15/12/2008

Lukas Moodysson will be walking the red carpet with Michelle Williams and Gael Garcia Bernal, the co-stars of his much-awaited English-language debut, Mammoth [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], selected in official competition at the upcoming Berlinale (February 5-15, 2009).

For Sweden’s most successful film export, this will be his third time in Berlin, though the first in official competition. His two previous selections were at the Panorama section, in 1999 with his acclaimed feature debut Show Me Love (Fucking Åmål), and in 2006 with the experimental Container.

“It’s wonderful”, said Moodysson’s long-time production partner Lars Jönsson. “An invitation for the competition in Berlin is a proof that we have accomplished what we set out to achieve: a strong Lukas Moodysson film with international appeal.”

Based on an original script by Moodysson, Mammoth stars García Bernal as a successful IT businessman and Williams as his wife, a dedicated emergency surgeon who devotes her long shifts to saving lives. They live in New York. Their eight year-old daughter spends most of her time with her Filipino nanny Gloria. When Leo travels to Thailand on business, he unwittingly sets off a chain of events that will have dramatic consequences for everyone.

"The film is about families, about parents and children, and how we behave towards children, both our own and others. It is about how all of us on this planet are interconnected with each other, whether we like it or not. And how we all need each other," said Moodysson.

Mammoth is a Swedish/German/Danish film produced by Memfis Film in co-production with Zentropa Entertainments Berlin, Film i Väst, SVT, Medienboard Berlin, Filmförderungsanstalt, Zentropa Denmark, TV2 Denmark, Nordisk Film & TV Fond, Eurimages and support from the Swedish and Danish film institutes.

The film has already been pre-sold to half a dozen territories by TrustNordisk.