Thu February 26, 2015
In Case of No Emergency: The Films of Ruben Östlund
SEE EVENT DETAILS
at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (YBCA) Screening Room
(see times)
Swedish cinema goes way over the edge in the work of Ruben Östlund. These confrontational, darkly humorous films examine human prejudice and behavior in stressful (and often absurd) scenarios. Elegantly provocative, Östlund shatters the civilized veneer of Western bourgeois society, in order to, in his words, “make the audience take a moral stand on its own.”
Östlund began his career in the 90s directing skiing films before moving on to narrative films that have been steadily collecting prizes on the festival circuit for the past decade. His newest feature, Force Majeure, won the Un Certain Regard Jury Prize at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival, and is his second film to be submitted by Sweden to the Oscars for Best Foreign Language Film.
This touring retrospective is produced by Comeback Company, in partnership with the Swedish Film Institute and Plattform Produktion, with additional support from the Embassy of Sweden in the United States and the Consulate General of Sweden in New York. Thanks to Irena Kovarova.
Force Majeure (Turist)
Thu, Feb 12, 7:30 PM & Sun, Feb 15, 2 PM
This wickedly funny and precisely observed psychodrama tells the story of a model Swedish family—handsome businessman Tomas, his willowy wife Ebba and their two blond children—on a skiing holiday in the French Alps. The sun is shining and the slopes are spectacular but, during a lunch at a mountainside restaurant, an avalanche suddenly bears down on the happy diners. With people fleeing in all directions and his wife and children in a state of panic, Tomas makes a decision that will shake his marriage to its core and leave him struggling to reclaim his role as family patriarch.
Play
Thu, Feb 19, 7:30 PM & Sun, Feb 22, 2 PM
An astute observation of racial and class tension, Play is a bracing film based on the real cases of bullying in Gothenberg, Sweden from 2006 to 2008. Centering on a group of boys from African immigrant families who rely on elaborate schemes to rob other children, the boys are well aware of the stereotypes that follow black youth in a nation like Sweden, and use them to intimidate other boys their age.
DOUBLE FEATURE: Involuntary & The Guitar Mongoloid
Involuntary (De ofrivilliga)
Thu, Feb 26, 7 PM
A surreal comedy of Swedish manners, Involuntary has five intersecting stories in which respect for authority is challenged. Whether focused on a dinner party gone awry, a stubborn bus driver or two teen girls exploring their sexuality through a webcam, the film poses questions about group mentality and social influences. Tensions mount as each character is pressed to take a stand or accept responsibility. Official selection at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival. Preceded by the short Incident by a Bank
-followed by-
The Guitar Mongoloid (Gitarrmongot)
Thu, Feb 26, 9 PM
Welcome to the Sweden of the new millennium in Östlund's feature debut. Eschewing traditional narrative, the film drifts through a society of lonely people and sudden outbursts of violence. In scenes of euphoric joy and purposeful destruction, a 12-year-old screams out punk songs, grown men play dangerously with guns, and a young boy twists TV antennas so viewers' reception goes fuzzy. Preceded by the short Autobiographical Scene Number 6882.
show less
Östlund began his career in the 90s directing skiing films before moving on to narrative films that have been steadily collecting prizes on the festival circuit for the past decade. His newest feature, Force Majeure, won the Un Certain Regard Jury Prize at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival, and is his second film to be submitted by Sweden to the Oscars for Best Foreign Language Film.
This touring retrospective is produced by Comeback Company, in partnership with the Swedish Film Institute and Plattform Produktion, with additional support from the Embassy of Sweden in the United States and the Consulate General of Sweden in New York. Thanks to Irena Kovarova.
Force Majeure (Turist)
Thu, Feb 12, 7:30 PM & Sun, Feb 15, 2 PM
This wickedly funny and precisely observed psychodrama tells the story of a model Swedish family—handsome businessman Tomas, his willowy wife Ebba and their two blond children—on a skiing holiday in the French Alps. The sun is shining and the slopes are spectacular but, during a lunch at a mountainside restaurant, an avalanche suddenly bears down on the happy diners. With people fleeing in all directions and his wife and children in a state of panic, Tomas makes a decision that will shake his marriage to its core and leave him struggling to reclaim his role as family patriarch.
Play
Thu, Feb 19, 7:30 PM & Sun, Feb 22, 2 PM
An astute observation of racial and class tension, Play is a bracing film based on the real cases of bullying in Gothenberg, Sweden from 2006 to 2008. Centering on a group of boys from African immigrant families who rely on elaborate schemes to rob other children, the boys are well aware of the stereotypes that follow black youth in a nation like Sweden, and use them to intimidate other boys their age.
DOUBLE FEATURE: Involuntary & The Guitar Mongoloid
Involuntary (De ofrivilliga)
Thu, Feb 26, 7 PM
A surreal comedy of Swedish manners, Involuntary has five intersecting stories in which respect for authority is challenged. Whether focused on a dinner party gone awry, a stubborn bus driver or two teen girls exploring their sexuality through a webcam, the film poses questions about group mentality and social influences. Tensions mount as each character is pressed to take a stand or accept responsibility. Official selection at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival. Preceded by the short Incident by a Bank
-followed by-
The Guitar Mongoloid (Gitarrmongot)
Thu, Feb 26, 9 PM
Welcome to the Sweden of the new millennium in Östlund's feature debut. Eschewing traditional narrative, the film drifts through a society of lonely people and sudden outbursts of violence. In scenes of euphoric joy and purposeful destruction, a 12-year-old screams out punk songs, grown men play dangerously with guns, and a young boy twists TV antennas so viewers' reception goes fuzzy. Preceded by the short Autobiographical Scene Number 6882.
