Wild Card – three new stars on the Swedish film scene

André Vaara, Lisa Forslund and Angelica Ruffier (small image) - happy Wild Card 2023 winners. Photo: Catherine Jarl, Swedish Film Institute

Lisa Forslund, André Vaara and Angelica Ruffier have been selected for the Swedish Film Institute's Wild Card. They share SEK 1.2 million to develop their feature film projects. Their stories deal with prison romances, rowdy 13-year-olds and teenage love.

Wild Card is the Film Institute's way of reaching out to the new generation, where newly graduated directors receive development funding to quickly get started with their feature film debut. The directors have applied with their graduation film as well as three minutes of moving material in which they presented their feature film idea.

The winners were presented at a ceremony in Filmhuset yesterday evening, during the Stockholm International Film Festival's Industry Days. The filmmakers were awarded SEK 400,000 each to make a sketch film for a feature film, and to development their idea, project and script.

The jury groups consist of film commissioners and controllers at the Film Institute's production support unit.


Lisa Forslund for her film Clementine Orange

Motivation of the jury
In previous films, this director has dared to investigate, test and stretch, and her own voice permeates the projects. The new project continues to twist and turn a theme and at the same time offers a killing, subtle and direct humor. The narration is merciless and probing with a nerve and a presence and the story is placed within a clear and easily accessible framework. The main character is extremely annoying and erratic and the film offers uncomfortable situations, but we are curious to see what she can get up to and what might happen during the intense 24 hours the film will take place.

– I am so happy and grateful that the Film Institute's jury has chosen to invest in my project. It means a lot to me as a newly graduated director. I think it makes it easier when it comes to finding people to collaborate with which means we get off to a good start! says Lisa Forslund.

Synopsis
Angelica has been in contact with John, who is in prison, for some time. Feelings have arisen, but when they meet for the first time during John's leave, Angelica is disappointed. John is not the rebel she imagined.

Biography
Lisa Forslund was born in 1990 in Stockholm and is a director and screenwriter. She is educated at HDK-Valand - Academy of Art and Design and the Royal Academy of Art and has had art exhibitions in Sweden and Norway. Her graduation project , Ships Passing in the Night, is a video installation that explores destructive patterns in a love relationship.


André Vaara for his film Beautiful Misfits

Motivation of the jury
In his graduation film and previous films, this filmmaker has shown sure instinct, sensitivity and a talent for authenticity in his direction and in his storytelling. The new project is captivating and touching, a story that is serious but depicted with a light touch and with a clear perspective. The director presents a visual and atmospheric story, makes clear choices and stands unquestionably on the side of his main characters, the children. The filmmaker surprises with small brushstrokes in a film that is deeply personal and brings to mind the Swedish film Children's Island (Barnens ö).

– I am so incredibly proud and grateful that we have received the Wild Card. It's like taking a racing car right into the development of the project. This is a story that moves through both internal and external changing landscapes, and we are very much looking forward to starting to shape both the drama and the settings, says André Vaara.

Synopsis
The rowdy 13-year-olds Oden and Julian drift around in the small town where they don't feel at home. When the parents threaten to separate the boys, they decide to hide on a train and escape.

Biography
André Vaara is a director and screenwriter, raised in Gällivare in Norrbotten. He graduated this spring from the bachelor's program in film at HDK-Valand - Academy of Art and Design and is currently studying the master's program in fiction directing at the Stockholm University of the Arts. He has previously written and directed the short films I Want to See Gellivare Burn (Jag vill se Gällivare brinna) and Baby (Älskling), which have been shown and praised at several festivals. The latter was awarded an honorable mention at last year's edition of 1 KM Film at the Stockholm International Film Festival.


Angelica Ruffier for her film I Have a Face to Be Loved

Motivation of the jury
With her graduation film, the director already shows evidence of the kind of film magic befitting a future prominent auteur. With a steady hand, both cinematic poetry and everyday realism are combined with a playfully heightened staging - all parts exemplary executed. The starting point of the story is the death of the director's father, which inevitably brings the director back to her childhood, her youth where the first, painful, unrequited love lingers most strongly in her memory. The jury looks forward to following this artistry as well as the strong team created around the film.

– I Have a Face to Be Loved is a film written in the making and I am very happy and touched by this award which allows this story to continue to grow, outside of the wonderfully privileged environment a school is for your creative development. This award feels like a warm, encouraging look that enables me and my team's process to not have to stop, and can remain at its own pace and tone, says Angelica Ruffier.

Synopsis
In the process of emptying her childhood home after her father's death, Angelica remembers an intense and solitary love she had in her teens for her history teacher Miss S.

Biography
Angelica Ruffier was born in Luleå, grew up in France and has been active in Sweden since 2017. She is trained in documentary directing at Biskops Arnö Folk High School and Stockholm University of the Arts. Angelica has directed, edited and produced the short films From Here to There and the Other Way Around (Härifrån och dit och tillbaka igen), Stranger and People of the Recycling Market (Människor på återvinningsmarknad) and since 2019 is developing the documentary film The Strikers (Strejkarna) together with Helena Molin and Olga Ruin, produced by MDEMC.

Previous year's Wild Card winner
2018 Fanny Ovesen, Ernst De Geer and Jerry Carlsson
2019 Amanda Björk, Jonathan Nikolaj Heinius and Nathalie Álvarez Mesén
2020 Sebastian Johansson Micci and Elsa Rosengren
2021 Angelika Abramovitch, Lina Vain Illalla and Loran Batti
2023 Tess Quatri, Vangelis Kollias, Simone Norberg

For questions, contact
Hanna Sohlberg, film consultant for Moving Sweden at the Film Institute
hanna.sohlberg@filminstitutet.se
08-665 12 75

Lina Norberg Johansson, talent manager and controller at Production Support at the Film Institute
lina.norberg@filminstitutet.se
08-665 12 27