Film i Väst: One of the busiest production hubs in Europe through the pandemic

Film i Väst, the public film fund for the western region of Sweden, is fully up and running during the pandemic, with as many productions booked as before covid-19 shut down production globally.

Film i Väst has seen an influx of productions, with numbers on par with last years, which goes against the global trend of halting or slowing down productions due to the pandemic. Ruben Östlund recently shot Triangle of Sadness, the follow-up to Golden Globes and Oscar-nominated The Square, with Woody Harrelson leading the cast at the shoot in Trollhättan. Joachim Trier, director of Palme d’Or nominee Louder than bombs, will soon start production on The Worst Person In The World, followed by Tarik Saleh, who’ll shoot Boy From Heaven, starring Fares Fares in the follow up to Saleh’s Sundance Grand Jury Prize winner Nile Hilton Incident.

Several productions that were scheduled to shoot elsewhere in Europe have been relocated to Film i Väst and west Sweden, notably among them The Emigrants, SF Studios’ new major feature, which will start shooting in the region this week. The epic drama is directed by Erik Poppe, with a cast including Gustaf Skarsgård, Lisa Carlehed and Sofia Helin, and Grammy and Golden Globe nominated singer Tove Lo making her acting debut. Another feature that’s also relocated production to the region is Hannes Holm’s follow-up to Oscar-nominated A Man Called Ove, which is a modern take on the classic Swedish tale The Story of Karl-Bertil Jonsson’s Christmas Eve.

– We’ve increased our investments in several productions, to make sure they have ample funding for safety measures, and we’ve also covered costs for production delays due to the pandemic, as well as costs for relocations. As result, we’re busier than ever, and most importantly: all productions remain healthy, which means that we’ve been able to welcome international talent like Woody Harrelson to Sweden, says Mikael Fellenius, CEO of Film i Väst. It means a lot that runaway productions are moving back to Sweden, and that we’re seeing the industry moving forward through difficult times.

– We are very happy to finally be able to start shooting The Emigrants, and I am especially excited that the production will take place in Sweden. The Emigrants is this decade’s largest film investment for SF Studios, and the fact that we have been able to adapt to the circumstances even as we face new challenges due to the pandemic and move a production of this size to Sweden, will hopefully give a much needed boost to Swedish, as well as Nordic and international film production, says Fredrik Wikström Nicastro, producer at SF Studios.

Despite unusual circumstances, Film i Väst has had another good year at festivals, with three films in Cannes’ Official Selection 2020: Thomas Vinterberg’s Last Round, shot in Region Västra Götaland and co-produced by Film i Väst, Magnus von Horn’s Sweat and Ninja Thyberg’s Pleasure. Last Round was also selected by Toronto, San Sebastian and London. Earlier this year, Film i Väst had six co-productions in Berlin: Sally Potter’s The Roads not Taken, Cristi Puiu’s Malmkrog, Maria Sødahl’s Hope, Jon Holmberg’s Sune – Best man, Mikael Wulff and Anders Morgenthaler’s Monty and the Street Party. For Venice Film Festival Film i Väst has co-produced Kaouther Ben Hania’sThe Man Who Sold His Skin.