05/08/2013 - Swedish director Lukas Moodysson’s new feature about three outsiders in 1980s’ Stockholm joins the international festival circuit ahead of its local release

Four years after his first English-language feature, Mammoth [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] (2009), Swedish director Lukas Moodysson has returned to his native language for We Are the Best! [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], a portrayal of  three outsiders in 1980s’ Stockholm. The film has been selected for the Venice and Toronto film festivals ahead of its local release through Svensk Filmindustri on October 11.

Celebrating its 70^th anniversary, the Venice Film Festival (August 28-September 7) will screen the film in the Orizzonti competition. “I am very happy and very surprised,” said Moodysson, who has twice before been represented on the Lido, with Lilja 4-Ever [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (2002) and Together (2000).

The Toronto International Film Festival (September 5-15) has also chosen the director for a Special Presentation – the sidebar for “high-profile premieres from the world’s leading filmmaker.” “Moodysson is one of the most important European directors in the last 15 years,” explained Toronto programmer Steve Gravestock.

Scripted by Moodysson, based on Coco Moodysson’s comic book Never Goodnight, We Are the Best! stars newcomers Mira Grosin, Mira Barkhammar and Liv LeMoyne (pictured) as three 13-year old girls - brave and tough, strong and weak and confused and weird - who roam the streets of Stockholm 1982.

With a cast including David Dencik, Johan Liljemark, Anna Rydgren and Mattias Wiberg, We Are the Best! was produced by Lars Jönsson for Memfis Film, with Film I Väst, Swedish pubcaster SVT and Denmark’s Zentropa Entertainments. Denmark’s TrustNordisk handles international sales.

Photo credit: Memphis Film/Fanni Metelius