Wild Card – the filmmakers of tomorrow

Maria Tórgarð, Johanna Milerud and Theodor Solin have been selected for the Swedish Film Institute’s initiative Wild Card, sharing a total of SEK 1.2 million to develop their feature film projects.

Wild Card is the Film Institute’s way of reaching a new generation of filmmakers, offering newly graduated directors development funding to work on a feature film. The directors apply with their graduation films and three minutes of moving images presenting their feature film idea.

The winners were announced last evening at a ceremony at Filmhuset as part of Stockholm International Film Festival’s Industry Days. Each filmmaker is awarded SEK 400 000 that shall be used to produce a concept short for their feature film, as well as for development of idea, project, and script.

The jury consist of editing film commissioners and controllers from the Swedish Film Institute.

Maria Tórgarð – Knots

Jury motivation
With her graduation film, the director demonstrated courage, originality, and cinematic playfulness in a complex portrait of an unconventional mother. With her new project, she returns to the Faroe Islands to confront societal silence around, and show the female solidarity and struggle against, one of Europe’s last abortions bans. A timely project from a promising new film voice capturing a society on the brink of change.

– Wild Card gives me the courage and freedom to tell a story that has long been silenced. I feel deeply grateful for this support at such a crucial time in my filmmaking journey, and for the trust to bring this important story to the world, says Maria Tórgarð.

Synopsis
In the Faroe Islands, abortion remains illegal, and the subject is shrouded in silence and shame. Knots follows director Maria Tórgarð as she returns home to confront this silence. Through her own story and those of other women, a collective portrayal emerges - of courage, solidarity, and a society on the edge of transformation.

Biography
Maria Tórgarð (b. 1997) is an award-winning film director and artist from the Faroe Islands, based in Stockholm. She holds a degree from Stockholm University of the Arts and debuted as a director with the critically acclaimed documentary Skál (2021), one of the most successful films to come out of the Faroe Islands.

Johanna Milerud – The Men (Männen)

Jury motivation
The graduation film gives hope for an unrestrained cinematic future—a promise of continuation in a longer format, where the whimsical upends reality, where the offbeat creates drama in the midst of monotony, and where invisible boundaries of human behavior are illuminated. The jury looks forward to following how this filmmaker and her screenwriter continue their delightfully unpredictable journey.

– I’m incredibly happy and grateful for this support. It feels like such a luxury to, right after graduation, be able to fully immerse myself in the idea and the characters. I’m really looking forward to developing both the project and my filmmaking further, says Johanna Milerud.

Synopsis
When a 19-year-old daughter sees her mother get dumped yet again, she’s had enough. She decides to set things right by taking revenge on the man who first broke her mother’s heart. But when it turns out he’s dying of cancer, she instead directs her revenge toward his son.

Biography
Johanna Milerud (b. 1999) is a filmmaker from Stockholm. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Film from HDK-Valand and has also studied Film Production at Kulturama. Her graduation film Dream Daddy has been screened at Nordisk Panorama and the Norwegian International Film Festival in Haugesund.

Theodor Solin – Obsession (Besatt)

Jury motivation
This graduating student’s films allow the absurd and the frightening to creep into everyday life; with small but effective means, perverse play becomes deadly serious. In his new project, the safety of home transforms into an existential crisis - a space of desire, power games, and laughter that gets stuck in your throat. The jury is eager to follow this filmmaker, as well as the strong and intriguing team assembled around the film and its process.

– I’m truly grateful for this support, coming at such an exciting stage after my studies, as I now take the next step toward my feature film. It feels like the perfect boost to dive deeper into the script and explore the story and its form together with others, says Theodor Solin.

Synopsis
Eero and Jasmine struggle with involuntary childlessness. When it’s revealed that Eero is infertile, their world falls apart. When cousin Dante moves in, new desires and thoughts are awakened - leading to devastating consequences.

Biography
Theodor Solin (b. 1993) grew up in Stockholm and is a screenwriter and director. He studied at Edinburgh College of Art and Stockholm University of the Arts. His short films have been screened at national and international film festivals and on Swedish Television (SVT).