Four Swedish short films are competing at the upcoming Sundance Film Festival, more than ever before. Two Swedish documentaries are also in competition, one of which is the opening film for the documentary section.
Caroline Östblom in Fungus by Charlotta Miller and Vera Vitali in Fijona Jonuzi's Girl. Photos: DachADS, Plattform Produktion
Short films
- We’re thrilled to have these four films in the festival - it was such a strong year for Swedish shorts; we really could have dedicated a program to them, says Kim Yutani, one of the organisers of the festival's short films section.
In Charlotta Miller's Fungus (Svamp) Katrin's hurt feelings, incessant intimate itching and a highly irritating neighbour spur her on to revenge. The film was produced by Emma Sahlgren for DachADS.
Killing the Chickens to Scare the Monkeys. Photo: Linus Meyer
Killing the Chickens to Scare the Monkeys, previously screened as part of Directors’ Fortnight at Cannes, is about China's execution of dissidents as a warning to others. Written, produced and directed by Jens Assur for Studio Jens Assur with production funding from the Swedish Film Institute, film commissioner Andra Lasmanis, the film picked up an award at this year's Nordisk Panorama festival in Denmark.
Girl by Fijona Jonuzi looks at what happens when a woman in her early thirties finds herself at a party with a group of 20-year-old men. The film was produced by Emma Kjellander for Plattform Produktion with production funding from the Swedish Film Institute, previous film commissioner Johan Bogaeus.
Helmi Hellrand Nyholm in Las Palmas. Photo: Johannes Nyholm
One of this year's most hotly discussed Swedish films is Johannes Nyholm's package holiday parody, Las Palmas. With 13 million hits and 8000 comments for the short version on YouTube, the film has already picked up numerous international awards. It was written, filmed, edited and produced by Nyholm himself for his company Joclo, with production funding from the Swedish Film Institute, film commissioner Andra Lasmanis.
Documentaries
Sixto Rodriguez in Searching for Sugar Man. Photo: Hal Wilson
Malik Bendjelloul's Searching for Sugar Man is about the mystical American folk singer Sixto Rodriguez, whose 1970s album went virtually unnoticed but went on to outsell even the Rolling Stones in South Africa, something the artist himself was completely unaware of for more than 25 years.
The film was produced by Malik Bendjelloul together with British co-producer Simon Chinn, the man behind the Oscar-winning documentary Man on Wire.
- I'm absolutely delighted, Sundance has always been the festival that matters most to me. It's the ideal place for the premiere, and the fact that the film has been chosen to open the documentary section is a great honour, says Malik Bendjelloul.
The film's US and Canada distributor is Submarine, with Protagonist on board for international sales.
Fredrik Gertten in his Big boys Gone Bananas!* Photo: Anna Siversston
Filmmaker Fredrik Gertten is in competition with Big Boys Gone Bananas!*:
- It's fantastic to land such a prestigious US premiere, especially given all the commotion that surrounded Bananas!* at the Los Angeles Film Festival. There we were thrown out of the competition and bombarded with negative press. Our experience of incurring the wrath of a major corporation and its PR machine is now up for discussion in America. At WG Film we've endured some very tough years, so a Sundance premiere gives us hope and a new sense of joy in our work.
In Big Boys Gone Bananas!* Gertten examines the price of freedom of speech through a study of what happened behind the scenes when his earlier film, the highly acclaimed Bananas!*, sparked off a major lawsuit. The film has been produced by Margarete Jangård for WG Film with production funding from the Swedish Film Institute, film commissioner med Cecilia Lidin.
The Sundance Film Festival takes place from 19 – 29 January 2012.