Spotlight On Lukas Moodysson

Moodysson burst onto the international film scene in 1998 and has since become known for powerful and empathic interpretations of humanity in all its forms, including unflinching looks at issues such as child trafficking and pornography. 

His 1998 debut, Show Me Love (Fucking Åmål), quickly gained worldwide distribution and won numerous prizes.  The Swedish title of the film essentially sums up how its teenage characters feel about their town: it’s the end of the world, where nothing happens.  Show Me Love is an admirable and insightful work, one of the rare films about teenagers that seems genuinely committed to capturing the world as they themselves experience it.

The most lighthearted of Moodysson's films, Together (Tillsammans) is a brilliant look at 1970s Sweden, with a host of colorful characters in a commune struggling to come to terms with politics, sexuality, social consciousness and, not least, themselves. 

The award-winning Lilya 4-Ever was released in 2002 and was critically acclaimed as "one of the most heartrending films to come out of Sweden - or Europe, for that matter - in years."  Set in post-Soviet Estonia, the film recounts 13-year-old Lilya, who escapes the grim streets of her crumbling town by unwittingly delving headfirst into the horrors of child trafficking and prostitution.

All of Moodysson's films are characterized by an edgy, transgressive quality, and none more so than the highly graphic and controversial A Hole in My Heart.

New Faces of Swedish Cinema
presented by the Film Society of Lincoln Center
Walter Reade Theater
165 West 65th Street (Plaza Level)
New York City
April 1-7, 2005

For showtimes and more information, visit the website of the Film Society at Lincoln Center.

The film series is presented in collaboration with the Swedish Film Institute in Stockholm and with support from the Consulate General of Sweden in New York.

Photo: Lilya 4-Ever, courtesy of the Swedish Film Institute