Richard Hobert was born in 1951 in Kalmar. After studying politics, languages, and film at Lund University, he began his career as a journalist and assistant director at Malmö City Theatre.
His directorial debut came in the autumn of 1978 with the drama documentary "Gänget", about a group of friends in Lund struggling with drug addiction. The fact that Hobert also portrayed what attracted the main characters to use drugs sparked a strong debate.
Bergman praised
During the 1980s, he directed mostly for TV, both TV plays and films. Including two episodes in the TV film series "Skånska mord" with Ernst-Hugo Järegård.
He became most well-known for the film series "The Seven Deadly Sins", where the first film "Glädjekällan" (1993) was awarded the Ingmar Bergman Prize and Bergman himself praised the film with the words "It's magical".
Hobert got something of an international career with films like "Alla älskar Alice" (2002), which was awarded the prize for best European film at the Hollywood Film Awards, and "En enkel till Antibes" (2011), which was named best film at a film festival in Toronto. The film's lead actor Sven-Bertil Taube was awarded a Guldbagge.
In 2004, he made an ambitious historical film, "Tre solar", with big names like Kjell Bergqvist, Mikael Persbrandt, and Maria Bonnevie. The film received poor reviews from almost all reviewers and was called a "turkey" by Dagens Nyheter.
I note that the film missed the mark and there's not much more to say about it. I know why, he said in an interview with Expressen in 2011.
Last film in 2022
During the 2020s, Hobert worked both as a film director and author, the last film being "Kärleksbevis" from 2022.
Livia Millhagen played the lead role in it and in his second-to-last film "Fågelfångarens son". She remembers the collaboration with him as warm, generous, and respectful.
It really struck me how well he takes care of all employees and how he takes care of the story he is going to tell and leads the work in such a way that he somehow always gives food for every step you take, without knowing exactly how it will go, says Millhagen to TT.
Hobert was married to actress Lena Endre between 2000 and 2012, and the couple worked together several times.
From the 1990s, he lived on Österlen and published his third novel as recently as May, "Bye, bye Österlen", on Piratförlaget. The publisher Augustin Erba tells TT that Sweden "has lost one of its greatest".
"I will miss Richard immensely. He was not only a storyteller of rank, he was a warm and kind person who I got close to during our time together. We talked about life and artistry, and it was a pleasure to discuss with someone who took these issues so seriously", says Erba in a written comment to TT.
The family tells Ystads Allehanda that Richard Hobert passed away after a short illness. Hobert was 73 years old.
Ann Edliden/TT
Facts Richard Hobert
TT
Richard Hobert (1951–2025) was a director, screenwriter, and author.
Among his films are the series about The Seven Deadly Sins (1993–2000) and later feature films like "Ögat" (1998), "Alla älskar Alice" (2002), "Harrys döttrar" (2005), "En enkel till Antibes" (2011), "Fågelfångarens son" (2019), and "Kärleksbevis" (2022). For TV, he made, among other things, "Ålder okänd" and "Den femtonde hövdingen".
He also directed theatre, including "Security" at Dramaten's Elverket stage in 2008.
Hobert was also active as an author with three novels: "Fågelfångarens son" (2018), "Som en man på Österlen" (2024), and "Bye Bye Österlen" (2025).
