The Cannes Film Festival has announced that director Ruben Östlund’s THE SQUARE will compete for the Palme d’Or with Mad Men actress Elisabeth Moss and Danish actor Claes Bang in the leading roles. THE SQUARE makes it the forth Film i Väst co-production in competition so far in this year’s edition of the festival.
After the international success with Force Majeure (2014) that won the Jury Price in Un Certain Regard, director Ruben Östlund is back in Cannes and competing for a Palme d’Or with his new feature film THE SQUARE.
Golden Globe winner Elisabeth Moss (Mad Men, 2007-2015, Top of the Lake, 2013-2017, The Free World, 2016, Truth, 2015, The One I Love, 2014) plays against Danish actor Claes Bang (Sibel & Max, 2015-2016, The Bridge, 2013).
– I wish to shed light on the divide of trust that slowly but surely widens between people when society is gradually turning individualistic and ideals are sacrificed. I’d like to do this with humoristic seriousness and using the international art world of today a back-drop, says director Ruben Östlund.
THE SQUARE also features actors like Christopher Læssø (Sjit Happens, 2016, The Bridge, 2015) and the internationally renowned art gallerist Marina Schiptjenko.
The film is a Swedish, French and German co-production, by and large shot and post-produced in the west region of Sweden with complementary shootings in Stockholm and Berlin during June-October 2016.
The film team consists of most of the same professionals behind Force Majeure, such as scenographer Josefin Åsberg, the Guldbagge Awarded director of photography Fredrik Wenzel and the editor Jacob Schulsinger, among others.
Film i Väst has co-produced all of Ruben Östlund’s feature films that have participated in Cannes over the years. Apart from THE SQUARE and Force Majeure, Involuntary (2008) was screened in Un Certain Regard and Play (2011) won Coup de Coeur i Quinzaine des Réalisateurs.
– It’s very exciting to follow Ruben Östlund after his successes with Force Majeure, winning in Un Certain Regard, nominated for a Golden Globe, EFA and BAFTA and being the Swedish Oscar contribution. Now he takes an important next step into the main competition in Cannes, which proves our long-term engagement in talented filmmakers right on the international film arena, says Tomas Eskilsson, artistic director at Film i Väst.
THE SQUARE is produced by Erik Hemmendorff at Plattform Produktion in co-production with Film i Väst, SVT, Imperative Entertainment, Essential Film, Société Parisienne de Production, Coproduction Office ApS, ZDF/Arte and Arte France Cinéma and with support of the Swedish Film Institute, Nordisk Film & TV Fond, Eurimages, the Danish Film Institute and Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburgt.
“It’s fantastic to be in the main competition. We have worked hard for a long time and we will sweep Cannes off their feet, says Erik Hemmendorff.
I addition to THE SQUARE, another three of Film i Väst’s co-productions are in competition in Cannes as earlier announced.
Jonas Carpignano’s film A Ciambra competes in Quinzaine des Réalisateurs (Directors’ Fortnight), where also Niki Lindroth von Bahr’s apocalyptic short film animation The Burden is competing. The Tunisian director Kaouther Ben Hania is competing in the Un Certain Regard section with Aala Kaf Ifrit (a.k.a. Beauty and the Dogs), a story about Myriam, a young Tunisian student that is raped by policemen after a night out on the town.
The Cannes Film Festival takes place on May 17-28th, 2017.
For further information, please contact, Camilla Nasiell, +46 70 720 65 63+46 70 720 65 63,
camilla.nasiell@mondayrelations.se.
Film Väst is one of Europe’s most successful co-producers, operating in Scandinavia’s leading film region. In 2014, more than 12 million moviegoers around the world saw a film co-produced by Film Väst. In the Nordic countries, the corresponding figure was 5 million, of which 3 million in Sweden. Film Väst has also an artistically prominent position with 14 Guldbagge Awards (Swedish Oscars) in 2015 plus several nominations and awards at the Golden Globes, the European Film Awards and The Oscars for its co-productions over the years. Film Väst also enjoys a strong position at the world’s most prominent film festivals, like Berlin and Cannes, where its co-productions have collected numerous nominations and awards.
