Baltic Event Co-Production Market
Kevlar Soul
Michail’s life purpose is to look after his little brother Robin and his alcoholic father Bo. That is until he meets Ines. With Michail engulfed by love, Robin loses his footing and begins to freefall. After a tenement house burns down, with fifteen dead, Robin is found guilty of arson. Michail blames himself for neglecting Robin and sees it as his responsibility to save his family. The only problem is that neither Robin nor Bo wants to be saved.
Ever since my very first short films, I have repeatedly told the stories of children and youths. I’m interested in how people during these crucial years – most often in a state of emotional chaos – are shaped and try to find their identity. We are often during these years placed at life-altering crossroads with huge and difficult dilemmas. A lot is at stake and new emotions need to be managed for the very first time. Through the choices we make during both crises and euphoric moments, we shape our identity.
Maria Eriksson-Hecht is a Swedish filmmaker with a master’s degree in film directing from Stockholm Academy of Dramatic Arts. Her acclaimed short films have been screened at international film festivals such as Clermont-Ferrand and Karlovy Vary, and have won over 60 awards at festivals around the globe. Besides making her own films she is one of two chairmen of the Swedish Directors Guild and is teaching directing at several film schools. “Kevlar Soul” is co-written with her partner in film and love Pelle Rådström and produced by Ronny Fritsche at well-known production company Zentropa.
Ronny Fritsche. I’m a producer and environmental strategist working at Zentropa. I studied film at Stockholm Academy of Dramatic Arts (SADA) and have been in the industry, in different roles, since 2006. I’ve produced short as well as long films with several talents. In 2017, I produced my first feature; “Wasted” directed by Anders Hazelius. Together with Maria Eriksson-Hecht, whom I met at SADA, we created the short “If You Leave Me Now” (2014). In August 2020, we filmed our second short and in 2021 we plan to film the feature “Kevlar Soul”. In recent years, I’ve become an ambassador for sustainability within the Swedish film industry by consulting financiers and the Producer’s Association as well as releasing two full reports on green film making.
Zentropa Sweden AB is a production company that produces and co-produces Swedish and European films. The company is based on the west coast of Sweden, in Gothenburg and Trollhättan. The company has two producers, Ronny Fritsche & Lizette Jonjic. The company has been involved in projects by director Lars von Trier (from Antichrist to the upcoming The House That Jack Built), Susanne Bier (In a Better World), Thomas Vinterberg (The Hunt).