"Archipelago" was selected as Sweden's candidate for the Oscar for best international film before Swedish audiences had even seen it. Now that it is premiering, Schulman is nervous, despite its success at international screenings.
Swedish films usually go to hell, so why shouldn't this one, too? And if it goes to hell, I won't be allowed to make another film, and that's all I want to do, he says, talking enthusiastically about enriching the story with music and acting.
It's different from the “enormously lonely” work of writing books.
Coming into a setting where everyone is working towards the same vision was very moving.
Nightmarish
The film is based on a trip Schulman took with his daughter's class, when he and two other parents went out into the archipelago. It was a “nightmare” trip, he says.
We lost control of these children.
Some of the scenes in the film are taken directly from real life. A child in the class was bullied, which reminded Alex Schulman of being a victim himself. He also found himself in a strange relationship with the adults. Shame and self-hatred surfaced in Schulman, who wanted to portray how the bullied can also become a perpetrator.
"Vulnerable children take every chance to survive the day. Sometimes you have to do that by picking on someone else who is even weaker. I was vulnerable, but I also put others at risk in my fight to survive. It's human, but I wanted to bring out the complexity," he says.
Was moved
Alex Schulman had to fight to earn the respect of the film crew, but he believes he has discovered that he has “some kind of talent” for directing.
You can hardly say that because it sounds unbearable, but I notice that I can look at a scene and know when it feels true.
He is most pleased with having spent so much time casting the children. The young people were allowed to use their own words so the dialogue would not sound stilted. Alex Schulman has also allowed himself a funnier, more brutal tone than in his fiction.
I would like to be just as brutal in my writing, but I don't dare.
His children have seen the film, and they love it. Charlie, who was on the class trip, is usually completely uninterested in her father's creations, but this time she was moved.
She saw my picture of our relationship, and we had a nice conversation afterwards.
Facts: Alex Schulman
Born: 1976
Lives: In Stockholm
Current: With the film "Arkipelag," which he wrote and directed.
Background: Debuted in 2009 with "Hurry to Love," about his father. In 2011, the book "Being with her is like running up a summer meadow without getting the slightest bit tired" was released, about his relationship with his wife, Amanda. "Forget Me," from 2016, is about his mother, and "Burn All My Letters" was released in 2018, about his grandparents' relationship.
"The Survivors" (2020) and "Malma Station" (2022) were his first fictional novels. "June 17, 1986" (2025) was nominated for the Swedish Radio Novel Prize.
He has also written and directed the play "Mother's Day" at Dramaten (the Royal Dramatic Theatre). He also hosts the podcast "Alex & Sigges podcast" with his friend Sigge Eklund.
... the chances of winning an Oscar:
The chances are minimal, but they are there. We had a meeting with a PR agent who is taking care of us in LA. We are going there to campaign and show the film to Oscar members. I have to give everything to try to get as many people as possible to see it. I will never give up.
... collaborating with Fares Fares, Gustaf Skarsgård and Linus Wahlgren:
They were so talented and experienced and took great care of me. Except for the first few days, when I felt like they didn't really trust me and it was hard, I didn't really have the group. But I had to earn it, and I think I did in the end. In the first few days, I thought the actors should do as they were told, but apparently they also have ideas about how a scene should be done! That was a discovery, and it led to a fight. But then we found each other. Finally, after one take, I saw that they wanted to know what I thought, and then I felt we had reached our goal.
