Magnus von Horn was born and grew up in the Gothenburg area, studied film, and settled in Poland, and has now been Oscar-nominated – for Denmark.
This means that three countries share the attention surrounding "The Girl with the Needle", notes the director in connection with the Gothenburg Film Festival.
It's incredibly cool! I've felt incredible support. It's not Poland's Oscar bid, but Denmark's. But many in Poland are also very happy about it, he says.
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And the same thing happens when I come here to Gothenburg, where I grew up.
The visit to Gothenburg coincides with the debate surrounding Culture Minister Parisa Liljestrand's (The Moderate Party) opening speech at the festival.
Her statements have previously been questioned by, among others, Ruben Östlund, and Magnus von Horn is also critical.
There are great stories I would like to make here, but we may also feel that unfortunately, there isn't a good film climate in Sweden right now, he says.
"Very oppositional"
At the same time, von Horn – who after his Swedish debut made a film in Polish and one in Danish – hopes that the speech will have a unifying effect.
I thought of one thing when I saw the speech. In Poland, we had a culture minister who didn't agree with us at all, he says.
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But it created a huge opposition, filmmakers got an incredible sense of community, a strong identity, and a strong will to answer the question of why we make films and why it's important.
Danish serial killer
Magnus von Horn's feature film debut with Swedish "Efterskalv" (2015) earned a Guldbagge for both best direction and best film.
He followed up with "Sweat" (2020) about a Polish fitness influencer and has now been Oscar-nominated for "The Girl with the Needle" – a drama about a Danish serial killer.
The film takes place in Copenhagen at the end of World War I and is inspired by the true story of Dagmar Overby, who in 1921 was convicted of nine child murders.
Magnus von Horn was uncertain until the very end whether the dark, black-and-white drama would receive the long-awaited Oscar nomination. But finally, the message came.
In the end, it's about telling a good story and doing it in an interesting way. The prejudices about what works and doesn't work on film are often wrong, it feels reassuring, I think, he says.
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Born: December 21, 1983, in Gothenburg.
Lives: In Warsaw with his wife and two children.
Films: "Efterskalv" (2015), "Sweat" (2020), "The Girl with the Needle" (2024).
Current: Oscar-nominated for Denmark for "The Girl with the Needle" in the category of best international film. Other nominees are "The Fruit of the Holy Tree" (Germany), "Emilia Pérez" (France), "Flow" (Latvia), and "I'm still here" (Brazil).
"The Girl with the Needle" has its Swedish cinema premiere on February 21.
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