In Dialogue: the Swedish NFTVF Prize nominated writers Gabriela Pichler & Johan Lundborg

The creative couple, director/writer Gabriela Pichler and cinematographer/writer Johan Lundborg are nominated for the Nordisk Film & TV Fond Prize 2024, for the Swedish 6-part series Painkiller.

The winner of the award, which celebrates outstanding Nordic series writing, will be announced in Gothenburg on January 30th, 2024.

Painkiller will premiere on SVT Play on Friday, January 26th. The series is directed by Gabriela Pichler and produced by Garagefilm International.

What experiences inspired the story and the characters?

Gabriela: The characters are inspired by our own life experiences. My mother suffers from fibromyalgia, a chronic pain syndrome, and went without any proper treatment for two decades. The series revolves around a crumbling healthcare system, gentrification in the city of Gothenburg, cultural clashes, and class differences between a working class mother and an artist daughter. But told with a generous dose of humour.

Johan: Gabriela and I are partners-in-crime in both work and in life. So Gabriela’s mother is also my mother-in-law, and I also witnessed her suffering first hand. Gabriela frequently featured her mum in our productions. If luck was on our side, she could momentarily divert her attention from the pain. We incorporated this idea into the script – trying to find relief from pain through creative distraction.

What insight or theme became especially important for you while writing the series?

During the writing process, it became clear to us that the series is also about the ability to imagine. If you have been working since childhood, that part of your soul may not have had room to breathe - similar to the case of mum Dijana in Painkiller. However, without imagination it becomes difficult to see other possibilities in life - to believe that you can bring about a change in your life. Imagination needs to be encouraged and kept alive, so that we do not resign in life.

Gabriela is also the director of the series, and Johan the DoP. How did your many talents affect the series from the writing to the editing?

Johan: It is a significant advantage. In script-writing, we do not just rely solely on text and dialogue. Some things – images and atmospheres - are challenging to capture in words alone. We both feel pretty sure we know what will make an impact in terms of visuals and sound, rather than just dialogue, and we can write it into the script at an early stage.

Gabriela: During casting, pre-production, and filming, this is also very practical, as we quickly sense what works in relation to our story - but also what can be changed and adapted to current circumstances. We can treat the script as a living material that can be moulded. We can make changes to the script without stepping on another creator's toes. And then we are both involved in the editing, along with the great Swedish editor Andreas Nilsson, and this phase becomes the final part of the script-writing process.

How did you go about finding your great actors for the Balkan main characters, and what did they bring to the storytelling?

Gabriela: We have a very devoted and ambitious casting director - Archana Khanna. It always takes a lot of time, effort and creative thinking to find the right persons for the characters. And the work doesn’t stop there. Our first time actors need a lot of preparation and training and patience. We love working with Archana, and she is always on board in an early stage, when we are still writing the script.

Johan: Dodona Imeri - who plays the daughter Andrea – is a professional actor. Bright, skilled and with a great sense of humour. Snezana Spasenoska, who plays the mother, usually works in a lunch restaurant here in Gothenburg. This is her first role ever. But her tremendous charm and great energy goes right through the screen.

Would you like to introduce your next projects?

Johan: I will be working as the DoP on director Johannes Nyholm's new feature film Weird Elliot, which we hope to start filming after the summer.

Gabriela: And I am looking forward to continue writing on my new feature film.

In the fall of 2023 the drama series industry faced a crisis. Has this affected what is now commissioned, and how?

Gabriela: For us, not at all. The way we work, our processes extend beyond the rapid shifts of the industry. Working together with our producer Anna-Maria Kantarius, we work with our projects based on a longer-term perspective and relationships rather than speculation, or what's considered “hot” at the moment.

Johan: I would really like the TV drama platforms to suggest: “Hey folks, this might sound totally crazy, but what if we take a little break from crime series this year and see if there are other stories we can tell?”

What could help Nordic creators the most in 2024?

Gabriela: A TV drama industry that dares to take greater risks and allow creators more artistic freedom.

Official trailer:

Read more about Painkiller and the other nominees: CLICK HERE.