The film which had its world premiere as opening film of the 2020 Göteborg Film Festival is finally reaching Swedish audiences nationwide. 

A graduated from the National Film School of Denmark, Maria Bäck was multi-awarded for her documentary I Remember When I Die, for which she won the Nordic Talents Pitch Prize in 2013. 

With Psychosis in Stockholm, she has used her own experience as source of inspiration, when aged 14, she was left temporarily alone in Stockholm, while her mother was having a mental breakdown.

In the heightened drama, the mother’s first signs of new psychotic episodes emerge on the train that takes them to Stockholm. When the mother’s symptoms gradually worsen, and she is taken to a psychiatric hospital, the teenage daughter spends a few days alone. The moments of self-discovery and discovery of the unknown city are dream-like sequences, where the mother/daughter strong bond prevails.

In the title roles are Josefin Neldén (The Restaurant, Alex) and newcomer Josefine Stofkoper.  The film was produced by Garagefilm in co-production with Denmark’s Nordisk Film Spring, with support from among others the Nordisk Film & TV Fond. LevelK handles sales. 

TO SEE THE TRAILER: CLICK HERE. 

After your short film Mother is God, you continue to explore the mother/daughter relationship. Why did you feel the urge to develop that theme in a feature length format and to dive fearlessly into your own memories and experience?
Maria Bäck: I believe every film I make is a continuation of my earlier films and there are lots of similarities between both Mother is God, I Remember When I Die and Psychosis in Stockholm.

I am fascinated by memories relation to reality and time, and I generally attract visions that I haven't seen mirrored before, such as this particular one which is circling around a vacation where a daughter is left completely alone when the mother falls into a psychosis and loses grip of reality.

It is true that it is inspired by my own experience, but it is a fiction film and that made a big difference compared to working with myself and my mother as characters, like we did in Mother is God.

Psychosis in Stockholm goes several steps further, it is both darker and lighter than Mother is God, and it has been totally rewarding to work with actors for the first time. I loved it!

Joachim Trier’s co-writer Eskil Vogt (Blind) was hired as script consultant. In what way did he help you bring your story to the screen?
Maria Bäck: Eskil came on board very early in the process. I'm very fond of his free and playful approach to cinema. He is not at all obsessed with boxes and stuff. And he is very clever and funny. We connected fast and met regularly, during the years while I was writing the script. He became a friend and having the conversations we had, meant a lot to me in the process. I think filmmaking is all about co-operations and finding the right partners that, in different ways, are in rhythm with the films you make together.

The mother and daughter’s fun holiday in Stockholm, turns into a drama, as the mother ends up in a psychiatric hospital and the daughter is left alone. Still the tone is playful, and the cinematography and music enhance the surreal and dream-like experience of the young girl. Why did you opt for such a light tone?
MB: To me there is never only one side of anything. It is always a complex mix of emotions and thousands of ways of dealing with tricky situations in life. Love can take many shapes. Humour can relieve pain. The mother in the film is impossible to simplify into the role as “a bad mother”.

Obviously, she is challenging to be around and at times her behaviour is straight evil on the surface, but still it is clear that she loves her child deeply and that the bond between the mother and the daughter is very strong. And the daughter is not only having a hard time, she is also experiencing an adventure, learning a lot of new things about life and about herself.

I think the film language you're pointing at, the contrasts in the extremes and the insistent playful, surrealist tone is part of this whole universe, the main characters and their experience. The film should be a physical experience. It needs to engage you as an audience in a very sensuous way in order to succeed.

I think the film needs to breathe and the light tone you're talking about is just another side of the seriousness, in a way. Also, I wanted the film to have its own logic. There are many layers in everything.

How was your collaboration with composer Lars Greve and Border’s cinematographer Nadim Carlsen?
MB: I started working with Lars Greve who is a Danish saxophonist, clarinettist and composer, very early in the process. He has never done music for film before, but I have seen him in the music scene of Copenhagen and was curious to see if we could do something together so I contacted him. We began trying different themes and methods out that could colour the scenes already while I was still writing the script. That was a very inspiring way to work for both of us, I think. We could send drafts to each other, music files, film clips from the early test scenes of the film, stills, references etc. 

Of all art forms, music is definitely what matters most to me, I think. And when working with music in film, the music is also of highest importance as it can change the entire mood! I would never wait with the music until you're in sound for example. That changes the whole editing, every cut, so therefore it is crucial to have the time you need for the process and plan it carefully from start. 

My partner and editor since film school, Julius Krebs Damsbo, who is also very musical and sensitive, was of course also very engaged in the work with Lars. It was a similar collaboration with sound designer Anne Gry Friis Kristensen with whom I’ve also worked since film school. We always treat music and sound like two sides of the same coin. Sound is music.

Due to some different circumstances I only started working with Nadim some months before shooting. We went to film school together, but we've never worked together before. Very quickly it turned out that we were a perfect match. He is steady as a rock and we were very much in sync regarding the vision of the film. I really loved working with him. He is both ambitious and flexible, and understands cinema in a similar way that I do. He is also very good with actors.

How difficult was it to cast Josefine Stofkoper as the daughter and Josefin Neldén as the mother?
MB: We casted hundreds of girls before we found Josefine Stofkoper but when I saw her I fell for her at first sight. I also immediately felt strongly connected to Neldén. She brought a sort of pride and clarity into the character that was very important to this specific role already from the beginning.

Before I could take any decision though, we had to see how both of them were able to work together and create what we needed. The whole film is depending on the relationship between the mother and the daughter, if you didn't believe in them the whole film would fail. I think they both did an extraordinary effort and their performance is amazing.

The film is finally coming out in Sweden, with a four-month delay due to Covid-19. How do you feel about today’s ‘new normal’ and how has Covid-19 impacted your own life? MB: It feels like a blessing with the cinema release in Sweden, finally! After all the wait. We've had great reviews so far and some really beautiful screenings. I'm really excited to be sharing Psychosis in Stockholm! In these strange times we need art and courage just as much as always, I'm trying to keep my focus on that.

What’s next for you?
MB: I'm in the early phase of both a documentary project and a new fiction feature. I'm trying to make both new projects as impossible and playful as possible in order to stay awake and brave during all the efforts to come!