Film Countries Archives: Sweden

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Shorts 9: Family Friendly Animation – Better Together

  Various

  Canada, Germany, Mexico, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, The Netherlands, United States     75 minutes

Synopsis

All ages are welcome in this family-friendly program, full of colorful films that celebrate play, encourage curiosity, and emphasize the importance of communal bonds. Featuring works by Shira Avni, Lena von Döhren, Eva Rust, Guillermo Casarin, Seungbae Jeon, Christian Kaufmann, João Rodrigues, Afnan Bawyan, Adriel Meka, and Mitra Shahidi.

Two One Two (Canada) offers a poetic and deeply personal glimpse into motherhood in the form of a gorgeous, glimmering two-headed monster. A gassy fish allies with other sea creatures to fend off a hungry seagull in the hilarious and melodious underwater tale POND (Switzerland). A girl connects with her Mayan heritage on a camping trip with her father that turns into an exciting adventure in Balam (Mexico, U.S.). Peek into the inner lives of batteries with the oddball charmer Battery Mommy (South Korea). After a tiger escapes from the zoo, a bored subway worker gets the surprise of a lifetime in Town Hall Square (Germany). A curious girl gets sucked into the bizarre and magical world of the book she is reading in Ana Morphose (Portugal). A woman attempts to overcome language barriers by preparing a cultural dish that takes on a life of its own in Saleeg (Saudi Arabia, The Netherlands, Sweden). A friendly boy makes an unexpected connection when he attends a mysterious summer camp in Camp Kona (U.S.). In Starling (U.S.), a couple is visited by their child in her new spiritual form for a beautiful meditation on grief and eternal love.

 Arabic, English, Korean, Mayan, Spanish, Tigrinya, Urdu with subtitles 

Screenings & Events

Virtual Screening

This program will be available to stream from October 16 at 12:00pm CT to October 22 at 11:59pm CDT.

Sponsors

Film Supporters

Logo: Canada 313x100

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A couple sits side-by-side on a blue couch.

The Hypnosis Hypnosen

  Ernst de Geer

  Sweden, Norway, France     98 minutes

Synopsis

This incisive, quick-witted, and cringe-inducing satire opens with André and Vera on the cusp of a business breakthrough. Invited to pitch their app concept at an international workshop for young entrepreneurs, the Swedish duo begins to feverishly prepare. Then, days before the event, Vera books a session with a hypnotherapist in hopes that it will help her quit smoking. Now, she’s suddenly cigarette-free and has a new outlook on life — one that is completely free of social inhibitions. As their big moment approaches, André begins to worry.

This delightfully awkward sendup of modern entrepreneurial culture is an ironic, open-hearted look at what it means to be your authentic self in the face of societal expectations.

 English, Norwegian, Swedish with subtitles 

Screenings & Events

Media

Film Credits

  •   Mimmi Spång
  •   Mads Stegger, Ernst De Geer
  •   Robert Krantz
  •   Jonathan Bjerstedt
  •   Asta Kamma August, Herbert Nordrum, Andrea Edwards, David Fukamachi Regnfors, Moa Niklasson, Simon Rajala, Aviva Wrede, Alexandra Zetterberg Ehn, Kristina Braden Whitaker, Karin de Frumerie, Julien Combes
  •   Peder Kjellsby
  •   Garagefilm International AB, Film I Väst AB, Mer Film AS, Totem Atelier

Sponsors

New Directors Program Sponsors

Robert and Penelope Steiner Family Foundation

Comedy Program Sponsor

Logo: The Second City 329x75

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A close up of actor Mads Mikkelsen.

The Promised Land Bastarden

  Nikolaj Arcel

  Denmark, Germany, Sweden     127 minutes

Synopsis

In 18th-century Denmark, Ludvig Kahlen (played by a rugged, windswept Mads Mikkelsen) lives with purpose and determination. After retiring from the army, he hopes to curry favor with the Danish king by embarking on a quest to settle and cultivate the unforgiving Jutland. All previous attempts to tame the heath have ended in utter failure, and the soil is thought to be hostile to crops.The harsh natural conditions aren’t the only thing standing in Ludwig’s way, however, and he soon begins to butt heads with a local landowner who worries that the settlers’ successful  harvest will diminish his own power and influence.

