AICN continues the love for "let the right one in"

AIN`T IT COOL NEWS continues the love-fest for the Swedish film "LET THE RIGHT ONE IN" ("LÅT DEN RÄTTE KOMMA IN"), by stating that: "It genuinely is one of the best movies in any language on any subject made this year" and stating a resound "FUCK NO!!!" to the idea of a US remake by MATT REEVES ("CLOVERFIELD") - or any other filmmaker as well, for that matter.

I strongly believe that this time right now, with Swedish films such as "LET THE RIGHT ONE IN" ("LÅT DEN RÄTTE KOMMA IN"), "WOLF" ("VARG") and "EVERLASTING MOMENTS" ("MARIA LARSSONS EVIGA ÖGONBLICK") heralds a new dawn for Swedish cinema. hell, even the two "ARN"-films ("THE KNIGHT TEMPLAR") in terms of film-making technique is impressive. let´s keep our fingers crossed - the last time the industry got excited and started talking about a new "golden age" for Swedish cinema was when LUKAS MOODYSON and JOSEF FARES started making their first films. that "golden age" didn´t last very long, either. if there ever was one. this time, it atleast feels that the reason people are getting excited isn´t because there´s a bunch of young directors shooting on crappy handheld-camera systems, doing rebellious films - but because solid professionals are making grand, epic, larger-than-life-films. some bad, some amazingly great. they´ve realized the importance of style and, most importantly, genre.

we´re living in pretty extraordinary times.

AICN rewiews swedish film! holy crap!

it´s very rare these days that SWEDISH FILMS gets any serious international press coverage. so when I see that one of the worlds, if not THE most important internet film news site, AIN`T IT COOL NEWS has a review of the film "LET THE RIGHT ONE COME IN", then I get goose-bumps.

I feel very strongly that Swedish cinema is in a strong phase of re-awakening. older structural tabus of how to make films and why, and what they´re about, are being torn down. just the very notion of a genre based film getting any state-funded support and mainstream attention would have been a ridiculous notion just a handfull of years ago. who knows - perhaps we can look forward to some groundbreaking Swedish science-fiction as well...?

filmform a priori part 1

this morning, I sat in the PAN theatre, participating in the first lecture part of GUNNEL PETTERSON:s "FILMFORM A PRIORI 2008" series. this special section showcases experimental and non-narrative audiovisual works, stemming from FILMFORM, the Swedish archival-society, which also produces and distributes films in it catalogue. the section is thus a historical showcasing, exhibiting not only the archive´s huge collection, but also highlighting the energizing qualities of such films. in this first part, six short films were shown. on a personal level, two films stood out with their visionary elements: JAN W. MORTHENSONs "SUPERSONICS" from 1968 and "MY NAME IS OONA" by Swedish GUNVOR NELSON. the last mentioned film is a representative of the "poetic cinema" movement, but is also a highly viable example of a post-political film with propagandic tendencies. the repetetive audio-fauna is highly intoxicating and very brainwashing-esque. also "SUPERSONIC" exhibited repetitive functions, but in a more graphic form. in many ways, seeing a 1968 short film whose images are ripe with science-fiction elements, made the film seem more visionary than many of its modern successors. JAN W. MORTHENSON:s film thus has severy groovy tendencies. that, we like.