09/02/2022 - Jöns Jönsson’s second feature centres on a young museum attendant loved by his friends, colleagues and girlfriend

Ricarda Seifried and Moritz von Treuenfels in Axiom

Julius is an eloquent young museum attendant loved by his friends, colleagues and girlfriend. One day, he invites his colleagues on a sailing trip on his aristocratic family’s boat. But something goes wrong. Julius is not who he seems to be. This is the premise of Jöns Jönsson’s second feature, Axiom [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jöns Jönsson
film profile], set to premiere in the Encounters strand of this year’s Berlinale (10-20 February). Jönsson’s feature debut, Lamento [+see also:
trailer
film profile], won the First Steps Award and premiered in 2014 in the Berlinale’s Perspektive Deutsches Kino section. The film’s main cast includes Moritz von Treuenfels, Ricarda Seifried and Thomas Schubert.

Speaking about his sources of inspiration, Jönsson told Cineuropa: “I got the idea for Axiom from a short anecdote that a friend told me many years back. Somebody he knew had a new colleague who always had something interesting to say – a charismatic, sympathetic guy whom you'd be happy to be friends with. One day, he invited his colleagues to go sailing, but the trip never took place. It then took a while longer till they found out there was something up with the guy. Axiom is a film about the human condition, as I see it, boiled down to that one phrase, “Fake it till you make it,” which for me is a very striking description of our human behaviour from birth to death. My fascination with a person who is, in a contradictory way, so connected to his environment and yet so isolated from it made me start thinking about this matter, and eventually led me to a point where I completely had to question any kind of ‘true identity’, in line with the views of writer Luigi Pirandello, suggesting we all invent a new identity for each new person we meet.”

Axiom is a Bon Voyage Films (Germany) presentation. The Playmaker Munich is in charge of its world sales, whilst its German distribution has been entrusted to Filmperlen.

Check out our exclusive trailer below: