Filmmakers and life partners Maria Loohufvud and Love Martinsen are making their debut with this uplifting and life-affirming documentary about the ‘Calendar Girls’, a dance group of dedicated women over 60, filmed over several years in Cape Coral, US, one of Florida’s most sought-after retirement spots.

Far from settling for a sedentary life, the 36-strong group of women perform some 150 shows a year, dancing to the tunes of pop and rock, wearing miniskirts, sequins, hand-made accessories including fluffy unicorn and magical reindeer headbands.

Mixing choreographed scenes, performances by the Calendar Girls and behind the scenes interviews with the energetic women, including the group’s leader Katherine, the fly on the wall documentary captures with humour and warmth the challenge of ageing, and dedicating your life to your passion. It also shakes up the prejudice of what it means to be a woman over 60.

The directing duo have taken full creative and production control on the film. Trained as an art director, feminist-driven Loohufvud has shared with her partner the production, directing, DoP duties, adding choreography to the tasks.

Meanwhile seasoned music composer and music producer Martinsen (behind Swedish TV hits such as the Bonus Family, Solsidan) has served as well as sound designer and music composer.

The film was produced by the partners’ production outfit Pink Dolphin, with co-financing from SVT, support from the Swedish Film Institute, Nordisk Film & TV Fond, Film Stockholm/Filmbasen and Swedish Arts Grants Committee. Folkets Bio is due to release it in Swedish cinemas in March. Cats & Docs handles world sales and Juno Films the release in North America.

After its world premiere at Sundance, the film will open Sweden’s Tempo Documentary Festival March 7.

The theatrical release in Sweden is set for March 18 and in the US late spring/early summer.

Both of you had never directed a feature length doc before. How did you set off on your Calendar Girls filmic adventure and how did you get the idea for the film?
Maria Loohufvud: We filmed in Florida because my dad used to live there part-time. That was in 2018. At the time, our youngest son was a baby, so we stayed two months.

Love Martinsen: This is when we had the idea to make a film. Our original intention was to film Swedish people living in Cape Coral. We had a simple camera, microphones and started filming. But it was hard to put together.

ML: Then one day we went to an event called ”Touch-a-Truck” where our kids could look at fire engines, police cars and monster trucks. Suddenly, we caught sight of a group of women in glamorous outfits, parading through the diggers and tractors. That was the Calendar Girls! Watching them dance made us happy, fascinated, but it also felt a bit awkward. We thought… why do we feel that way? Why are we surprised to see a bunch of women over 60 dance and just have a lot of fun? We started to examine our own prejudice.

The same night we contacted the team leader, Katherine, and we asked if we could do an interview. She said: we’re up for anything!

LM: We had another two weeks left during our holiday and did a short dance sequence with the team in a parking lot. We thought we would do a short film, capturing them dancing in their home, talking about the feeling of dancing and feelings and thoughts about age and life.

So the idea of making a feature length doc only came later?
LM: Well, we did a teaser with the footage and while watching the material, we soon realised there was a lot of potential to make a great story for a feature-length film. We sent the teaser to Filmbasen and they were the first to support us.

How much time in total did you spend in Florida?
LM: We did four trips in total and we stayed for about 2 months each time. We had planned to go back for a 5th time to film locations, to give depth to the setting, but Covid came along and spoiled our plans. Instead we hired local photographers and directed remotely. Before we left Florida, we had left a microphone and a recorder with the Calendar Girls so we were also able to do some additional interviews with them from here. We figured out new ways to get what we needed.

How did you select your main protagonists and develop the story?
LM: We started filming 8-9 calendar girls, attended their shows and just followed them, to get to know them along the way, with our cameras and six microphones.

Patti was one of the first women we focused on as she had just joined the Calendar Girls. We felt it made sense to follow her emotional journey with the group. Then Fran who creates the costumes and accessories was also interesting as she found her true creativity only at a later stage in life. Through her and Patti’s stories, we understand the family pressure on those women, as well as the pressure they put on themselves. We also focused on Katherine, the leader, Nancy, the former cop who goes through a very tough time -and Sue, the group’s DJ who has served time in prison.

See clip from Calendar Girls

The film breaths optimism, camaraderie, creativity and resilience. Was your intention simply to break away from the usually downbeat portraits of female ageing and offer an empowering feminist portrait of the third age?
ML: We wanted to do an uplifting film as we felt they were inspiring to us. Our film is about ageing, but most and foremost, it’s about inspiring human beings.

Could you detail your visual style, the use of slow motion, the creation of musical choreographed scenes-next to the Calendar Girls’ own dance performances?
LM: We choreographed some scenes to go deeper into their emotions, and we felt it would be natural to film them dancing.

ML: It’s natural for them to dance and it felt natural for us to show bodies in movement from non-professional dancers. Bodies can tell so much, and the way they dance is full of meaning.

LM: We also wanted the film itself to be as colourful, bold and creative as the Calendar Girls. So working with choreographed dance scenes was an idea that came up quite early.

Was it difficult to get rights clearance for the music they used for their performances?
ML: The music is a big part of the budget, we have both the songs that they dance to on their shows and the original score written by Love.

LM: Getting all the rights cleared was a challenge, since they dance to very popular songs, but we wanted to keep the music they actually perform to as it says a lot about the group and keeps the authenticity.

ML: So we decided to do all the music supervisor work ourselves to keep costs to a minimum and get as many songs as possible.

What were the biggest challenges for you as first-time filmmakers?
ML: Everything took a long time. We hadn’t attended film school, and had to learn almost everything on YouTube and google - how to use a camera, how to do a budget, write a synopsis, clear music rights etc.

LM: We found a document for high school students, about how to make a film, how to put a film in a software etc. It wasn’t hard but just took a lot of efforts.

Did you get support for the editing?
LM: Later in the process, when we had almost a finished film, we got support from director Ellen Fiske, a friend of ours who gave us very constructive advice. Another friend and editor, Fredrick Stewart Holm, gave us a lot of valuable feedback on the details.

ML: We also had great support from the Swedish Film Institute’s film commissioner Klara Grunning who helped us focus on the core and encouraged us to follow our vision.

What do you hope viewers will take away from watching the film?
ML: We hope people will enjoy the uplifting feeling of the film and get inspired, as the film is ultimately about having the guts to fulfil your dreams, whatever the age.

LM: When you reach a certain age, it’s all the more important to make your dreams come true, to have an activity that makes you happy. You can easily lose this sense of connection with your own feelings and needs - even earlier in life if you don’t pay attention and work too much.

ML: We hope this film will help smash the stereotypes of ageing.

What’s next?
LM: We’ve really enjoyed working together as co-directors and producers. We have projects in early stages and would like to create more creative documentaries or hybrid films. Or why not make a fiction?”