A series of six shorts each exploring different aspects of Vilhelm Hammershøi’s paintings from palette and composition, to mood and content.
Each short provides thought provoking material and new ways of looking at Hammershøi’s artwork.
102A: Couple F*cking/Det knullande paret
Directed by Peter Modestij (Sweden, 2013). Hoping to raise his status, a man buys an art piece—a copulating couple—at auction and then suffers the unexpected consequences. With its muted palette, carefully modulated light, and spare interiors, Couple F*cking echoes the characteristic aesthetic of Hammershøi’s paintings and their underlying sense of unease.
14 min. | In Swedish with English subtitles.
About the director
Peter Modestij (b. 1976) is a Swedish screenwriter, director, producer, and musician living in Stockholm and Göteborg. He is known for the short films Mina (2014) and A Living Soul/En levande själ (2014).
The Flat/Byt
Directed by Jan Švankmajer (Czech Republic, 1968). A nondescript man is trapped in a sinister flat where nothing seems to obey the laws of nature: paintings move independently, furniture suddenly disintegrates into sawdust, and doors open onto walls. Like the static women that populate Hammershøi’s interiors, the man is trapped amidst his peculiar furnishings—Hammershøi’s irregular, often illogically arranged furniture brought to life.
13 min. | In Czech with English subtitles.
About the director
Jan Švankmajer (b. 1934) is an award-winning Czech filmmaker and self-described Surrealist known for his macabre reimaginings of fairytales and avant-garde animations, including the 1988 feature-length live action/animated adaptation of Lewis Carroll’s Alice.
World of Glory/Härlig är jorden
Directed by Roy Andersson (Sweden, 1991). World of Glory follows a pale, middle-aged man on a tour of his bleakly stylized life. Though Andersson’s film is far more political, his framing, restricted palette, and depopulated urban spaces call to mind Hammershøi’s paintings of Copenhagen streets and interiors.
14 min. | In Swedish with English subtitles.
About the director
Roy Andersson (b. 1943) graduated in 1969 from the Swedish Film Institute’s Film School in Stockholm and his first feature, A Swedish Love Story/En kärlekshistoria (1970), won four prizes at the Berlin International Film Festival in 1970. Giliap (1975), his second film, was presented at the Director’s Fortnight at the Cannes International Film Festival in 1976.
In 1975 Andersson started a pioneering career as a director of commercials, earning a total of eight Golden Lions at Cannes. In 1981 he founded Studio 24 in order to freely produce and make his films and it is here that he developed his unique filmmaking style. After Something Has Happened/Någonting har hänt (1987) and World of Glory/Härlig är Jorden (1991), two short films that received a number of prestigious awards, Andersson shot Songs from the Second Floor/Sånger från andra våningen (March 1996 – May 2000), which won the Special Jury Prize at Cannes in 2000. His 2007 film You, the Living/Du levande won several international awards as well as the Guldbagge Award for Best Director, Best Screenplay, and Best Picture in 2008. A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence, his fifth feature film and the final chapter of The Living Trilogy was awarded the Golden Lion in Venice in 2014.
Blessed Be This Place/Velsignet være dette sted
Directed by Carl Olsson (Denmark, 2013). Blessed Be This Place is a multi-plot film about the search for identity and a place of belonging. Much like Hammershøi’s paintings, the film focuses on interior spaces, capturing its subjects in moments that, though quiet, are alive with energy.
29 min. | In Danish with English subtitles.
About the director
Carl Olsson recently finished his final year as a documentary director at The National Film School of Denmark, Copenhagen. Earlier studies include Nordens Folkhögskola Biskops Arnö and specific courses at Stock’olm’s Dramatiska Institutet.
November 11, 2015
November 11, 2015
Image by Jonathan Guldberg Elsborg
WED – 11-11-15 – 7:00 PM
$10 ($7 ASF Members)