06/09/2013 - Already considered for the Nordic Council Film Prize, Swedish director Gabriela Pichler’s multi-award-winning drama will fly the Swedish colours in the race for the Academy Award nomination as Best Foreign Language Feature

Joining the race for the €47,000 Nordic Council Film Award earlier this week (September 3), Swedish director Gabriela Pichler’s feature debut, Eat Sleep Die [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: China Ahlander
interview: Gabriela Pichler
interview: Nermina Lukac
film profile] (photo), was yesterday (September 5) named the Swedish submission for the Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Language Feature.

Having received four Guldbagger – Sweden’s national film prize – for Best Feature, Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Actress (Nermina Lukač), Eat Sleep Die was launched in the Critics’ Week at last year’s Venice International Film Festival, where it collected the RaroVideo Audience Award.

Scripted by Pichler, the film portrays 20-year-old Rasa, who lives with her father in a small village of the southernmost Swedish province of Skåne. Rasa has lost her job, still she wants her life to be more than eat sleep die in the depiction of working class values, unemployment, immigration, and paternal love.

“I made the film to give a broad picture of Sweden anno 2012 – this is what it looks like right now – and it makes me incredibly happy that the voices of the film’s characters will echo in Parliament and show that unemployment is more than just numbers and statistics,” said Pichler, when Eat Sleep Die was last year selected for a special screening in the Swedish Parliament.

Produced by China Åhlander and Linda Sternö for Anagram Produktion, co-starring Milan Dragišic, Peter Fält, Ružica Pichlerand and Jonathan Lampinen, the film was released domestically by Triart to unanimous critical acclaim. Finnish-Swedish international sales outfit The Yellow Affair has sold it to 36 territories.