11/09/2007

Danish director Simon Staho is currently editing his third Swedish film, Heaven’s Heart, while promoting Daisy Diamond, selected in official competition at the upcoming San Sebastian Film Festival (September 20-29).

Staho has already been to San Sebastian twice before: in 2004 for Day & Night, shown in the Zabaltegi section, and the following year for Bang Bang Orangutang in official competition. Both Swedish-made films had local star Mikael Persbrandt as a common denominator, just like the upcoming Heaven’s Heart.

Danish producer Jonas Frederiksen, who first collaborated with Staho on Day and Night, says that the filmmaker originally hired Persbrandt for his 2003 short film Now, an experience that triggered his desire to continue working with him and other Swedish actors. Other top domestic actors in Heaven’s Heart include Lena Endre, Maria Lundqvist and Jakob Eklund.

Heaven’s Heart is a film about marriage. Two couples who have been married for 20 years get together at a dinner party. One of them starts talking about the unfaithfulness of one of her colleagues, which sets off a heated discussion. Suddenly, the notion of happiness within marriage seems much more fragile.

The €2m film is produced by Zentropa’s Swedish production arm Trollhättan in co-production with Staho and Frederiksen’s company XX Film, Film i Väst and Sonet Film. The delivery date is set for February 2008.

Frederiksen and Staho are currently fine-tuning the final cut of Daisy Diamond ahead of its competition screening in San Sebastian. The film starring Noomi Rapace, Sofie Gråbøl and Trine Dyrhol tells the story of an actress who desperately tries to combine her work with motherhood. SF Film/Filmcompagniet will release it in Denmark on November 23.