23/08/2006

Offscreen [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Danish filmmaker Christoffer Boe and Falkenberg Farewell [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Swedish newcomer Jesper Ganslandt are among the 12 feature films screening in the Venice Days sidebar at this year’s Venice Film Festival (August 31-September 9).

Boe already attended Venice’s sidebar last year with his second feature film, Allegro [+see also:
trailer
film profile]. This time, the enfant terrible of Danish cinema will unveil his latest creation, described by Fabio Ferzetti, General Delegate of Venice Days, as “a make-believe real-life movie shot almost as much by the main actor (Nicolas Bro) as by the director, who uses cinema mis en abyme to enter a downward spiral leading to a maelstrom of madness.”

The film, produced by Tine Grew Pfeiffer for Alphaville Pictures Copenhagen (who is also handling world sales) with support from Danish Film Institute's New Danish Screen, was released last Friday domestically through SF Film.

Farewell Falkenberg is the debut feature by 27 year-old Ganslandt, a self-taught filmmaker who trained with music videos and short films. “When I got the news that Farewell Falkenberg had been selected for Venice, I was sitting alone in a car at the end of the pier in Falkenberg (in Sweden’s west coast). I celebrated by turning up the volume on the car stereo quite considerably,” said the director.

Set in the little town of Falkenberg, nicknamed “Sweden in miniature”, the film captures the last summer five childhood friends spend together in the little town by the sea. It was produced by Anna Anthony (Dalecarlians [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Maria Blom
film profile]) for Memfis Film & TV, in co-production with Film i Väst, Swedish broadcaster SVT, Zentropa Entertainment in Denmark, with support from the Swedish Film Institute, Canal + TV and Fasad AB.

After Venice, both the director and the producer will travel to Toronto (September 7-16), where the film will be presented as part of the festival’s Discovery programme. It will then open in Sweden on September 22 through Sonet Film . Trust Film Sales is handling worldwide distribution.