NORWAY, FRANCE, SWEDEN
2024 – DCP – color – 107’

Direction: Johanna Pyykkö

Screenplay: Johanna Pyykkö, Jørgen Færøy Flasnes

Cinematography: Torbjørn Sundal Holen

Editing: Margrethe Vinnem, Brwa Vahabpour, Geir Ørnholt, Johanna Pyykkö

Set design: Kristian Lahn Vestby

Original music: Delphine Malaussena, Jakob Lindhagen

Costumes: Andrea Marie Skeid

Cast: Camilla Godø Krohn (Ebba), Radoslav Vladimirov (Julian/Ivaylo), Maya Amina Moustache Thuv (Andrea), Renata Aleksejunaite Christensen (Iveta), Laila Goody (vicino di casa the neighbour), Christian

Skolmen (uomo di mezz’età middle-aged man), Svejen Mladenov (dottore doctor), Hristo Petkov (fratello brother), Patrick Makosir (Vincent, vicino di casa the neighbor), Liv Bernhoft Osa, Per Gørvell (proprietari di casa house owners)

Producers: Dyveke Bjørkly Graver, Renée Hansen Mlodyszewski in coproduzione con in coproduction with Maud Berbille, Nicolas Anthomé, Antoine Stehlé, Mimmi Spång, Leif Holst Jensen

Production: Oslo Pictures (No), Eye Eye Pictures (No), Bathysphere (Fr), MB17 Films (Fr), Garagefilm International (Se)

World Sales: Pyramide International

Synopsis

Ebba, a lonely 18-year-old woman, works in the harbor of Oslo. One night, she finds a beautiful man with a head injury on the ground and tries to help him. When she discovers that he has amnesia, she tricks him into believing they are lovers and builds a world for them based on lies. Little by little, Ebba finds out about his past life and that turns everything upside-down.

The director: JOHANNA PYYKKO

Swedish-Finnish director and screenwriter, Johanna Pyykkö has a bachelor’s degree in fine arts – film directing from the Norwegian Film School and a screenwriting diploma from Alma Script Academy in Sweden. She’s been an episode-director on the drama-series Nach for Discovery and been an episodewriter on the critically acclaimed drama-series Homegrown (NRK). She has directed a number of commercial films and she has made over ten short films, which have been spread to TV and film festivals around the world. Her latest one, The Manila Lover, premiered at the Cannes FF at the Semaine de la Critique (2019), won several international awards and also an Amanda (the Norwegian Academy Award) for Best Short Film.

Director’s statement

“I don’t tell stories about myself, I see myself more as an observer of society. I’ve been thinking a lot about the most manipulative and dangerous girls I’ve met in my life. Their mythomania fascinates me. I wondered about the dreams, goals and vulnerability of a young woman like that. You could also say that my heroine builds Julian’s character a bit like a scriptwriter or filmmaker would, with a ‘meta’ side, but I think everyone tells stories in one way or another.
With my co-writer Jørgen Færøy Flasnes, we started out from real life and then gradually detached ourselves from it, trying to make the character a symbol of the social issues that interest us. We wanted to go as far as possible in symbolism by incorporating philosophical aspects. It took us quite a while. The project was selected for several script development labs, including the Next Step programme at Cannes Critic’s week and the Toronto Festival. The discussions with Jørgen were fascinating, helping us to build the film like a house of cards, and he brought a male point of view to the table.”

Filmography

2011 Vi ska plocka Pascal i natt (short)
2012 Lillasyster fixar kondomer (short)
2012 Fruit Delivery (short)
2016 Oslo Traffic (short)
2019 The Manila Lover (short)
2020 My Sister Dances (short)
2021 Nach (tv series, 1 ep.)
2024 Min fantastiske fremmede (My Wonderful Stranger)

Awards and festivals

2020 MIA Roma: Arte Kino Award
2024 Gimli IFF, Canada
2024 Film by the Sea, Paesi Bassi The Netherlands
2024 Cheltenham IFF, UK
2024 Mostra de Sao Paulo, Brazil

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