16/12/2016 - “It should be a pleasure for the whole family,” said the director of the feature, in which the main character – a half-metre tall animated monkey - is added after the live cast has shot their scenes

“With Monky [+see also:
trailer
film profile] I want to invite cinema audiences on a rich, swinging, breathtaking and thrilling ride with room for both tears and laughter. It should be a pleasure for the whole family. And I can promise you that after watching this film, everyone will want to have a Monky living at home,” said Swedish director Maria Blom. 

Blom has started principal photography for her fifth feature, Monky, in Göteborg – without her main character: a half-metre tall CGI animated monkey, with more human features than most gibbons, which will be added after the live cast has shot their scenes.

Scripted by Anders Weidemann, Monky follows the life of an ordinary family with a special member: father (Johan Petersson), mother (Frida Hallgren), son (Julius Jimenez Hugoson).The cast also includes Shebly Niavarani and Matilda Forss Lindström.

“In the film Monky is with you all the time. I do not want to reveal too much, but you could say that Monky takes the family and the village on a mental journey,” Blom told local press, adding, “I like happy endings. I have done some not so happy before, but I didn’t think it was funny.” 

Blom’s feature debut, Dalecarlians (2004) – originally written for and staged by Sweden’s Dalateatern, which she adapted for the screen – sold more than 800,000 tickets in Sweden and received three Guldbaggers, the national film award, including for Best Film and Best Screenplay.

Her new €4.1 million family feature is staged by Swedish producer Patrik Ryborn for Stockholm’s Unlimited Stories, with the Swedish regional film centre, FilmVäst, Swedish pubcaster SVT, Chimney Group and Nuovago Capital. Nordisk Film Distribution will handle the local release during Christmas 2017.