Swedish film director Ruben Ostlund is now shooting a provocative satire, a follow-up to his Cannes hit “Force Majeure” (2014). His sixth feature looks to be one of his most ambitious movies so far.
The film titled “The Square” follows an ambitious museum director (Claes Bang), who is preparing to make a major impact with a new exhibit. Ruben Östlund is now shooting his new film in Stockholm, Gothenburg and Berlin.
US actress Elisabeth Moss, who won a Golden Globe in 2013 for her performance in the Top of the Lake TV series and most recently starred in US director Jason Lew’s The Free Wold (2016), will star alongside Danish actors Claes Bang (The Bridge) and Christopher Læssø, and Swedish actress Marina Schiptjenko.
“The Square” is set in a renowned museum where an artist is exhibiting a square, an installation that is meant to promote altruism. The movie’s protagonist is the manager of the museum who hires a ruthless PR firm to build some buzz around the installation but things get out of hand (it is an Östlund film, after all) when the museum’s PR team goes too far with their publicity plans, sparking a public uproar and exposing the hypocrisy of the media.
Elisabeth Moss, playing a reporter who is on the beat of the exhibit, is meant to provide people with “a symbolic space where only good things can happen.”
“I want to shed light on the confidence crack that is slowly but surely widening between people when society is becoming increasingly individualistic and higher ideals are being sacrificed, using the international art world as a contemporary backdrop,” explained Östlund as he introduced the project at Cannes in May.
“The situations that unfold are examples of how we humans tend to act in public. The difficulties we face when we see another individual in need of assistance, when we are confronted with our insecurities, when the fear of violence and of losing face frightens us into a passive state—situations that are easy to relate to, but that give rise to difficult issues with regard to ourselves,” according to Östlund.
Ostlund is also making his TV debut with “You Know That Weekend You Were Away With The Kids?” an English-language comedy turning on adultery.
Ruben Östlund
Born 13 April 1974. Swedish film director and playwright.
Began producing films on skiing in the Italian and French Alps and Canada after high school.
Educated at University of Gothenburg – College of Photography and Film (2001)
Produced the features “Gitarmongo” (2004), “Involuntary” (2008), “Play” (2011) and “Force Majeure” (2014), winning the Jury Prize at Un Certain Regard in Cannes.
Runs his production company Plattform in Gothenburg together with producer Erik Hemmendorff.
Professor at Valand Academy at Gothenburg University.
Swedish Prize Winner Shooting a Follow-Up, written by Tor Kjolberg