Hunting and cheerleading

Power Jaguars. Photo: Niklas Panthel

Sarah Gyllenstierna, former assistant director to Spike Lee, directs Jakt på ett vitt fält (English title tba) about three men obsessed with hunting. Power Jaguars is a short doc about cheerleading and female friendship directed by Jessica and Annika Karlsson (Crystal Bear nominated Loving Lorna). The short film Vernissage is a drama satire by Arvin Kananian (soon to be seen in the cast of Ruben Östlund’s Triangle of Sadness). These are just some of the latest projects to be granted production funding.

In the thriller Jakt på ett vitt fält by Sarah Gyllenstierna, Alex, Greger and Henrik are in a remote cabin to do some hunting. They do well the first few days, but suddenly all the forest wildlife disappears, but the men are obsessed that the hunt must go on. This is Gyllenstierna’s first feature film after various shorts.

Hunting is also in focus in the short documentary The Longest Wait (Den längsta väntan) by Lisa Meyer. Teenagers Thelma and Sahlina have just been granted dispensation to go hunting on their own for the first time, without adult supervision. When they’re hunting together, they create their own sanctuary, which gives them a taste of the adult life to come. The film premiered at the Tempo Documentary Festival, and Meyer is now making a feature-length film on the same subject.

The Good Driver is a Finnish-Swedish co-production directed by Tonislav Hristov, whose The Magic Life of V screened at the Sundance Film Festival. The film follows Ivan, who makes his living driving a taxi at the Bulgarian tourist resort of Golden Sands. He needs to earn money to get back to Finland to see his ex-wife and try to make amends for his old mistakes.

Power Jaguars is a short documentary about a cheerleading team training for the Swedish Championships, but it is also a film about friendship between women. It is directed by Jessica and Annika Karlsson, whose previous works include A Legacy of Horses which competed at the IDFA, and Loving Lorna which was nominated for a Crystal Bear at the Berlin Film Festival.

Arvin Kananian’s short film Vernissage follows Simon and Siván and their perfect lives. Their carefully curated day is planned down to the finest detail, from how they have sex to their choice of couple’s therapist. One evening, Simon is forced to confront a realization he has previously ignored: their marriage is all surface and no depth. Will Simon burst the bubble they exist in? The film has real people from the world of culture making cameo appearances.

Read more about all projects granted funding