Swedish production funding to Fijona, Michael and Mikael

In You Disappear pleasant, respected Frederik is arrested for fraud, but when it turns out that he has a brain tumour, his wife Mia and their lawyer try to get him off the hook.

Jens Assur, an acclaimed short-film maker, makes his first feature Ravens (Korparna), a captivating drama set in the 1970s Swedish countryside, where farmer Agne is troubled by demands on modernisation and his son Klas’s reluctance to take over running the farm. In his longing for freedom, Klas finds an escape in his keen interest in birds, and with new arrival Veronica. The film is based on the August Prize-winning novel by Tomas Bannerhed.

Fijona Jonuzi makes the 60-minute drama The Greatest (Den största av dom största), in which actor Micke and director Thommy create a one-man show together. With two weeks to go until the premiere, they have no material and their professional relationship gradually becomes a private struggle. The film is part of the Moving Sweden project.

Several short documentaries are being awarded funding: The Mahoyo Project by Moira Ganley and Gustav Nord looks at a borderless collective that does art, fashion and DJ-ing. They travel to Johannesburg to teach young women to DJ and break norms. 10 Meter Tower (Hopptornet: 10 meter) by Axel Danielsson and Maximilien Van Aertryck depicts hesitation and vulnerability on the 10-metre diving platform, and Salmo by Tony Holm looks at salmon and sea trout as they spawn in rivers, overcome rushing falls and struggle against swirling currents.

Feature film

Image from Greta´s Guide to the Galaxy. Photo: Olof Marnung

Greta´s Guide to the Galaxy (Gretas guide till Galaxen)
Director Astrid Askberger
Screenplay Astrid Askberger
Producer Kristina Meiton
Funding recipient MigDig
Target group Adult
Film type Documentary 
Technique Live action
Film commissioner Cecilia Lidin
Funding granted 480 000
Production company’s presentation: Greta has left her family and moved to the USA. We follow her for 15 years in a film that focuses on togetherness and her relationship with an alcoholic mother. About change, reconciliation and the struggle to live one’s life as freely as possible.

Image from Kiss of War - The Children of the Hated. Photo: The National Archives of Norway

Kiss of War - The Children of the Hated (Tyskungarna-barn av de hatade)
Director Per Anders Rudelius 
Screenplay Per Anders Rudelius 
Producer Per Anders Rudelius 
Funding recipient Kultfilm 
Target group Adult 
Film type Documentary 
Technique Live action 
Film commissioner Antonio Russo Merenda 
Funding granted 300 000 
Production company’s presentation: This is a film about a time when a fraction of a young generation – children of Germans – were let down by Norwegian society. After the war, they became reviled targets for anti-Germanism. They were the enemy’s bastards and probably fifth columnists, collectively diagnosed as less worthy citizens.

Image from Ravens. Photo: Jonas Alarik

Ravens (Korparna)
Director Jens Assur 
Screenplay Jens Assur
Producers Jan Marnell, Tom Persson
Funding recipient Film and Art Affairs II AB
Target group Adult
Genre Drama
Film type Feature
Technique Live action
Film commissioner Magdalena Jangard
Funding granted 7 000 000
Production company´s presentation: A captivating thriller set in the 1970s Swedish countryside. Farmer Agne is troubled by the hard work on the farm, an obsession that his eldest son Klas should take over, and a sense that someone wants to harm his family. Klas seeks out the world of nature, but as the external menaces increase he comes to face an unavoidable choice: to stay or run away. 

You Disappear features Nikolaj Lie Kaas, Trine Dyrholm and Michael Nyqvist. Photo: Chr. Geisnæs

You Disappear (Du försvinner) 
Director Peter Schönau Fog 
Screenplay Peter Schönau Fog 
Producers Madeleine Ekman, Lizette Jonjic 
Funding recipient Zentropa International Sweden AB  
Genre Drama 
Film type Feature 
Technique Live action 
Film commissioner Suzanne Glansborg 
Funding granted 1 000 000 
Production company’s presentation: Pleasant, respected Frederik is arrested for major fraud. But when it turns out that Frederik has had a brain tumour for three years that has changed his personality, his wife Mia and their lawyer do everything they can to save the family and get Frederik off the hook.

Short film

From Betty. Photo: Zigzag Animation 

Betty (Betty mitt i natten) 
Director Uzi Geffenblad
Screenplay Uzi Geffenblad
Producer Uzi Geffenblad
Funding recipient Zigzag Animation AB
Target group Children
Genre Other
Film type Feature
Technique Animated
Film commissioner Andreas Fock
Funding granted 450 000
Production company’s presentation: Betty has run away from home! Now she’s just a little, hungry cat sailing along in a potty, all alone. There are all kinds of crazy things in the water, but no food. And cats can’t eat garbage. But what’s that she’s caught on her hook? Maybe it’s not just rubbish? Maybe it’s a friend? A short, somewhat surreal film for children with plenty of winks to the adults in the audience.

From 10 Meter Tower. Photo: Axel Danielson, Maximilien Van Aertryck

10 Meter Tower (Hopptornet: 10 meter) 
Directors Axel Danielson, Maximilien Van Aertryck 
Screenplay Axel Danielson, Maximilien Van Aertryck 
Producers Axel Danielson, Erik Hemmendorff 
Funding recipient Plattform Produktion AB 
Target group Family 
Film type Documentary 
Technique Live action 
Film commissioner Antonio Russo Merenda 
Funding granted 125 000 
Production company’s presentation: The situation itself highlights a dilemma. The fear of going for it, or the humiliation of backing down. What are we like when we hesitate, and when we decide? How do we behave when we’re alone, and what are we like when relating to others? This film is an entertaining study of being human in a vulnerable position.

