18/02/2005

In its last round of production subsidies, the Swedish Film Institute (SFI) has awarded the highest amount (10m Skr) to Joseph Fares’ new film Zozo currently in post-production.
In this third feature film following the box office hits Jalla Jalla! and Kopps, the director makes a more personal film by telling the story of a Lebanese boy (Zozo) who lives a ‘normal’ life in Beirut in spite of the civil war, until he has to leave for Sweden, a completely unknown country to him.
Zozo is produced by Fares’ usual producer Anna Anthony from Memfis Film , in co-production with Zentropa Film, Film i Väst, Zozo Ltd/Sigma 3 Ltd, Nordic Film & TV Fund, Swedish broadcaster SVT with support from the Swedish Film Institute and the DFI - Danish Film Institute. Zozo will be released in Sweden through Sonet Film in September 2005.
20 other feature films also benefited from SF’s total 66,6m Skr support, including 13 Swedish productions and 7 Nordic co-productions. Among the new projects by established directors are:

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-Den Bästa av mödrar (Mother of Mine) directed by Klaus Härö (Elina). The co-production between MRP Matila Röhr Productions (Finland) and Omega Film (Sweden) was allocated 1.8m Skr. Set during the Second World War, it’s the story of a 10-year old boy who is sent from Finland where the war is raging to a free Sweden.
-Drabet (Manslaughter) in post-production, is the third part of Per Fly’s trilogy following The Bench (2002) and Inheritance (2003). The film which was awarded 1m Skr is co-produced by Zentropa Film (Denmark) and Memfis Film (Sweden)
-Bang Bang Orangutang by Simon Staho (Day & Night) is a co-production between Cinevita Film Company (Denmark) and Zoula Pitsiava/Sonet Film (Sweden). SFI’s support was 3.7m Skr.
-Bröder (Brothers) by Susanne Bier is a Danish/Swedish co-production between Zentropa Films and Memfis Film. The film already released in Denmark received 500,000 Skr towards its Swedish release.
-Naboer (Neighbours) is a psychological thriller directed by the Norwegian Pål Sletaune (Junk Mail). The co-production between the director’s company Naboer 4 ½ in Norway, Memfis Film in Sweden and Zentropa Film in Denmark was allocated 1m Skr.
-Tjenare kungen (God Save The King) is the story of a rock band directed by Ulf Malmros (A Summer Tale). The film produced by Sandrew Metronome Distribution was allocated 5m Skr. All those films (apart from Bier’s Brothers) will be released in Sweden next autumn.