About this Film...

DIRECTOR: Kay Pollak
PRODUCERS: Anders Birkeland, Göran Lindström
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Harald Gunnar Paalgard
WRITERS: Kay Pollak, Anders Nyberg, Ola Olsson, Carin Pollak, Margaretha Pollak
COUNTRY: Sweden
YEAR: 2004

BRIEF: This beautiful, uplifting film was Sweden’s 2005 Academy Award nominee for Best Foreign Film (and one of that nation’s biggest box office hits), but for some reason, it was never distributed in this country. The USA Film Festival is pleased to remedy that situation and assist the film with a Dallas playdate. Swedish writer-director Kay Pollock returns to filmmaking after a 20-year absence with, appropriately, this story of an artist rediscovering his desire to create. Successful world-renowned conductor Daniel Dareus (Michael Nyqvist), after a physical and emotional breakdown, suddenly abandons his career to return to his village in remote northern Sweden—a place where he spent a miserable, soul-crushing childhood. Although his fame makes him the subject of curiosity and suspicion, it isn’t long before he is asked to offer some advice to the local church choir. Reluctant at first, he begins to work with the choir, and in the process rediscovers his long-lost love for music, finding himself surrounded by both friends and enemies in a conclusion that has brought international audiences to tears. This magical film is about the healing power of song to lift the human spirit. 132mins.