Sweden’s Film i Väst takes four films to Cannes
- Besides Ruben Östlund’s Palme d’Or contender, The Square, the Swedish regional film centre has another three co-productions in the official programme
Trollhättan’s Film i Väst – Sweden’s largest regional film centre – is this year celebrating its 25th anniversary with four co-productions in the official programme of the 70th Cannes International Film Festival (17-28 May), including Swedish director Ruben Östlund’s Palme d’Or contender The Square [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ruben Östlund
film profile] (see the news).
“It will be one of our finest years at Cannes, and will also emphasise that the heart of Swedish film production lies in the Västra Götaland region,” said Mikael Fellenius, managing director of Film i Väst, which has since 1992 co-produced more than 600 Swedish and international features, documentaries and TV films, plus 400 shorts. Eight of them have locked horns for the Palme d’Or on the Côte d’Azur.
The other three Film i Väst entries are Italian director Jonas Carpignano’s A Ciambra [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jonas Carpignano
film profile], screening in the Directors’ Fortnight, Tunisian director Kaouther Ben Hania’s Beauty and the Dogs [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Kaouther Ben Hania
film profile], duking it out in Un Certain Regard, and Swedish director Niki Lindroth von Bahr's short The Burden – an award winner at the Göteborg International Film Festival – which has been selected for competition in the Directors’ Fortnight.
“We have a long history at Cannes – in 2000, Danish director Lars von Trier won the Palme d’Or for Dancer in the Dark, and his Icelandic lead Björk was named Best Actress; since then, we have had eight features in competition. One of our ambitions is for a Film i Väst feature to be at Cannes and Berlin every year; this year, Polish director Agnieszka Holland’s Spoor [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Agnieszka Holland
interview: Zofia Wichlacz
film profile] won the Silver Bear at Berlin,” Fellenius concluded.
Did you enjoy reading this article? Please subscribe to our newsletter to receive more stories like this directly in your inbox.
