Archive of films She Male Snails / Pojktanten

Sweden / Denmark
2012, 72 min

Section: Another View
Year: 2012

While director Ester Martin Bergsmark and artist and writer Eli Levén enjoy a shared bath and shave each other’s legs, they think up a story about a fantasy world called Pojktanten. Their focal point is a young man trapped between two genders who invents a third one in order to survive. The experimental, strongly stylized documentary is reminiscent of the early work of Derek Jarman.

Synopsis

An intriguing documentary portrait focusing on transgendered artist and writer Eli Levén (b. 1984). Director Ester Martin Bergsmark develops a shared, utterly personal topic into an experimental film. It begins with a scene of intimate relaxation in a tub of hot water that the filmmaker shares with Eli. While enjoying the bath and shaving each other’s legs, they think up a story together about a fantasy world called Pojktanten. Their focal point is a young man trapped between two genders who invents a third one in order to survive. Jaded dreams overflow into esthetic experiences of a state of being which never stops searching within itself for permanent stability – and which in the past engaged in exciting yet brutal confrontations. Shot for Swedish television, the provocatively stylized movie contains amateur black-and-white shots from Levén’s early youth. The film, reminiscent of Derek Jarman’s early work, took the Nordic Vision Prize at Sweden’s Göteborg IFF.

About the director

Ester Martin Bergsmark (b. 1982, Stockholm) began working with Mark Hammarberg while studying documentary direction together at Sweden’s Biskops Arnö school. Over the course of four years they have developed an innovative experimental style combining distinctive stylization with a personal documentary approach. Together they created the short documentary Swallow It (Svajl, 2007) and the feature project Maggie in Wonderland (Maggie vaknar på balkongen, 2008), with creative support from Lukas Moodyson (the well-known director of the 1998 comedy Show Me Love / Fucking Åmål). The film was awarded a Guldbagge, Sweden’s national award, for Best Swedish Documentary from the Swedish Film Institute. In 2009 Bergsmark took part with 11 other directors in a feminist porn showcase entitled Dirty Diaries (the segment "Fruitcake”).

Contacts

Swedish Film Institute
Box 27126, S-102 52, Stockholm
Sweden
Tel: +46 866 511 00
Fax: +46 866 118 20
E-mail: [email protected]
www: www.sfi.se

Upfront Films
Farvergade 2, 1463, Kobenhavn
Denmark
Tel: +45 272 150 57
E-mail: [email protected]

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About the film

Color, HD CAM

Section:	Another View

Director:	Ester Martin Bergsmark
Screenplay:	Ester Martin Bergsmark
Dir. of Photography:	Minka Jakerson, Ester Martin Bergsmark
Music:	Mirejam Shala, Magnus Engstedt
Editor:	Britta Norell, Björn Kessler
Producer:	Anna-Maria Kantarius
Production:	Upfront Films, Robota Produktion AB
Cast:	Eli Levén, Ester Martin Bergsmark
Contact:	Swedish Film Institute, Upfront Films

Guests

Ester Martin Bergsmark

Film Director

Eli Levén

Screenwriter

Rosa Fernandez

Film Crew