Written & Directed by James Newman
Matilda is a forensic investigator gathering evidence at a crime scene, where an elderly man's body lies dead, gruesomely murdered by an unknown person.
It seems just another day on the job, and Matilda is told by the detective to get things done, though Matilda seems eager to take the detective role herself. When the corpse decides to communicate posthumously with the investigators in an unusual, decidedly earthy way, Matilda takes it upon herself to do some investigation on her own.
Tell us a bit about yourself and your filmmaking background.
I grew up in Reading, Berkshire. After a University Degree in filmmaking, I moved to London to pursue a career in Film & TV. I worked as a runner and production assistant at Post-houses and Production houses in Soh, whilst writing on the side. My first writing credit was the multi-award-winning micro-short 'The Chop" (Dir. Jennifer Sheridan). Most recently has co-written the unproduced screenplay feature "God Damn Evil Beasts." which was a semi-finalist in the Fade-In Horror Screenplay Awards and at Filmquest. Viskar I Vinden is my directorial debut, alongside my brother Harrison, the Co-Producer and Director of Photography.
What was your inspiration? Why did you decide to make Viskar I Vinden?
I'd been to Film Festivals and noticed how many of the films are issue-based dramas. I wanted to do the opposite. I was also thinking about resource and how we could stand out from the crowd, so this film was made with Film Festivals in mind. We landed on a crime scene investigator (as their costumes were cheap) and we could shoot the film in one location. I wasn't incredibly sold on the idea until my brother and I were joking around about making it a Scandi Noir. We then decided it was funnier as a Scandi Noir.
Why the decision to make the film in a foreign language?
The decision to make it a foreign language was because it was much funnier. The idea in English just felt a bit crass -- as in I know it's still a crass idea but I wanted to lean into the art crowd and Scandi Noir seems to be more well respected than British procedurals. So it rested on being a low-brow comedy dressed as a high-brow crime drama.
What obstacles did you overcome while in the making of this film?
I didn't speak a word of Swedish, so that was the biggest obstacle. I really relied on Kim (Harrison’s Swedish partner) and the Swedish actors (who were amazing) to guide us through. We would go for a general tone and they would change the script to fit what's true to how you would say it in Swedish -- they could’ve said anything and I would’ve nodded and told them it was a great take.
Tell us about the journey of getting your film to audiences.
We’ve been on the film festival circuit for about seven months. We’ve focused on the UK film festivals, and we’ve been approached by a couple of American film festivals to screen there, so we’ve screened at two festivals there. Off the back of the festival we’ve had a couple of distribution deals and hosted on Omleteo.
Words of wisdom. What advice would you give to other filmmakers?
Don't make a serious issue-based drama - enough people are making them. I know you probably have something interesting to say but find a creative way to say it. Cram your dementia film into horror, sci-fi, or thriller. I've seen so many blocks where they're depressing films after the next - an easy way to stand out is to do the opposite of what everyone else is doing.
What are you working on now?
I've just finished my first issue-based drama... well not really a comedy about cheating and art - it’s called Do Not Touch we wrapped last weekend and we’re currently in post production. I’m really glad how it’s turned out given its out first film in English.
Any film recommendations that we should add to our watchlist?
Features: Everything Everywhere All at Once, Sorry to Bother You, Some Like it Hot, Game Night, Get Out.