2012: A Musical Odyssey 2011 / The Extraordinary Ordinary Life of José González / Sweden 2010
Documentary and fiction (via animated sequences) come together in this ambitious portrait of Swedish songwriter José González. The directing duo trace the musician’s life using several visual keys at the same time: video diary, surveillance cameras, concert footage, tour documentation and animation. How does one capture the creative process on film, moreover, that of a solitary songwriter?
Documentary and fiction (via animated sequences) come together in this ambitious portrait of Swedish songwriter José González, who has acquired immense international popularity over the last decade. The directing duo trace the musician’s life using several visual keys at the same time: video journal, surveillance cameras, concert footage, tour documentation and animation. All this to a common end: to film something as elusive as the creative process. Where do these songs come from? What precedes the genesis of a powerful song? González records his own soliloquies, reflecting on the photon’s journey from the sun to our eyes, on Darwinism, and the creative struggle. The film was shot over a three-year period on location in Sweden, Japan, South Africa, Great Britain, the USA, Chile and Argentina. Director Mikel Cee Karlsson: "There is something absurd, fascinating and beautiful in our attempts to find meaning in our existence. In this film we wanted to give form to the personal artistic process. How personal reflection and everyday fragments of life shape our input and output.”
74 min / Color, DIGIBETA
Director Mikel Cee Karlsson, Fredrik Egerstrand
/ Dir. of Photography Fredrik Egerstrand, Mikel Cee Karlsson
/ Music José González
/ Editor Mikel Cee Karlsson
/ Producer Erik Hemmendorff
/ Production Plattform Produktion
/ Contact Swedish Film Institute
www: www.josegonzalezthefilm.com
Mikel Cee Karlsson (b. 1977, Varberg, Sweden) studied direction at the School of Film Directing in Göteborg. He has made several award-winning shorts and also music videos for the likes of Fever Ray, Bonde do Role and José González. During the 1990s he was one of Scandinavia’s best skateboarders. His first feature-length film, the documentary Greetings from the Woods (2009), was selected for the official programme at Locarno.
Fredrik Egerstrand (b. 1967, Alingsås, Sweden) worked as an actor for eleven years before buying his first video camera. Since then he has been making films for opera, ballet and theatre productions, music videos and programmes for Swedish television.
Swedish Film Institute
Box 27126, S-102 52, Stockholm
Sweden
Phone: +46 866 511 00
Fax: +46 866 118 20
E-mail: [email protected]
Pavel Klusák
Freelance journalist
First-hand brews throughout the year.
Be among the first to learn about upcoming events and other news. We only send the newsletter when we have something to say.
