Vid en ceremoni på fredagskvällen, under pågående Cannes filmfestival, mottog Patrik Eklund Kritikerveckans stora pris, Grand Prix Canal+, för sin Slitage i kategorin bästa kortfilm.
Anki Larsson, Jakob Nordenson and Svante Grundberg in Patrik Eklund's Seeds of the Fall (Slitage) which picked up the Critics' Week Canal+ award for Best Short Film in Cannes. Photo: Rolf Carlbom
A drama comedy, Seeds of the Fall by Patrik Eklund centres on a middle-aged couple, Rolf and Eva, their passionless marriage and Eva's sexual frustration. When her attempts at seduction fail, their relationship suddenly undergoes a dramatic change. The leads are played by Anki Larsson and Jakob Nordenson in a cast that also includes Svante Grundberg, Daniel Rudstedt and Camilla Larsson.
Written and directed by Patrik Eklund with cinematography by David Grehn, the film was produced by Mathias Fjellström, Direktörn & Fabrikörn, in collaboration with Filmpool Nord, SVT and Film i Västerbotten, with the support of the Swedish Film Institute's former commissioner for short films, Anne-Marie Söhrman Fermelin.
In 2007 Patrik Eklund also competed in the Critic's Week with Situation Frank, a study of male friendship and coming to terms with grief. Eklund won the 2008 Brateks Startsladden award for Instead of Abracadabra (I stället för Abrakadabra), which screened at the Sundance Film Festival and was also nominated for a Swedish Film Award. An English trailer for Seeds of the Fall can be seen at the Film Institute's startpage.
For Swedish films and awards at Cannes through the years, go to: http://www.sfi.se/sv/svensk-film/Utmarkelser/Cannes1/