Set in a near-future Sweden, where jobs are scarce, margins are tight and corporate profit trumps all, this timely hybrid film reveals a frighteningly all-too-recognisable economic dystopia. Sköld highlights the effects of the ruthless system on families, friendships and communities. All but a hair’s breadth away from homelessness, zero-hours contract workers squabble over shifts at the discount supermarket while store manager Eleni, a new mother forced to return to work too soon, frantically pumps breast milk in the staff toilets. Poignant and compellingly performed, the film’s vignettes are punctuated with animated sequences, inventively exposing the dehumanising and absurdly wasteful effects of capitalism. And yet, beyond the store, an ever-growing ‘underclass’ offers a sense of hope through sustainability and true community.
Jens Odlander
La víspera del 28 de junio de 2011, los periodistas suecos Martin Schibbye y Johan Persson pusieron todo en juego al cruzar ilegalmente la frontera de Somalia a Etiopía. Después de meses de investigación, planificación e intentos fallidos, finalmente estaban en camino de informar sobre cómo la despiadada búsqueda de petróleo afectó a la población de la aislada y asolada región de Ogaden. Cinco días después yacían heridos en la arena del desierto, fusilados y capturados por el ejército etíope. Pero cuando murió su reportaje inicial, comenzó otra historia. Una historia sobre la anarquía, la propaganda y la política global. Después de un juicio kafkiano, fueron condenados a once años de prisión por terrorismo. Y estaban lejos de estar solos. Sus compañeros de celda eran periodistas, escritores y políticos perseguidos por no doblegarse ante la dictadura.
Anders
Ove (Rolf Lassgård), de 59 años, es un hombre gruñón que ha perdido la fe en todo el mundo, incluido en él mismo; hasta que su visión negativa del hombre y la sociedad es puesta a prueba por una familia que se muda a la casa de al lado.
Harald
Mikko Virtanen feels like a Swedish soul trapped in a Finnish body. Full of disgust for everything Finnish, he sees Sweden as heaven. Upon meeting a suicidal Swedish psychologist Mikael Anderson, he seizes an opportunity for an identity switch. Raspberry Boat Refugee is a comedy about cultural differences in the Nordic countries, their nationalism and, not least, prejudices about our neighbours. It also proves how futile it is to try to escape oneself.
Lukas
Mariken Halle first asked around her neighborhood if she might make a school film about one of her neighbors. When that didn’t work, she and her small film crew began addressing people on the streets of Göteborg. How would they imagine a movie that they would want to star in? The results were far from fantastic – she encountered dismissively amused responses and boring, confused ideas. But some of the people she talked to were different. They try getting into their “life role” – and she begins to direct them....
