29/10/2007

Memfis Film, the Swedish production house behind Lukas Moodysson’s first English-language film, Mammoth, announced last Friday that Michelle Williams, one of Hollywood’s up-and-coming actresses, will join Gael Garcia Bernal in the cast.

The 27 year-old Williams was nominated for an Oscar in 2005 for her role in Brokeback Mountain and her credits also includes Wim Wenders’ Land of Plenty [+see also:
trailer
film profile] and Todd Haynes’ Venice prize-winner I’m Not There.

“I feel that we have found the perfect actress in Michelle Williams for the part of Ellen, and the perfect match for Gael Garcia Bernal. She relays intelligence, poise and presence in every character she plays. For me, her role in Brokeback Mountain is one of the most honest portrayals on screen,” said the Swedish director of Lilya 4-ever [+see also:
trailer
film profile].

Based on Moodysson’s original script, Mammoth tells the story of Tom, a young IT golden boy who lives in New York with his wife, their eight year-old daughter and a Filipino nanny. On a business trip to Thailand, Tom realizes he wants to change his life.

The film will go into production in Thailand on November 5. The cast and crew will then move to the Philippines, to Film i Väst’s Trollhättan studios in Sweden in January 2008, and ultimately back to New York.

The €7.8m film produced by Lars Jönsson (Memfis Film), in co-production with Zentropa’s production branches in Copenhagen and Berlin, was just awarded a record SEK12m (€1.3m) from the Swedish Film Institute as part of the institute’s new policy to give higher grants to fewer Swedish films.

Other confirmed financiers include Film i Väst, SVT, TV2 Denmark, Medienboard Berlin, the Danish Film Institute, Filmförderungsanstalt, the Nordsik Film & TV Fond and Eurimages.

International sales are handled by Trust Film Sales, who started pre-selling the film in Cannes last May.