We are thrilled to let you know that our film, COMEDY QUEEN by director Sanna Lenken has been selected for the 72nd Berlin International Film Festival, where it will screen in the Generation Kplus section. This marks Sanna Lenken’s second feature film selection at the festival, as her feature debut “My Skinny Sister” was awarded with the Crystal Bear in 2015.
The drama comedy is based on Jenny Jägerfeld’s acclaimed novel of the same name and Linn Gottfridsson (“Beartown”, “Glowing Stars”) has written the script.
Director, Sanna Lenken comments on the selection: “I’m so thrilled and happy to come back to Berlin and Generation. The film couldn’t get a better start.”
“We are very proud to be representing this touching gem of a film and thrilled to see it celebrate it’s international premiere at the Berlinale“ says Helene Aurø, Sales & Marketing Director at REinvent International Sales.
The film is directed by the acclaimed Sanna Lenken, whose latest work, the series “Thin Blue Line”, was a massive success on SVT (Swedish Television). She has previously directed the Guldbagge Award-nominated short films “Eating Lunch” (2014) and “Night Children” (2018) and made her feature film debut with “My Skinny Sister” (2015), for which she was Guldbagge Award-nominated for Best Director and Best Screenplay and was awarded with the Crystal Bear at the Berlin Film Festival and the Grand Film Award at the Gothenburg International Film Festival.
Sasha is just 13 years old and wants nothing more than to become a stand-up comedian. She wants to make everyone laugh, especially her father who cries in the shower when he thinks no one is listening. Everything at home reminds her of her mother who no longer lives, and behind Sasha’s eyes the life-threatening tears burn. But she refuses to mourn. She secretly writes a list of everything she has to do to survive – shave her hair, stop reading books, say no to the world’s cutest puppy and above all – become a Comedy Queen.
The main role Sasha is played by Sigrid Johnson (“Maria Wern”, “Tusen år till julafton”), Sasha’s father Abbe is played by Oscar Töringe (“Thin Blue Line”, “My Dad Marianne”, “Top Dog”) and in the role of Sasha’s bestie Märta we see feature film debutant Ellen Taure.
Producers of the film are Rebecka Lafrenz, who previously produced “Bert’s Diary” (2020), “Cockpit” (2012) and was awarded the Guldbagge Award for “Sebbe” (2010), and Anna Anthony, who previously produced “Jalla! Jalla!” (2000), “In a Better World” (2010), “Becoming Astrid” (2018) and “Zozo” (2005), for which she received the Nordic Council Film Award. Executive producers are Joshua Mehr and Pontus Edgren.
COMEDY QUEEN is produced by FLX in co-production with Film i Väst, SF Studios and SVT and with support from the Swedish Film Institute and Nordisk Film & TV Fond. SF Studios is distributing the film in the Nordics and REinvent International Sales handles international sales. The film will premiere in Swedish cinemas in February 2022.
About SF Studios
SF Studios, established in 1919, is one of the world’s oldest film companies. Today SF Studios is the leading film studio in the Nordic region with its headquarters in Stockholm, Sweden and offices in Oslo, Copenhagen, Helsinki and London. The company is producing and distributing feature films and TV series as well as providing the digital services SF Anytime and SF Kids.