Light in the winter darkness For eleven days in the midst of winter, tens of thousands of people will make their way into the cinemas of Gothenburg to watch films from Sweden, Scandinavia and the rest of the world. Over 130,000 tickets have been sold for 700 screenings, making the Göteborg International Film Festival the largest film festival in Scandinavia. The 2012 festival, which has its dazzling inaugural party at the Clarion Hotel Post on January 27, is paying special attention to films from the Arab countries. One of the films is No More Fear, which portrays the Tunisian revolution. Danish film is another area of special interest at this year’s festival. You can find out how Danish film is developing after the Dogme 95 film-making movement. Perhaps one of the most talked-about Swedish films
Ruben rules Ruben Östlund from Gothenburg has become one of cinema’s hottest directors, portraying grassroots crime in everyday life. His latest endeavor includes an ambitious challenge, attempting “the most spectacular avalanche scene in film history”.
George Clooney turned down the offer to play in director Alexander Paynes ”Sideways”. Seven years later they join forces in ”The Descendants”, premiering at Gothenburg International Film Festival.
this year is Avalon, but there are plenty of English language films at the 35th edition of the festival too. Among the representatives of the film industry in attendance is director Alexander Payne, whose latest film Descendants features George Clooney. Nordic Film Market, one of Scandinavia’s leading film markets, is represented at
the Göteborg International Film Festival. Nordic Film Market shows the latest and upcoming Scandinavian films for buyers and festival organizers all over the world during four intensive days. This combination of large, wide-ranging public access with a highly effec tive trade fair, makes the Göteborg International Film Festival unique.
The Göteborg Opera is located by the harbour in the centre of the city. A wide range of opera, dance and musicals are performed here for large and varied audiences. Current shows include the classical musical West Side Story, the
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opera Lady Macbeth Of Mtsensk by Dmitri Shostakovich and the dance piece noBody by Sasha Waltz. The opera house was completed in 1994 and is worth walking around. The architect, Jan Iskowitz, was inspired by the surrounding
landscape and he describes his building in the following poetic words: “Something that makes your senses soar above the meandering landscape like the wings of a seagull. Its form is inspired by its location amidst the impressive but diffuse landscape with its special light and openness alongside the technical concrete constructions in the harbour; the bridges hovering elegantly above the water; the framing of the harbour cranes, the strength, softness and elegance of the body of a ship, the wings of the seagull and faultless line of a sail.” We could not have put it better.
Photo: Helén Karlsson
West Side Opera
Ruben Östlund got his big break in 2008 with the feature film Involuntary, a painful, comic study of how you end up in strange and embarrassing situations with other people. It was nominated for Best Director at Cannes and was Sweden’s Oscar-contribution for Best non-English language film. In 2010 Östlund won a Golden Bear in Berlin for the short film Incident by a bank and his recent feature film Play won great acclaim at Cannes in 2011 with a Coup de Coeur, meaning it was the festival management’s favourite movie. Play is based on real cases and describes how a group of black immigrants mug their white peers for their mobile phones and other valuables. These are crimes that are presented with a great sense of psychology, but the subject has still managed to invoke allegations of racism. The director himself appreciates the debate. He says he has just described a reality where the traditional image of society gains new dimensions. When victims become offenders. When the powerless gain superiority. Ruben Östlund is currently working in Canada on a film called Tourist. This new work focuses on off-piste skiing, where people who think they are in control find themselves in an extreme situation. Östlund knows this subject well. He is an off-piste enthusiast who started his career with ski movies such as Addicted and Free Radicals. He is already promising an avalanche story that beats anything previously presented on the silver screen...
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