Sebbe

Attic passages, gravel roofs, concrete viaducts. 2010’s best Swedish film depicts Gothenburg’s more inhospitable places in a strong mother-and-son drama.

There is quite a lot of ups and downs in fifteen-year-old Sebbe’s life. His father is dead and his mother has gotten caught up in her grief and started drinking too much. She turns her worry and anxiety outwards into aggression towards Sebbe and is a very bad parent. Sebbe, who is bullied at school, has no one else to turn to. Finally, he becomes desperate. When Sebbe had its world premiere at Draken during the 2010 film festival, the air vibrated and none of the roughly 700 persons in the audience was left untouched. Babak Najafi’s nuanced debut feature film about the unbreakable bond between child and parent in a million dollar program area where life is marked by scarcity was later awarded the well-deserved prize for the year’s best Swedish film at the Guldbagge gala. The screening is presented in collaboration with Cinemateket.

• Mirja Wester