Apr 3, 2018

Chatting with filmmaker Niki Lindroth von Bahr.

On Wednesday, April 4, a retrospective of Swedish director Niki Lindroos von Baer will open at Cinémathèque Québec in Montreal. His latest film, The Burden, won the Cristal Award for Best Short Film at the 2017 Annecy International Short Film Festival and swept awards at the recent GLAS Animation Film Festival.

The retrospective will be followed by a discussion with the director and Matthew Rankin ("Tesla World Light"), as part of Cinematheque's "Nordic Spring" program. In addition to screening his own films, Lindros von Bahr also curates his own program on Swedish animation.

"I was asked to choose my favorite Swedish animation of the last year or two, but I thought that was a bit of a stretch. I thought it would be a bit impossible, because there are not that many animated films in Sweden. A lot of Swedish animation is focused on children's culture. There are not that many animation projects for adults."

Still, she found the selection process enjoyable and says she is excited to have the opportunity to highlight the work of animators who have influenced her career. These include Johannes Nyholm, the artist who created the series "The Tale of Little Puppetboy," and Andreas Nilsson. He is now known for major commercial work for the likes of Samsung and Kanye West, but back in the day he inspired Lindros von Bahr with the animation for Swedish duo The Knife's 2006 music video for the song "Like a Pen."

Lindroth von Bahr is also known as the man who inspired the Swedish duo The Knife in their 2006 music video for the song "Like a Pen.

Lindroth von Baar's own work has gained attention on the festival circuit over the past few years and has become known for exploring dark themes with a somewhat ironic twist. Her first film, Tord and Tord, dealt with loneliness and psychosis, while 2014's Bath House swept Anima Brussels with its absurd melancholy. Her latest short, "The Burden," features animals who struggle with the banality of existence in a dead-end job. Lindroth von Bahr has put herself in the characters' shoes.

"I too have done a lot of really, really depressing and pointless work to make money. As we all know, working in culture, art, and film is not a very lucrative place to be, job-wise," she grumbles in a light-hearted way.

More than her previous two films, Burden reveals a whimsical side to the filmmaker. This is evident in the way the fish and monkeys of her world deal with their existential fears through song and dance. Lindros von Barr says she was greatly inspired by the work of Busby Berkeley, a Broadway choreographer who worked on more than 30 Hollywood musicals in the 30s and 40s.

To bring her vision to life, Lindroth von Barr hired a choreographer to plan a dance scene between a mouse working in a fast food restaurant and a monkey working in a call center. The lyrics were written by Swedish writer Martin Luke and the music was composed by his friend Hans Apelqvist. According to Lindroth von Bahr, the style of music she requested of him, which was eventually recorded with a live orchestra, was a far cry from his usual genre. [I asked Hans for a musical inspired by old Hollywood musicals like 'West Side Story' and 'Singin' in the Rain. He's a genius. He's a genius.

The film was a huge success, but Lindroth von Bahr admits to being dissatisfied with the budget of about 75,000 euros. Small grants were awarded by Film i Väst and the Rooftop Filmmakers Fund.

"We could have made the dance numbers bigger. [Busby Berkeley] was always making dance scenes with 30 people dancing in different patterns, and it was really surreal and crazy. [Busby Berkeley] always made a dance scene with 30 people dancing in different patterns, and it was really surreal and crazy."

But Lindros von Baer refused to compromise her artistic vision. As a result, she was put at a disadvantage.

"I basically spent two years working full time and not getting paid. That's my punishment," she says, still smiling despite her dark confession.

"But I wasn't allowed to release something I wasn't 100% satisfied with."

Lindroth von Baer says that in the past she has been very ambitious with her storyboards. She says, "In my first two films, I was very rigorous, drawing storyboards that were super detailed, almost too detailed, and I really used them precisely for the animation."

In Burden, however, Lindroth von Bahr was much more flexible in the early stages. She planned a rough storyboard, but needed to be able to adjust it when she got new input from the composer and choreographer. She also got to work with more animators than on previous projects, which allowed her to step back from the production process and be more creative.

"When you start making an animation, you get so absorbed in the technical stuff that you can't make new creative decisions during the animation," she said. With this film, having the role of director made it a little easier to stay creative."

"The Burden" has just finished a long festival run, and Lindros von Baer already has an idea for his next animation project, a supernatural Lynchian thriller about the financial world. For example, she collaborated with Niklas Nilsson on David Bowie's 2015 music video for "Blackstar." She thinks she will return to animation, but for now she thinks she might explore some other avenues.

"I like to be pretty free in an artistic way. It's really nice to come up with an idea and get a result in two weeks where it would take two years," she says, laughing again.

For more information about the Niki Lindroth von Bahr retrospective opening in Montreal on April 4, visit the Cinematheque Quebecoise website.