Hygge is the title of the directorial debut by Lena Falker and Zarah Schrade. While the former is a fresh graduate from the Hamburg Media School, the latter finished her studies at HFF Munich. Together, they wrote and directed this satire, which mixes drama and horror elements. The film is currently in post-production and will likely wrap this stage at the end of May. Shooting lasted 23 days and took place in Germany – specifically, in the regions of Wendland, Lower Saxony; Olpenitz, by the Baltic Sea in Schleswig-Holstein; and Karlsruhe, Baden-Württemberg.

A couple consisting of two women, Levi and Minu, participate in a reality TV show called Hygge, inspired by the Swedish lifestyle concept of the same name. On an island, the new community they form part of takes advantage of their remoteness from society in order to experiment with its own values. But contrary to Levi's expectations, the ideals of traditional gender roles still seem to prevail among the show’s bosses. Therefore, at a certain point, Levi tries to escape and to convince Minu to leave with her.

The directors say about their project: “Hygge is a satirical drama, drawing inspiration from films like Parasite, The Stepford Wives and Get Out. The community in Hygge is depicted as a place of comfort, where viewers can project their dreams of the perfect heteronormative family, despite the mainland suffering from resource shortages, an unstable climate and strict birth-control policies. As we spend more time in this picturesque village, the cozy interiors and underlying value system reveal a growing sense of claustrophobia.”

Behind the camera, a diverse and primarily female crew has been assembled. Besides the two women directors, the camerawoman is Antonia Pepita Giesler, who has worked on several fiction features and documentaries so far, while Lisa Ehlert and Anton von Bredow (currently working on his directorial feature debut together with Michele Cirigliano) are responsible for the set design, Inga Zinck for the costumes and Lisa Becker for the make-up. Linus Günther is the producer in charge for Klinkerfilm. Among his latest projects are One Last Evening [+lire aussi :
critique
bande-annonce
interview : Lukas Nathrath
fiche film] by Lukas Nathrath and Wajib [+lire aussi :
critique
bande-annonce
fiche film] by Annemarie Jacir.

As for the cast, it brings together an equally diverse and young ensemble, with TV and film actress Eva Maria Jost (The Universal Theory [+lire aussi :
critique
bande-annonce
interview : Timm Kröger
fiche film], Never Look Away [+lire aussi :
critique
bande-annonce
interview : Florian Henckel von Donner…
fiche film]) and Bayan Layla (Elaha [+lire aussi :
critique
fiche film]) in the main roles, as well as Catrin Striebeck (Quiet Freedom [+lire aussi :
bande-annonce
fiche film]), Jenny Elvers, André M Hennicke, Susanne Dorothea Schneider (One Last Evening) and Johanna Polley (The Protected Men [+lire aussi :
critique
fiche film]), among others, playing supporting parts.

Hygge is a production by Klinkerfilm in co-production with NDR. It was funded by MOIN Filmförderung Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein and nordmedia. It does not yet have a distributor or international sales agent attached.

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