Three local films in the Top 5
by Annika Pham
When times are tough, creativity is often at its best…This could be the case of Swedish cinema, currently enjoying a record three titles at the Top 5 of the domestic box office while local film financing is going through a tough time until the new Film law comes into effect early 2006.
The three local hits of the week that take respectively the third, fourth and fifth position of this week’s local chart are Martin Asphaug’s Kim Novak Never Swam In The Lake of Genesaret released last Friday with 75 prints by Svensk Filmindustri, Ulf Malmros’ God Save The King released two weeks ago by Sandrew Metronome and Josef Fares’ Zozo [+see also:
trailer
film profile] released a month ago by Sonet Film and now in the lead of local hits for 2005.
Both Kim Novak… and
Kim Novak… is based on famous novelist Håkan Nesser’s own coming of age story first written in his best-selling novel, then in a script format co-signed by Norwegian-born director Martin Asphaug. Set in the summer of 1962, it’s the story of Erik, a teenager who is looking forward to spending a wonderful holiday by the lake of Genesaret. His elder brother starts having an affair with Erik’s ex school teacher who is a Kim Novak look alike (Helena af Sandeberg). But drama lurks under the apparent idyllic summer holidays.
The film is a Swedish/Norwegian co-production between Svensk Filmindustri in Sweden and the Scandinavian group’s production arm in Norway SF Norge and international sales are handles by Svensk Filmindustri.
Zozo, a Swedish/Danish co-production between Memfis Film and Zentropa Entertainments, is based on Fares’ own life experiences from war-torn Lebanon to Sweden. Trust Film is handling international sales.
As for God Save The King (Tjenare Kungen), it’s a poignant and funny portrait of a girls rock band in a small Swedish town in 1984. 40-year old director Ulf Malmros who co-scripted the film, already had a breakthrough on the international festival circuit with his second film A Summer Tale, and now confirms his true filmmaking talent with this fourth feature film produced by Sandrew Metronome.
All three films are co-produced by the Swedish regional film fund Film i Väst with support from the Swedish Film Institute.
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