Sweden, Norway, Ireland, Finland

Synopsis

Stockholm, the late 1970s. The model utopian society. Political neutrality and atomic power march hand in hand with women’s liberation and the sexual revolution. But under the polished surface, other desires are eager to be fulfilled. Within a stone’s throw of government buildings and juvenile homes lies the seductive, glittery and dirty world of sex clubs, strip shows, discotheques and apartments used for illicit and profitable rendez-vous. CALL GIRL tells the story of how young Iris is recruited from the bottom rung of society, into a ruthless world where power can get you anything. www.garagefilm.se

Director's Statement

When I started working on CALL GIRL I thought I was doing a pure conspiracy thriller, strongly flirting with some of my favourite American films of the 70s, very plot-driven and inspired by a true political scandal in Stockholm in the mid-70s. In a way, everything was in the script, but the more I got involved in the process of researching, casting and later, shooting the film, I felt I had to get into the grey zones of all the characters in the plot, trying to give them as much depth as possible, letting them be contradictory, not clearly good or bad. Visually I was looking for something rough and close to skin but also glittery and colourful, with some sort of cinematic poetry. CALL GIRL is a story of lost innocence: the young girls’, the police’s, the politicians’. Weaving together multiple storylines to tell a larger tale of society and of humanity, it’s a personal social thriller about Sweden in a time of sexual liberation and confusion.
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Cast & Crew

Directed by: Mikael Marcimain

Written by: Marietta von Hausswolff von Baumgarten

Produced by: Mimmi Spång

Cinematography: Hoyte Van Hoytema

Editing: Kristofer Nordin

Production Design: Lina Nordqvist, Michael Higgins

Costume Design: Cilla Rörby

Original Score: Mattias Bärjed

Sound: Petter Fladeby, Per Nyström

Cast: Simon J Berger, Pernilla August, Josefin Asplund, Sven Nordin, Sofia Karemyr

Nominations and Awards

  • European Discovery - Prix Fipresci 2013