Our intention was always to remain had written one of the most widely read European a secret. Not even our own children books of 2010. knew that we were Lars Kepler.

Alexander and Alexandra Ahndoril One month after the authors submitted the manuscript to the publisher, The Hypnotist by Lars Kepler, was at the centre of heated auctions at the The Kepler London international book fair, involving some of the world's leading crime publishers. The novel was sold to Crime Novels 25 countries within just a few weeks of the fair, and has now been translated into 36 languages, published in over 40 countries altogether.

The Hypnotist is the first novel of eight about Detective Inspector Joona Linna. The second novel, The Paganini Contract, is considered by many to be possibly even more nerve-racking than the first and has been picked up by 30 languages so far. The third one in line, The Fire Witness, was released on the date of 11/11, 2011. The remaining five novels are planned to come out one per year. THE HYPNOTIST

1. Albanian Dituria 13. German Lübbe 25. Norwegian CappelenDamm 2. Portuguese Brazil Intrinseca 14. Greek Patakis 26. Polish Czarne 3. Bulgarian Enthusiast 15. Dutch De Bezige Bij 27. Portuguese Portugal Porto Editora Worldwide 4. Canadian McClelland&Stewart 16. Hungarian Cartaphilus 28. Romanian Editura Trei 5. Complex Chinese Locus Publishing 17. Israel Modan 29. Russian Corpus 6. Croatian Fraktura 18. Icelandic Forlagid 30. Serbian Alnari Publishers 7. Czech Republic Host 19. Italian Mauri Spagnol 31. Slovak Republic Ikar 8. Danish Gyldendal 20. Japanese Hayakawa 32. Spanish Planeta 9. Uk&Commonwealth Blue Door HC 21. Catalan Ara Amsterdam 33. Simplified Chinese Beijing Fonghong Media Co. 10. Estonian Pegasus 22. Korean Minumsa 34. Thai Sanskrit Book 11. Finnish Tammi 23. Latvian Apgads Mansards 35. Turkish Pegasus 12. French Actes Sud 24. Lithuanian Meda Incognito 36. Us Sara Crichton Books/ Farrar Strauss & Giroux

THE PAGANINI CONTRACT THE FIRE WITNESS

1. - 19. Italian 1. - 19. Italian 2. Portugese Brazil 20. Japanese 2. - 20. - 3. Bulgarian 21. Catalan 3. - 21. Catalan 4. Canadian 22. - 4. Canadan (+ book 4&5) 22. - 5. - 23. - 5. - 23. - 6. Croatian 24. Lithuanian 6. - 24. - 7. Czech Republic 25. Norwegian 7. Czech (+ book 4&5) 25. Norwegian (+ book 4&5) 8. Danish 26. Polish 8. Danish (+ book 4&5) 26. Polish 9. UK&Commonwealth 27. Portugese Portugal 9. UK&Commonwealth (+ book 4&5) 27. Portugese Portugal (+ book 4&5) 10. Estonian 28. Romanian 10. - 28. - 11. Finnish 29. Russian 11. Finnish (+ book 4&5) 29. - 12. French 30. - 12. French (+ book 4&5) 30. - 13. German 31. Slovak Republic 13. German (+ book 4&5) 31. - 14. Greek 32. Spanish 14. - 32. Spanish 15. Dutch 33. - 15. Dutch 33. - 16. Hungarian 34. - 16. - 34. - 17. Israel 35. Turkish 17. - 35. - 18. Icelandic 36. US 18. - 36. US (+ book 4&5)

Cast

TOBIAS ZILLIACUS Detective Inspector Joona Linna (Upswing, Beyond Enemy Lines)

Tobias Zilliacus trained at the Theatre Academy Helsinki 1991-1995. After graduating from the academy, he began working at the Viirus Theatre in Helsinki where he appeared in some 20 productions and also directed for the stage. Zilliacus’s feature film debut was in Upswing (2002), after which he played the lead role in the war drama Beyond Enemy Lines (2004). In 2009, Tobias starred as the mortally ill gardener Visa Vuorio in the film One Foot Under, and most recently he played the male lead in the children’s film Iris (2011). Tobias will be playing Joona Linna in all eight upcoming thrillers based on the books by Lars Kepler. Production Facts The Paganini Contract

Based on International best-seller The Paganini Contract by Lars Kepler Director Kjell Sundvall Genre Thriller Country of Origin Sweden Start of Principal Shooting August 2012 First Release September 2013 (TBC) Duration TBA International Sales AB Svensk Filmindustri Cast Tobias Zilliacus as Joona Linna Production Company AB Svensk Filmindustri & Sonet Film AB Director’s Statement

When I read The Paganini Contract I just couldn’t put it down until the last page. It’s

an extremely fast-paced and exciting story KJELL SUNDVALL – perfect for an explosive and thrilling Having directed almost 40 films in 30 years, Sundvall is one of film. It will be a true pleasure to direct the Sweden’s most popular directors. He has become a veteran in second book by Lars Kepler. the crime and thriller genre with titles such as The Last Witness (1993), The Hunters (1996), The Last Contract (1998), Kjell Sundvall The Threat (2004), more than 10 features of the successful Beck crime series, and most recently the box office hit False Trail (2011) with over 500,000 admissions. “I’m very excited about passing on the baton to Kjell Sundvall. Kjell is one of Multifaceted Sundvall has also shown great success in the Scandinavia’s most experienced thriller comedy genre with several award-winning titles: The Guy in the Grave Next Door (2002) and box office hit In Bed With directors and The Paganini Contract Santa (1999) with over 500,000 admissions, to mention a few. should fit him like a glove”. A remake of In Bed With Santa has been released in Germany Lasse Hallström under the title Meine Schöne Bescherung (2007), while a French remake is underway. On a summer night, the dead body of a woman is Synopsis found on board an abandoned yacht drifting around the Stockholm archipelago. Her lungs are filled with brackish water, but there are no traces of this water on her clothes or other parts of her body.

The next day a man is found dead in his palatial apartment in Stockholm. The man is hanging from a noose fastened to the lamp hook in the ceiling. How did it happen? The room has a high ceiling, and there is not a single piece of furniture in the room, nothing to climb on. Nevertheless, Detective Inspector Joona Linna is convinced that it is suicide.

This is only the prelude to a dizzyingly intense and dangerous course of events.

There are certain agreements that cannot be broken off, even when you are dead… It takes a while for the man to realize that the woman is dead. In her long hair there is a clip shaped like a white dove; a peace dove. When the old man approaches the body and touches her cheek the head tips forward and a thin rivulet of water trickles from her lips, down her chin. International Sales AB Svensk Filmindustri SE-169 86 Stockholm, Sweden Phone: +46 8 680 35 00 Fax: + 46 8 710 44 60 [email protected] www.sfinternational.se CREDITS NOT CONCTRACTUAL