Another View 2012 / Pojktanten / Sweden, Denmark 2012
While director Ester Martin Bergsmark and artist and writer Eli Levén enjoy a shared bath and shave each other’s legs, they think up a story about a fantasy world called Pojktanten. Their focal point is a young man trapped between two genders who invents a third one in order to survive. The experimental, strongly stylized documentary is reminiscent of the early work of Derek Jarman.
An intriguing documentary portrait focusing on transgendered artist and writer Eli Levén (b. 1984). Director Ester Martin Bergsmark develops a shared, utterly personal topic into an experimental film. It begins with a scene of intimate relaxation in a tub of hot water that the filmmaker shares with Eli. While enjoying the bath and shaving each other’s legs, they think up a story together about a fantasy world called Pojktanten. Their focal point is a young man trapped between two genders who invents a third one in order to survive. Jaded dreams overflow into esthetic experiences of a state of being which never stops searching within itself for permanent stability – and which in the past engaged in exciting yet brutal confrontations. Shot for Swedish television, the provocatively stylized movie contains amateur black-and-white shots from Levén’s early youth. The film, reminiscent of Derek Jarman’s early work, took the Nordic Vision Prize at Sweden’s Göteborg IFF.
72 min / Color, HD CAM
Director Ester Martin Bergsmark
/ Screenplay Ester Martin Bergsmark
/ Dir. of Photography Minka Jakerson, Ester Martin Bergsmark
/ Music Mirejam Shala, Magnus Engstedt
/ Editor Britta Norell, Björn Kessler
/ Producer Anna-Maria Kantarius
/ Production Upfront Films, Robota Produktion AB
/ Cast Eli Levén, Ester Martin Bergsmark
/ Contact Swedish Film Institute, Upfront Films
Ester Martin Bergsmark (b. 1982, Stockholm) began working with Mark Hammarberg while studying documentary direction together at Sweden’s Biskops Arnö school. Over the course of four years they have developed an innovative experimental style combining distinctive stylization with a personal documentary approach. Together they created the short documentary Swallow It (Svajl, 2007) and the feature project Maggie in Wonderland (Maggie vaknar på balkongen, 2008), with creative support from Lukas Moodyson (the well-known director of the 1998 comedy Show Me Love / Fucking Åmål). The film was awarded a Guldbagge, Sweden’s national award, for Best Swedish Documentary from the Swedish Film Institute. In 2009 Bergsmark took part with 11 other directors in a feminist porn showcase entitled Dirty Diaries (the segment "Fruitcake”).
Swedish Film Institute
Box 27126, S-102 52, Stockholm
Sweden
Phone: +46 866 511 00
Fax: +46 866 118 20
E-mail: [email protected]
Upfront Films
Farvergade 2, 1463, Kobenhavn
Denmark
Phone: +45 272 150 57
E-mail: [email protected]
Ester Martin Bergsmark
Film Director
Eli Levén
Screenwriter
Rosa Fernandez
Film Crew
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