The Prisoner of Karl's Fortress

Sweden’s West Coast’s foremost golden age director, Georg af Klecker, signed this thrilling drama about a sought-after bomb formula and a young maiden who is kept at Carlsten Fortress.

Although Georg af Klecker now stands in the umbrage of the golden age of films giants like Victor Sjöström and Mauritz Stiller, he was in the 1910s one of Sweden’s greatest directors. Between 1915 and 1918, he directed some thirty films, bot farces and melodramas, for Hasselblad. Fången på Karlstens fästning (Captive at Carlsten Fortress) is a riveting suspense story where count de Farber sets off to Sweden to buy the formula for a new kind of explosive. When the inventor refuses to sell, the Count resorts to harder measures to get his hands on the formula. The film includes several fine views of Göteborg, and its thrilling beginnings take place with Carlsten Fortress as background. The film has been digitally restored by the Swedish Film Institute and will be screened in collaboration with Cinemateket. Stefan Wingefors accompanying on piano.

PRE-FILM: Göta Elf-katastrofen (The Göta Elf Catastrophe), Sweden, 1908, 6 min., director Charles Magnusson.

A portrayal of the events following a capsized boat at Lilla Bommen in Göteborg. Magnusson was on location early and caught on film the panic, the efforts to save lives, and how the corspes were salvaged.

Piano accompaniment by Stefan Wingefors.

• Stefan Ramstedt