23/01/2012

Swedish cinema has got off to a flying start this year, with three local titles topping the charts and more to come, according to the Swedish Film Institute’s presentation of the upcoming season.

No 1 blockbuster is Danish director Kathrine Windfeld’s Hamilton: In the Interest of the Nation [+see also:
trailer
making of
film profile] (pictured), which opened on January 13 to take 110,000 admissions, followed by Swedish directors Lisa Ohlin’s Simon and The Oaks [+see also:
trailer
interview: Bill Skarsgård
film profile] (No 2) and Lasse Åberg’s The Stig-Helmer Story (No 3).

UK director Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes 2: A Game of Shadows (No 4) has Swedish actress Noomi Rapace in a leading role, US director David Fincher’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (No 5) is a remake of Sweden’s Män som hatar kvinnor [+see also:
film review
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interview: Niels Arden Oplev
interview: Søren Stærmose
film profile], and the UK production of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] (No 6) was mainly shot in Sweden and was directed by Swede Tomas Alfredson (Let the Right One In [+see also:
film review
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interview: John Nordling
interview: Tomas Alfredson
film profile]).

Hamilton: In the Interest of the Nation, starring Mikael Persbrandt in the Pampas Produktion-Swedish TV4’s revival of Sweden’s most famous secret agent created by Jan Guillou, is the first of a trilogy and one of 14 releases at the beginning of 2012, which has also attracted international interest. Svensk Filmindustri AB has licensed it to more than ten countries.

London/Paris-based Zodiak Media has sold more than 30 territories for Millennium producer Yellow Bird Production’s first theatrical feature from Liza Marklund’s novels, Danish director Peter Flinth’s Nobel’s Last Will) [+see also:
trailer
film profile], which will have its local premiere on March 2. Malin Crépin plays the lead as criminal reporter Annika Bengtzon, also in the coming five films for DVD-TV.

The year’s early line-up also includes two Swedish selections for the Berlinale (February 9-19), Axel Petersén’s feature debut and forum entry, Avalon [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], which will also open the Göteborg International Film Festival (January 27), and Martin Högdahl-Håkan Bjerking’s children’s film, The Ice Dragon, in GenerationKplus. Both will launched domestically on February 24.

”With the recent focus on Swedish cinema, more Swedish productions are aimed at international audiences,” said Swedish Film Institute foreign department head Pia Lundberg. ”Swedish actors, directors and cinematographers are increasingly signed for Hollywood productions, and Swedish films are in strong demand both from markets and festivals.”