''She Monkeys'' () is a 2011 Swedish drama film directed by

Lisa Aschan Daria Sofia Elisabeth "Lisa" Aschan (born 28 February 1978) is a Swedish film director and screenwriter. Aschan went to film school in Stockholm and Denmark. During her studies, she became known for a commercial series called ''Fuck the Rapist!' ...

, starring Mathilda Paradeiser, Linda Molin and Isabella Lindqvist. The film focuses on psychological power struggles between two teenage girls engaged in

equestrian vaulting Equestrian vaulting, or simply vaulting, is most often described as gymnastics and dance on horseback, which can be practiced both competitively or non-competitively. Vaulting has a history as an equestrian act at circuses, but its origins stre ...

Plot

Cast

* Mathilda Paradeiser as Emma * Linda Molin as Cassandra * Isabella Lindqvist as Sara * Sergej Merkusjev as Ivan * Adam Lundgren as Jens * Sigmund Hovind as Tobias * Kevin Caicedo Vega as Sebastian

Production

''She Monkeys'' was produced as part of the

Swedish Film Institute The Swedish Film Institute () (SFI) is a statutory body located in Stockholm, Sweden that supports the Swedish film industry. Founded in 1963, the institute is responsible for administering the annual Guldbagge Awards, and for managing the Swed ...

's Rookie Project, which provided financial support for which only debuting feature-film directors are eligible. Inspirations for the film included a picture of

Shirley Temple Shirley Temple Black (born Shirley Jane Temple; April 23, 1928 – February 10, 2014) was an American actress, singer, dancer, and diplomat, who was Hollywood's number-one box-office draw as a child actress from 1934 to 1938. Later, she was na ...

and the 1928 novella ''

Story of the Eye ''Story of the Eye'' ( is a 1928 novella written by Georges Bataille as Lord Auch (literally, Lord "to the shithouse" — "auch" being short for "aux chiottes", slang for telling somebody off by sending him to the toilet), that details the increa ...

'' by

George Bataille Georges Albert Maurice Victor Bataille (; ; 10 September 1897 – 8 July 1962) was a French philosopher and intellectual working in philosophy, literature, sociology, anthropology, and history of art. His writing, which included essays, nove ...

. Casting of the lead actors took four months. The filmmakers needed to find girls who not only could act, but also met the requirements of the physically demanding roles.

Release

The film premiered on 31 January 2011 at the

Gothenburg Film Festival Göteborg Film Festival (GFF), formerly Göteborg International Film Festival (GIFF), known in English as the Gothenburg Film Festival, formerly Gothenburg International Film Festival, is an annual film festival in Gothenburg, Sweden and the large ...

. Several festival selections followed, including

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

where it screened in the section Generation 14Plus,

Tribeca Tribeca ( ), originally written as TriBeCa, is a neighborhood in Lower Manhattan in New York City. Its name is a syllabic abbreviation of "Triangle Below Canal Street". The "triangle" (more accurately a quadrilateral) is bounded by Canal Str ...

and

Karlovy Vary Karlovy Vary (; , formerly also spelled ''Carlsbad'' in English) is a spa town, spa city in the Karlovy Vary Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 49,000 inhabitants. It is located at the confluence of the Ohře and Teplá (river), Teplá ri ...

. The earliest regular release was in France, where ASC Distribution launched the film on 3 August 2011. The Swedish release is set to 2 September 2011 through TriArt Film.

Reception

Alissa Simon of ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' called the film "one of the most intense and complex feature debuts to come from Sweden since

Lukas Moodysson Karl Fredrik Lukas Moodysson (; born 17 January 1969) is a Swedish filmmaker, novelist, and short story writer. First coming to prominence as an ambitious poet in the 1980s, he had his big domestic and international breakthrough directing the 1 ...

's '' Show Me Love''", and wrote: "Aschan's provocative visual language links pleasure and pain as she focuses on the arousing nature of unpleasant things. Carefully framed compositions that are near cliche (a father cuddling his child, a babysitter helping a youngster with tooth brushing) take on fresh significance. ... Just as remarkably, Aschan draws convincing, naturalistic performances from her young non-pro actors while putting them in highly charged situations." At the Gothenburg Film Festival, ''She Monkeys'' received the top competition prize, the Dragon Award for Best Nordic Film, with one million kronor in prize money. It also won the festival's

FIPRESCI The International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI, short for ''Fédération Internationale de la Presse Cinématographique'') is an association of national organizations of professional film critics and film journalists from around the wor ...

prize. The film received the award for Best Narrative Feature, World Narrative Competition Section at the Tribeca Film Festival. Linda Wassberg won the prize for Best Cinematography at the

Transilvania International Film Festival The Transilvania International Film Festival (TIFF; ) is the first international feature film festival in Romania, which is held annually in the historic capital of Transylvania, Cluj-Napoca. Founded in 2002 by the Romanian Film Promotion (), TIFF ...

in Romania.

References

External links

Official website
* * * * {{GuldbaggeAwardBestFilm, state=autocollapse 2011 films Horse sports in film Swedish drama films 2010s Swedish-language films Best Film Guldbagge Award winners 2011 drama films 2010s Swedish films