Six Swedish films at HK International Film Festival

Sweden is represented by no less than six films in the upcoming 37th Hong Kong International Film Festival March 17 – April 2, 2013. The HKIFF is one of Asia’s most reputable platforms for film makers, professionals and general film buffs.

The highly acclaimed documentary Palme by Kristina Lindström and Maud Nycander will open “Swedish Sextet” – the Swedish section of the Festival – on March 22.  The film, which was voted best documentary in 2013 Guldbagge Awards (the local equivalent of the Oscar), contains unique material from Sweden’s former prime minister Olof Palme’s life up until he was murdered on February 28, 1986.

Eat Sleep Die (Äta, Sova, Dö) is Gabriela Pichler’s first feature film, to which she also wrote the script. Rasa, a young Bosnian immigrant to Sweden, is faced with a painful choice when she’s laid off from her factory in the name of efficiencies. Ms. Pichler picked up no less than three awards at this year’s Guldbagge ceremony for best film, best director and best script.

Michael Marcimain’s debut feature film Call Girl recounts the true story of a pair of 14-year-olds who became prostitutes to powerful figures in Swedish society during the 70’s. The film was given an award at the recent Toronto Film Festival and won several Guldbagge Awards, among them best soundtrack by Benny Andersson of ABBA.

Based on a Swedish bestseller by Marianne Fredriksson Simon and the Oaksoffers a rare glimpse into the wartime experience of two young Swedish boys and their adolescence during World War II. The film, directed by Isa Olin, has won numerous awards since it premiered in 2011.

Bekas, directed by Karzan Kader, is a semi-autobiographical film about childhood and innocence set in Kurdistan. The two main characters, ten-year-old Dana and seven-year-old Zana, go to the movies to see Superman and then they decide to head to America to live with him. They venture on a long and dangerous road in the hands of ruthless traffickers.

On the surface Wolfgang Lehmann’s film  Dragonflies with Birds and Snakeis like a hyper-stylized nature documentary but is in reality a meditation —a purely visual space of vibrant images, a journey into a world that we have never had a chance to “enter.”

For tickets, venues and screening schedules visit HKIFF’s site

Source: www.swedenabroad.com

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