Born in 1977, Josef Fares moved with his family from Lebanon to Örebro, Sweden, in 1987. He began making short films at the age of 15, submitting them to amateur and youth film festivals and winning a number of awards. In At the age of 21, Fares was accepted to the Director's Program at Dramatiska Institutet (University College of Film, Radio, Television and Theatre), becoming the youngest student ever. His first feature film, Jalla! Jalla!, offered a delightful take on the multi-cultural experience of modern-day Sweden and quickly became a smash hit.
His second feature film, Kops, is a hilarious spoof about a squad of small-town police officers who, when threatened to be laid off because of a total lack of crime, decide to take matters into their own hands.
Peter Dalle is an actor, screenwriter and a director, working in both theater and films. His earlier film directing credits are The Dream House (1993), Yrrol (1994) and Unmarried Couples (1997). His latest film Illusive Tracks (Skenbart) is a highly stylized madcap thriller, set in 1945 on a train heading from Stockholm to Berlin.
Onboard the train is a famous author, a wounded soldier, a doctor, a gay couple, and some nuns. As the train rumbles through the landscape, Dalle skillfully steers the film from wartime thriller to screwball comedy to film noir, and beyond. Shot in crisp black-and-white, Illusive Tracks is a rollicking journey that pays homage to, and pokes good fun at, several decades’ worth of train films.
New Faces of Swedish Cinemapresented by the Film Society of Lincoln CenterWalter Reade Theater165 West 65th Street (Plaza Level)New York CityApril 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: Kops, courtesy of the Swedish Film Institute