To watch any of our recent films, you'll have to contact me as we're not allowed to have them online due to festivals etc. There are trailers for a few of them at their IMDb pages though. Images and different kind of showreels can be found at the Elenziah.com page. In some near future we'll hopefully make a more in-depth homepage with films and info available again.
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Together with my best friends and particularly brother Danny, I once ate film for breakfast. We decorated a film room, spent our money on renting video tapes, browsed this new inter-nett to learn about the creators and later started noting down everything we saw. The first year with such a list, I averaged on almost one film per day. I found favorites and I found a world in which to explore, learn and find comfort in, and at a time in life when I really needed one.
l o t s a l a u g h s w h i l e f i l m i n g , l o t s a c r i e s w h i l e w a t c h i n g t h e c r a p
Soon we were running around with a 9mm camera creating the most disgusting of shit, editing on my VHS and dubbing through a modified PlayStation. Several films later I learned to edit on a computer, and after yet another bunch of films I bought a "pro" dv camera. My back then best friend said that maybe you'll never have to buy another camera. We filmed like madmen, bought or built all necessary apparel we needed and learned a lot, not least in post production.
t h e f i r s t r e a l t r i e s
elenziah core and our sony pdx10
Today that "pro" camera is inferior to my cellphone, and we on Superkär used the exact same RED camera that David Fincher used on the 100+ million dollar film The girl with the dragon tattoo I worked on the month later. Quite insane how fast the evolution has been. And how what once was so extremely fun has turned into events less like going to a tivoli and more like sleep-deprived mountain climbing. Fortunately it also feels rewarding, and the seconds when you feel you've nailed something are purely magical, especially when it's in collaboration with an artist you admire. A druglike kick hard not to want more of once you've experienced it.
9 7 3 2
the dream with red, najat and graffe
Every now and again I feel I need to remind myself of the story above, where it all started. I've creatively explored film so actively it's been my main time-consumer for many years now, but never to fill a cinema, to be shown in Cannes or get similar attention - that's just been very cool bonuses. If my goal was to become rich and famous here in Sweden, I would have made a sexual liberation drama about a teen lesbian zombie named Yummie Åkesson trying to couple with the transsexual vampire Jimmie Råkesson, and the political Swedish film institute would have loved me. Instead I've wanted to learn and grow better by trying with films I'd like, and hopefully make a funny or meaningful trip for someone while at it. I love working with talented people, from actors to composers, and I feel comfortable in most aspects of the process nowadays, 70 shorts later. It's of course all about taste though, and I work in a medium where there are less people who prefer a good product to a big paycheck than I thought a decade ago. Some are thinkers, some are doers, some are good at balancing the two and some are just in it for the fame on Stureplan. I transform into a make-it-happen-and-make-it-as-good-as-possible machine only when I feel I have to, when I really care.
s u p e r k ä r
difficult one made from the heart
When speaking to younger filmmakers, I usually give out four advices I'll be cocky enough to share with you as well. Number one: try. It's quite the challenge to balance all aspects - story, pace, acting, the tech, aesthetics, organizing all parts of production etc - that make a film good, a whole lot to take into consideration, and by trying you'll surely learn and grow from it. Being afraid to fail or be embarrassing is seldom a winning recipe in life. Number two: learn why. What is it that you want to achieve? How did the lust start? What's a good film according to you? I got friends who are amazing at funding money, have great visual style and are natural leaders - but don't have a storyteller inside. I also got friends who are great storytellers or artists but just can't make their asses leave the chair. If you learn why you do this, no one will benefit from it more than you will. If you can't write, get someone else to do it. If you want to impress your father, buy him a car. Number three: be a slave to your own film. If it's a great film you want, there's not much room for ego or laziness. Not from anyone in the team. Help each other achieve best possible results by working as a unified group with the same goal. Achieving it, if just for a few seconds, is what makes all hard work worth it. When watching your film with a few hundred people, you don't want to feel that you've been sloppy with anything. Number four: surround yourself with good people. Be it gifted actors, artists or just trustworthy friends to rely on in the group, and be careful with the responsibility they've entrusted you with. Nothing is more rewarding than happy collaborators.
After all these shorts, other kind of work in the business and participation on a few full length features, we feel comfortable enough to try our own and confident we can make it as damn good as we want to. We won't rush it though, want to be as meticulous as always and have the same freedom. In around a thousand years we'll probably be able to see some pretentious, cute results. I unfortunately doubt we'll be able to stay away from making new shorts as well.
. . . last update 110928
