The film is changing its title to "Before We Take Off".
It's the same story, but we want to highlight hope and at the same time say that this is our story, says director Rojda Sekersöz to TT.
In "Will You Be Sad If I Die?", Nicolas Lunabba portrays how he takes on Elijah, a troublesome young boy, who has something special. Against his will, Nicolas lets the young boy move in with him and during a few tumultuous years, he manages to steer him right in life - even if he sometimes questions himself and wonders if he's doing it to feel good.
Acclaimed Bestseller
The book was praised by everyone from critics to Jan Guillou and Leif G W Persson, became a sales success with its 60,000 copies and Nicolas Lunabba made a notable "Summer" program.
Rojda Sekersöz has previously, among other things, made the film adaptation of "A Comedian's Upbringing" and several episodes of the TV series "Young Royals". This fall, Netflix will show the TV series "The Shift" about female police officers in Stockholm in the 1950s.
It will be nice to make a feature film again, a more compressed storytelling, says she.
In the script, we have compressed the story, it no longer takes place over as many years. And we have changed some details. We're doing fiction, we're not making a documentary.
Showing 2026
The filming starts in Malmö at the end of the summer and the film is intended to be finished in the fall of 2026. Rojda Sekersöz is currently working on the casting, but doesn't want to reveal anything yet.
We've looked at hundreds of young boys in Malmö for the boy. When it comes to the other leading role, I can only say that it doesn't matter if it's a known or unknown actor, as long as he feels right.
Age: 35 years.
Lives in: Stockholm.
Occupation: Director.
Previous films: "Dream On", "A Comedian's Upbringing", "Dating", "Young Royals", "Ruset".
Currently working on: The TV series "The Shift" on Netflix this fall), is going to film "Will You Be Sad If I Die?", which gets the title "Before We Take Off". The news was revealed at Film i Väst's press conference during the film festival in Cannes.
