Masjävlar

Sweden

Synopsis

The story revolves around three sisters who grew up together in a small village in the swedish province of Dalecarlia. The youngest sister Mia, who left home at an early age for a life in the big city, returns to join the celebration of her father´s 70th birthday. At the community center the party starts. Old conflicts are brought to life, the pace accelerates, and pretty soon it´s not only the cat who´s in trouble.

Director's Statement

I want to show how people take each other for granted, particularly in families — how even though you're close, you don't reach each other. You feel far away even at home.
My dream is that as soon as people leave the movie theatre, they'll call their loved ones and tell them they care. That they'll be a little nicer to each other, especially in family settings, since there's a lot of pressure in those relationships.
But to begin with, I guess I wanted to tell the natives of the province of Dalecarlia a thing or two as well. Half of my family comes from Dalecarlia, from the region around Lake Siljan, and in my opinion, they're real characters up there. It's been fun raking them over the coals. At times I've been so sick of their behaviour, they're so incredibly full of themselves. I mean, they'll buy a summer cottage a half-hour drive from where they live just so they don't have to leave the province. Dalecarlia is Sweden's heartland, and everything about it is fantastic. When one of my relatives came to Stockholm, we went out for pizza – the delicious gourmet stone baked kind – and when we had finished our meal, this person looked at me and said: "Well, our pizza place back home in Rättvik certainly knows how to make a darn good pizza!"
My intention was also to capture the special brand of humour they have in Dalecarlia, it's simultaneously warm-hearted and slightly brutal. If it isn't served up with a whole lot of love, it just sounds unkind. It's like irony – when someone would say "nice sweater" to you in school without really meaning it. That kind of humour wears you down, it's corrosive.
At the same time, the film is a declaration of love to the people of Dalecarlia. You know, I picked up stakes and moved from Stockholm to Dalecarlia myself. These days I live in Falun and dream of being called a "kulla" (the Swedish word for a female native of Dalecarlia).

Director's Biography

Maria Blom was born in 1971. When she wasn't accepted to hair dresser's school she instead attended drama classes at Södra Latin High School, and since then she's been involved in theatre. But it was at Backstage/Stockholm City Theatre, with critically acclaimed plays like Särskorpor and Rabarbers, that Maria Blom reached a wider, not necessarily theatre-savvy, audience.
Her first collaboration with Memfis resulted in the pilot film FISHY, a relationship drama set in the Stockholm suburb of Fisksätra.
Maria Blom now lives in Dalecarlia, since two years back.
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Cast & Crew

Directed by: Maria Blom

Written by: Maria Blom

Produced by: Lars Jönsson

Cinematography: Peter Mokrosinski

Editing: Petra Ahlin, Michal Leszczylowski

Production Design: Annelie Wemstad

Costume Design: Nina Sandström

Make-Up & Hair: Karin Fahlén

Original Score: Anders Nygårds

Cast: Sofia Helin (Mia), Kajsa Ernst (Eivor), Ann Petren (Gunilla)

Nominations and Awards

  • Feature Film Selection 2005