Majestic landscape photography is punctuated with bursts of thrilling action as The Promised Land’s characters careen towards bloody confrontation.

 Danish with subtitles 

Screenings & Events

Media

Film Credits

  •   Louise Vesth
  •   Anders Thomas Jensen, Nikolaj Arcel
  •   Oliviér Bugge Coutté
  •   Rasmus Videbæk
  •   Mads Mikkelsen, Amanda Collin, Gustav Lindh, Kristine Kujath Thorp, Simon Bennebjerg
  •   Zentropa Entertainment

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A very disheveled pregnant woman sits on a rock by a waterfall, looking at the shirtless man lounging next to her.

Sweet Dreams

  Ena Sendijarević

  The Netherlands, Sweden, Indonesia     102 minutes

Synopsis

Indonesia, 1900. In the waning days of the colonial era, Dutch sugar plantation owners Jan and Agathe lord over an estate simmering with imminent rebellion. When Jan suddenly drops dead, Agathe forces their son and his pregnant wife to travel from the Netherlands to take over the family business. But when she discovers that Jan has left the estate to his Indonesian concubine Siti and their young son, both sides of the estate will go to extremes in order to survive.

Featuring scathingly sharp performances and set against a lush visual landscape with indelible metaphoric images, Sweet Dreams is an incisive and surreal satire that marvels at the absurdity of the colonial nightmare.

 Dutch, Indonesian with subtitles 

Screenings & Events

Media

Film Credits

  •   Erik Glijnis, Leontine Petit; co-produced by: Erik Hemmendorff, Kristina Börjeson, Martien Vlietman, Mandy Marahimin
  •   Ena Sendijarević
  •   Lot Rossmark
  •   Emo Weemhoff
  •   Renée Soutendijk, Hayati Azis, Lisa Zweerman, Florian Myjer, Muhammad Khan, Hans Dagelet, Rio den Haas
  •   Martial Foe
  •   Judy Tossel, Laurent Médéa, Ena Sendijarević
  •   Lemming Film, Plattform Produktion, VPRO, Film ï Vast, Tala Media

Sponsors

New Directors Program Sponsors

Robert and Penelope Steiner Family Foundation

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Two young women and a girl lay in the middle of a grassy field laughing and smiling with each other.

Paradise is Burning Paradiset Brinner

  Mika Gustafson

  Sweden, Italy, Denmark, Finland     108 minutes

Synopsis

In a working-class Swedish neighborhood, 16-year-old Laura cares for her two younger sisters, left on their own by an absent mother. For the trio and their friends, summer is wild, indulgent, and anarchic, full of ritual and mischief. But when social services schedules a meeting with their mother — who is nowhere to be found — Laura must find someone to step in or the girls risk being separated in foster care. Keeping the impending threat a secret from her sisters creates a palpable tension and conflict, sending each of them on an individual journey of discovery and connection. As the meeting with social services draws nearer, the boundaries of the girls’ radical freedom are tested by the harsh realities of growing up.

Echoing the chaotic freedom of films like The Florida Project, Mika Gustafson’s striking fiction debut is as bold as it is tender, a refreshingly forthright coming-of-age story and an intimate portrait of sisterhood.

 Swedish with subtitles 

Screenings & Events

Media

Film Credits

  •   Nima Yousefi, Marco Valerio Fusco, Micaela Fusco, Maria Stevnbak Westergren, Venla Hellstedt, Jenni Jauri
  •   Mika Gustafson, Alex Öhrstrand
  •   Anders Skov
  •   Sine Vadstrup Brooker
  •   Bianca Delbravo, Dilvin Asaad, Safira Mossberg, Ida Engvoll, Mitja Siren
  •   Giorgio Giampà
  •   Hobab, Intramovies, Toolbox Films, Tuffi Films
  •   https://www.intramovies.com/production/paradise-is-burning/

Sponsors

International Competition Program Sponsor

John and Jacolyn Bucksbaum Family Foundation