Charter by Amanda Kernell is Sweden’s Academy Award submission

Ande Dahl Torp in Charter. Photo: Sophia Olson / TrustNordisk

Amanda Kernell’s film Charter has been selected as Sweden’s submission for an Academy Award in the Best International Feature Film category.

Alice (played by Ane Dahl Torp) hasn’t seen her two children in months. After a recent and difficult divorce, her ex-husband (Sverrir Gudnason) keeps them from seeing her, awaiting the final custody verdict in northern Sweden. When her son calls her in the middle of the night weeping helplessly, Alice takes action. In a last desperate attempt to win them over, she abducts her children and ventures on an illicit charter trip to the Canary Islands.

Charter, director and screenwriter Amanda Kernell's follow-up to the acclaimed Sami Blood (2016), had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in January where it competed in the World Cinema Drama category. The film had its European premiere at Göteborg Film Festival, competing for a Dragon Award for Best Nordic Film. Charter was recently also nominated for the Nordic Council Film Prize.

– Charter had a very strange start, premiering in Swedish cinemas just when the corona crisis hit. So I’m absolutely thrilled that the film continues to travel the world and is seen by and touches a new audience. And it feels incredibly great to be able to represent Sweden! says Amanda Kernell.

– The jury has chosen to nominate Amanda Kernell's very personal and moving film. A slow-burning and well-played family drama that is one of this year's most challenging films. That this is just Amanda Kernell's second feature bodes well for the future – we are dealing with a very confident director, who can be ranked among the most promising European filmmakers, says Steffen Andersen-Møller, Head of the International Department at the Swedish Film Institute and chairman of the Oscar Committee.

Amanda Kernell was born in Umeå 1986 and studied directing at the National Film School of Denmark. Her debut feature Sami Blood premiered at the Venice International Film Festival and won the Europa Cinemas Label for best European film. The film has won several awards including The Special Jury Prize at Tokyo International Film Festival, Dragon Award for Best Nordic Film at Göteborg Film Festival, the Lux Film Prize and several Swedish Guldbagge Awards.

Charter was produced by Lars G Lindström and Eva Åkergren, Nordisk Film Production Sweden, with support from the Swedish Film Institute, Film Commissioner Jenny Gilbertsson and former Film Commissioner Calle Martin. Also starring Tintin Poggats Sarri and Troy Lundkvist (as the children) and Eva Melander. Nordisk Film is the Swedish distributor, with international sales handled by TrustNordisk.

The 93rd edition of the Oscars will be held on April 25, 2021.
 

About the selection

Each year the Swedish Oscar Committee nominates a Swedish candidate for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film. Swedish films that have had their domestic premiere between 1 October 2019 and 31 December 2020, and meet the requirements for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), have been eligible for the 2021 Oscars.

For this year’s shortlist, Roy Andersson’s About Endlessness and documentary I Am Greta by Nathan Grossman were also chosen by the jury.

Members of the Swedish Oscar Committee:

Jan Lumholdt, The Swedish Film Critics Association
Goran Kapetanović, The Swedish Union for Performing Arts and Film – directors
Lisa Ohlin, The Swedish Union for Performing Arts and Film – directors
Zoran Slavic, The Swedish Film and Television Cooperation Committee
Lena Rehnberg, The Swedish Film & TV Producers Association
Christer Nilson, The Swedish Film & TV Producers Association
Mirja Wester, Göteborg International Film Festival

Chairman: Steffen Andersen-Møller, head of the International Department at the Swedish Film Institute.

For more information, please contact:
Theo Tsappos, Festival Manager at the International Department at the Swedish Film Institute: theo.tsappos@sfi.se, phone: +4686651133