From Love & Will. Photo: Sara Svärdsén

Love & Will
Director Marcus Carlsson 
Screenplay Marcus Carlsson 
Producer Lovisa Charlier 
Funding recipient Mariedamfilm AB 
Target group Youth 
Genre Drama 
Film type Feature 
Technique Live action 
Film commissioner Andreas Fock 
Funding granted 475 000 
Production company’s presentation: One apartment, two lives. For Isabelle the apartment is a safe home, a shield against the outside world. But for Jessica it instead becomes synonymous with emptiness, which prompts a quest for independence and belonging.

From Mr Parent. Photo: M Parent

Mr Parent (M Parent) 
Director Nicolas Maurice
Screenplay Nicolas Maurice
Producer Malin Hüber Funding recipient Story AB
Target group Adult
Film type Documentary
Technique Mixed
Film commissioner Andreas Fock
Funding granted 250 000
Production company’s presentation: The point of departure for M Parent is a box of photographs which Nicolas’s family has inherited from an uncle’s colleague. It is a visual story that depicts a melancholy fate: a father loses his son, the past meets the present, in a poetic exploration of the memories that remain.

From Noni & Elizabeth. Photo: Lisabi Fridell

Noni & Elizabeth 
Director Nanna Blondell 
Screenplay Nanna Blondell 
Producer Siri Hjorton Wagner Funding recipient sic film ab 
Target group Adult 
Genre Drama 
Film type Feature 
Technique Live action 
Film commissioner Andreas Fock 
Funding granted 400 000 
Production company’s presentation: Noni is 10, and during the week she lives with her mother in Vasastan and at weekends with her father in Skärholmen. With her stepsister Elizabeth, one weekend Noni sees the world for what it is – upside down.

Image from The Greatest. Photo: Mai Nestor

The Greatest (Den största av dom största) 
Director Fijona Jonuzi 
Screenplay Louise Löwenberg, Eva Johansson, Fijona Jonuzi 
Producer Erik Hemmendorff 
Funding recipient Plattform Produktion AB 
Target group Adult 
Genre Drama 
Film type Feature 
Technique Live action 
Film commissioner Helen Ahlsson 
Funding granted 2 052 000 
Production company’s presentation: Actor Micke and director Thommy try to create a one-man show together. With two weeks to go until the premiere, they still have no material. A relationship that started out professional has now turned into a private struggle that requires release and resolution.

Image from The Mahoyo Project: South Africa. Image: Gustav Nord

The Mahoyo Project: South Africa 
Director Moira Ganley 
Screenplay Moira Ganley 
Producers Farah Yusuf, MyNa Do, Pia Do, Moira Ganley, Gustav Nord, Koen Dirk van Esterik 
Funding recipient Flip-Flop Interactive AB 
Target group Youth 
Film type Documentary 
Technique Mixed 
Film commisioner Cecilia Lidin 
Funding granted 250 000 
Production company’s presentation: The Mahoyo Project is a documentary film about the Swedish creative group Mahoyo and their trip to Johannesburg for a cultural exchange with young norm-breakers. From a feministic perspective, the film shows how passion and creativity can be born in the most unexpected of places, and challenges perceptions of skin colour, race, gender, sexuality and geographical identity.

Image from The Shower. Photo: Bianca Basan

The Shower (Duschen) 
Director Stefan Constantinescu 
Screenplay Nana Håkansson 
Producers Jörgen Andersson, Kjell Åhlund 
Funding recipient Doppelganger AB 
Target group Adult 
Genre Drama 
Film type Feature 
Technique Live action 
Film commissioner Andreas Fock 
Funding granted 400 000 
Production company’s presentation: A film about a meeting between a young Swedish woman with high ideals, and a Romanian EU migrant collecting beverage cans in Gothenburg. A story about how everyone has a rescuer, a victim and a persecutor inside them, how fine the lines between the various roles are, and the desire to erase them.

From Salmo. Photo: Tony Holm. 

Salmo
Director Tony Holm
Screenplay Tony Holm
Producer Barbro Johansson
Fundnig recipient Aqua Foto Tony Holm
Target group Family
Film type Documentary
Technique Live action
Film commissioner Antonio Russo Merenda
Funding granted 300 000
Production company’s presentation: Salmon and sea trout swim upstream to spawn where they were born. They overcome rushing falls and struggle against swirling currents. A few years later they’re back in the sea, growing into powerful fish. Formerly in danger of extinction, now back again thanks to good fishery management.

Tracks (Spår) 
Directors Gunnar Bergdahl, Annica Carlsson Bergdahl 
Screenplay Gunnar Bergdahl, Annica Carlsson Bergdahl 
Producer Fredrik Lange 
Funding recipient Vilda Bomben Film AB 
Target group Adult 
Film type Documentary 
Technique Live action 
Film commissioner Cecilia Lidin 
Funding granted 150 000 
Production company’s presentation: A film that explores an existential and professional challenge through a series of personal testimonies: train drivers spend their time in the constant company of sudden death. What traces does the role of reluctant, helpless executioner leave? Directed by Gunnar and Annica Bergdahl.