Gonzo journalism, Soviet bases, irradiated centaurs and heavy drinking are just some of the perks of the directing duo’s quirky sophomore feature.

Egghead Republic, the sophomore feature by Swedish filmmakers Pella Kågerman and Hugo Lilja, celebrated its world premiere in TIFF’s Discovery section on 5 September. Mixing dark satire with surrealist sci-fi, the film follows Sonja (Ella Rae Rappaport), a 22 year old club kid sent to investigate rumours of mutated centaurs in a radioactive Kazakh zone, alongside eccentric media mogul Dino Davis (Tyler Labine). Sold internationally by Best Friend Forever, the film marks a return for the duo after their acclaimed 2018 debut Aniara. Nordisk Film & TV Fond spoke to Kågerman and Lilja about their inspirations, casting process, and the challenges of crafting a bizarre alternative Cold War reality.

How did you end up merging the world of Arno Schmidt’s 1957 novel “The Egghead Republic” with Pella’s personal experiences at Vice? How did all of this turn into a film?

Pella Kågerman: I got the book from my German professor at Stockholm’s Royal Academy of Arts, and he suggested Hugo and me to turn it into a film. I read it and enjoyed its experimentalism. Schmidt was a former translator, and one of his goals was to make the book almost untranslatable. I read the English version and got a little lost - there were moments where I thought there were butterflies giving blowjobs, but it turned out to be dogs! It’s a very far-out novel about a horny journalist travelling to a wasteland in the Nevada desert, set in 2008. That immediately reminded me of what I was doing back then - travelling with Vice Magazine to Chernobyl to hunt radioactive bees. Suddenly it became personal, a story we felt we knew by heart.

When did you start writing it?

PK: We began developing it around 2018. Early drafts came together quickly, but the process kept evolving. We realised it had to be a kind of period piece, since this world of gonzo journalism doesn’t exist in quite the same way anymore.

Looking back at the writing process, what were the challenges in balancing comedy, satire, and the darker undertones?

Hugo Lilja: That was probably the biggest challenge. It’s really a balancing act - knowing when something should be comical and when it needed more seriousness, without the tones colliding. It was difficult both in the script and in the editing process. In the end, I think we leaned more into satire.

Speaking of actors, how did you cast the two leads, Tyler Labine and Ella Rae Rappaport?

PK: We saw Ella in a Swedish TV series, just a small part, but she immediately stood out. We’d already seen hundreds of actors, but she was perfect.

HL: With Tyler, budget was an issue. At first Gustav Skarsgård was attached, but then he had a child and had to drop out. When we looked at actors for a possible US version, Tyler became our favourite. We actually discovered him through one of those cameo videos where actors send birthday greetings - it convinced us he was perfect.

PK: The rest of the cast came from people close to us - friends, godparents, fellow parents. We love working with people we trust, who can really go on adventures with us. It creates a family-like atmosphere.

Let’s move to visual language and production design. The world you created is very peculiar - set in the early 2000s, but with the Cold War still ongoing. What kind of references inspired you?

PK: My sister, Petra Kågerman, did the production design. She’s amazing. We recreated Vice–like magazines down to the fonts, printing hundreds of fake covers. We also tailored the script to locations we could realistically use - like a gravel pit that became our desert.

HL: We worked again with Arild Andersson, a 3D artist who already collaborated with us on Aniara. He sketched environments while we scouted locations, so the world-building was really integrated from the start.

PK: We eventually found the right soil on Gotland, which looked like Kazakhstan. Shooting there was crucial, and we also borrowed resources from the Bergman Foundation. One of the first promo shots we made there - with me topless against the Rauks, later given a centaur’s body - actually made it into the final film!

Was the whole film shot in Sweden?

PK: Yes, entirely in Gotland - mainly around Fårösund. Everything was close by, just a few kilometres apart.

How long did the shoot take?

HL: Around 22 days initially, then we added splinter units and pre-shoots.

PK: We actually filmed in 2023, but post-production stretched much longer. Our VFX artist and editor Oskar Blondellreally needed time, so the film was delayed almost a year.

So I assume post-production was quite intense?

HL: Very. But when we recently met Oskar for a final drink of Prosecco, it felt like a proper finish.

About your work with actors - do you stick closely to the script or allow freedom?

HL: We’re open to contributions, but the final film is still close to the script.

PK: Very open. Arvin Kananian, for example, plays one of Dino’s camera operators, Turan Hiram, but he was involved in the project as an executive producer and was present in the editing room as well. And Tyler contributed to some dialogue. So it’s been quite a collaborative process.

What do you hope audiences will take away from Egghead Republic? Also, how did the Toronto premiere go?

PK: The Toronto premiere was special, though bittersweet because Hugo couldn’t attend. Seeing our logo fill the screen, I really missed him. It’s always hard for me to watch my own work, but we all truly celebrated that moment. We also know this is a love-or-hate film, and that’s exactly what we wanted: Something that divides, but also gives audiences a memorable ride.