Swedish cinema goes way over the edge in the work of Ruben Östlund. These confrontational, darkly humorous films examine human prejudice and behavior in stressful (and often absurd) scenarios. Elegantly provocative, Östlund shatters the civilized veneer of Western bourgeois society, in order to, in his words, “make the audience take a moral stand on its own.”
Östlund began his career in the 90s directing skiing films before moving on to narrative films that have been steadily collecting prizes on the festival circuit for the past decade. His newest feature, Force Majeure, won the Un Certain Regard Jury Prize at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival, and is his second film to be submitted by Sweden to the Oscars for Best Foreign Language Film.
This touring retrospective is produced by Comeback Company, in partnership with the Swedish Film Institute and Plattform Produktion, with additional support from the Embassy of Sweden in the United States and the Consulate General of Sweden in New York. Thanks to Irena Kovarova.
Force Majeure (Turist)
Thu, Feb 12, 7:30 PM & Sun, Feb 15, 2 PM
This wickedly funny and precisely observed psychodrama tells the story of a model Swedish family—handsome businessman Tomas, his willowy wife Ebba and their two blond children—on a skiing holiday in the French Alps. The sun is shining and the slopes are spectacular but, during a lunch at a mountainside restaurant, an avalanche suddenly bears down on the happy diners. With people fleeing in all directions and his wife and children in a state of panic, Tomas makes a decision that will shake his marriage to its core and leave him struggling to reclaim his role as family patriarch.
Play
Thu, Feb 19, 7:30 PM & Sun, Feb 22, 2 PM
An astute observation of racial and class tension, Play is a bracing film based on the real cases of bullying in Gothenberg, Sweden from 2006 to 2008. Centering on a group of boys from African immigrant families who rely on elaborate schemes to rob other children, the boys are well aware of the stereotypes that follow black youth in a nation like Sweden, and use them to intimidate other boys their age.
DOUBLE FEATURE: Involuntary & The Guitar Mongoloid
Involuntary (De ofrivilliga)
Thu, Feb 26, 7 PM
A surreal comedy of Swedish manners, Involuntary has five intersecting stories in which respect for authority is challenged. Whether focused on a dinner party gone awry, a stubborn bus driver or two teen girls exploring their sexuality through a webcam, the film poses questions about group mentality and social influences. Tensions mount as each character is pressed to take a stand or accept responsibility. Official selection at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival. Preceded by the short Incident by a Bank
-followed by-
The Guitar Mongoloid (Gitarrmongot)
Thu, Feb 26, 9 PM
Welcome to the Sweden of the new millennium in Östlund's feature debut. Eschewing traditional narrative, the film drifts through a society of lonely people and sudden outbursts of violence. In scenes of euphoric joy and purposeful destruction, a 12-year-old screams out punk songs, grown men play dangerously with guns, and a young boy twists TV antennas so viewers' reception goes fuzzy. Preceded by the short Autobiographical Scene Number 6882.
read more
Östlund began his career in the 90s directing skiing films before moving on to narrative films that have been steadily collecting prizes on the festival circuit for the past decade. His newest feature, Force Majeure, won the Un Certain Regard Jury Prize at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival, and is his second film to be submitted by Sweden to the Oscars for Best Foreign Language Film.
This touring retrospective is produced by Comeback Company, in partnership with the Swedish Film Institute and Plattform Produktion, with additional support from the Embassy of Sweden in the United States and the Consulate General of Sweden in New York. Thanks to Irena Kovarova.
Force Majeure (Turist)
Thu, Feb 12, 7:30 PM & Sun, Feb 15, 2 PM
This wickedly funny and precisely observed psychodrama tells the story of a model Swedish family—handsome businessman Tomas, his willowy wife Ebba and their two blond children—on a skiing holiday in the French Alps. The sun is shining and the slopes are spectacular but, during a lunch at a mountainside restaurant, an avalanche suddenly bears down on the happy diners. With people fleeing in all directions and his wife and children in a state of panic, Tomas makes a decision that will shake his marriage to its core and leave him struggling to reclaim his role as family patriarch.
Play
Thu, Feb 19, 7:30 PM & Sun, Feb 22, 2 PM
An astute observation of racial and class tension, Play is a bracing film based on the real cases of bullying in Gothenberg, Sweden from 2006 to 2008. Centering on a group of boys from African immigrant families who rely on elaborate schemes to rob other children, the boys are well aware of the stereotypes that follow black youth in a nation like Sweden, and use them to intimidate other boys their age.
DOUBLE FEATURE: Involuntary & The Guitar Mongoloid
Involuntary (De ofrivilliga)
Thu, Feb 26, 7 PM
A surreal comedy of Swedish manners, Involuntary has five intersecting stories in which respect for authority is challenged. Whether focused on a dinner party gone awry, a stubborn bus driver or two teen girls exploring their sexuality through a webcam, the film poses questions about group mentality and social influences. Tensions mount as each character is pressed to take a stand or accept responsibility. Official selection at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival. Preceded by the short Incident by a Bank
-followed by-
The Guitar Mongoloid (Gitarrmongot)
Thu, Feb 26, 9 PM
Welcome to the Sweden of the new millennium in Östlund's feature debut. Eschewing traditional narrative, the film drifts through a society of lonely people and sudden outbursts of violence. In scenes of euphoric joy and purposeful destruction, a 12-year-old screams out punk songs, grown men play dangerously with guns, and a young boy twists TV antennas so viewers' reception goes fuzzy. Preceded by the short Autobiographical Scene Number 6882.
show less
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Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (YBCA) Screening Room
701 Mission Street, San Francisco, CA 94103
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