Author, playwright and podcaster Schulman is now also venturing into the world of film with “Arkipelag,” a film about a school trip that goes awry. The ever-current and controversial Schulman is aware that many will raise eyebrows when he is now also going to become a film director.
I think the film is fantastic and I would be super surprised if it wasn't well received. Then someone has an agenda in that case. You can never protect yourself from that.
Own experience
“Archipelago” will be released in theaters on October 9. Gustaf Skarsgård, Fares Fares and Linus Wahlgren star in the film, which is loosely based on Schulman’s own experience. He signed up as a class parent to accompany his teenage daughter on a school trip in order to get closer to her, fearing she was starting to drift away from him.
It was a big mistake. It just tore us further and further apart from each other. It was a journey from hell and we slowly lost our grip on these kids, just like that. I thought, this is a story I have to tell - and started writing the script, says Schulman.
“Shit nervous”
Fathers who are not enough are also the theme of this fall's second blockbuster, "Damn Men", based on Andrev Walden's autobiographical novel about a boy who has seven different fathers over seven years.
Aliette Opheim plays the mother Mona.
"It's such a popular book and a prestigious project. So it was a little scary to accept the role. But also a fantastic opportunity to portray a great character," she says.
Mona is abused and her son goes through a lot in the film, but the plot is also full of warmth and humor.
"There are a lot of things that happen that you wouldn't want a child to have to go through. But for me, it was also important to make her emotionally available and warm," says Opheim.
She says that she had not read the book before the film and has actually never met the author Andrev Walden, even though they lived in the same neighborhood in Stockholm until recently.
"It's so funny, we've both been so incredibly polite to each other. But the next time I see him on the street, I'll dare to approach him," says Aliette Opheim, laughing.
"Damn Men" will be released in theaters on November 6th.
