17/09/2008

The Swedish Film Institute (SFI) announced yesterday that Jan Troell’s costume drama Everlasting Moments [+see also:
trailer
film profile] is Sweden’s entry for an Oscar 2008 nomination in the Best Foreign Language Film category. The veteran Swedish filmmaker was nominated for an Oscar for Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay in 1971 for his sweeping saga The Emigrants.

The 12-member nomination jury of the SFI said about Everlasting Moments: “It is a lyrical story, faithful to its time, with a photography that is a tribute to film as an art form.” Based on Troell’s wife’s grandmother, Everlasting Moments focuses on the life of Maria Larsson (Maria Heiskanen), the mother of a large family in the early 20th century who discovers a passion for photography.

The film had a rapturous reception in North America earlier this month, where it screened to packed audiences at the Telluride and Toronto Film Festivals. “This is truly dazzling filmmaking that delivers enough twists and turns to keep the sharpest viewers on the edge of their seats,” said Jonathan Sehring of IFC Films in the US, which acquired US rights from TrustNordisk.

Produced by Thomas Stenderup for Denmark’s Final Cut, Everlasting Moment is a majority Swedish and Danish film, co-produced with Norway (Mortlys), Finland (Blind Spot) and Germany (Schneider Gross Filmproduktion).

Sandrew Metronome, which has distribution rights for Scandinavia, will release it in Sweden on September 26 and in Denmark on October 31.

The Oscars nominations will be announced by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) on January 22, 2009 and the official ceremony in Los Angeles will be held a month later.