Female Filmmakers in Focus: Mika Gustafson and Alexander Öhrstrand

Set in a nondescript working-class suburb of Sweden, “Paradise is Burning” focuses on three sisters whose mother is terminally absent. When the school begins to suspect their mother has taken off (again) a meeting with social services looms. This ticking clock adds tension as the eldest girl Laura (Bianca Delbravo) searches for someone to stand in as their mother for the meeting. This puts her in the path of an older woman named Hanna (Ida Engvoll), who quickly besots the teen. The middle girl, Mira (Dilvin Asaad), is on the brink of puberty and all the fraught emotions that come with it. The youngest, energetic seven-year-old Steffi (Safira Mossberg), is like the lyrics to Taylor Swift’s “seven” brought to vivid life (Before I learned civility/I used to scream ferociously/Any time I wanted). As the school year dissipates into the hot and hazy summer, despite all their worries, the girls find a special kind of kinship within this chaos. 

This fierce, yet compassionate film was directed and co-written by Mika Gustafson, who won the Best Director award in the Horizons section of the Venice Film Festival last year, where it had its world premiere. The film was developed by Gustafson and co-writer and actor Alexander Öhrstrand through a series of labs, including the Nordic Talent pitch prize, the Stockholm Debut program, and the Berlinale Talents Script Station. Before working on her debut narrative film, Gustafson graduated from Valand Film Academy in 2016. Her graduation film “Mephobia” won the Iconoclastic prize at the Torino Film Festival. The following year, her documentary “Silvana” won the Guldbagge for Best Documentary Feature. 

For this month’s Female Filmmakers in Focus column, RogerEbert.com spoke to creative partners Mika Gustafson and Alexander Öhrstrand about turning the collaborative process of turning their ideas into one cohesive vision, guiding their non-professional actors, the punk and poetry of teenage girldom, and the filmmakers who inspire them. 

You developed this script through a series of pipelines together. I’ve interviewed several writer-director duos, sometimes couples, sometimes just creative partners, and everyone’s process is different. I would love to hear your process of working together to create a cohesive vision?

Mika Gustafson: Alex is a scriptwriter but also has been an actor from the beginning, and I’m a director, and I think we write a little bit like an actor and director. I think that’s our writing process. For example, we talk a lot about how to make the dialog invisible in the actor’s way of speaking. 

Alexander Öhrstrand: It’s easy to write something really cool sounding on paper, but it’s different to say it, so you need to adjust how you say the lines. But also, as you said, working as an actor, usually you’re the one coming up with suggestions, and then the director says, “Oh no, no.” or “Yes, yes. A bit more of that, less of that.” So, Mika will come up with an idea for a scene, and then we will riff back and forth.

MG: I like that you have to try your thoughts, you know? And I think our collaboration is very playful. We have a lot of fun. We work all the time because we are also a couple, so it has to be very fun. But I think we can also be quite hard on each other. We’re always figuring out how to do this better and asking questions, like how do we get this scene more alive? Then we do it again. How do we show that? Write it again.

AÖ: Also, it’s a lot about me just trying to understand Mika’s vision. We always have a contract, a written contract, between ourselves, when we work. So for “Paradise is Burning,” Mika is the director, so she has the final say on whatever it is. So if I have ideas, and then if Mika says okay, then we go with it. But if Mika says no, then I have to understand what she means. 

MG:  And that can be cool for me, because Alex when Alex says he doesn’t understand, then it tells me to think some more and go back to it. 

AÖ: Mika always has that overarching artistic responsibility. So we always follow her vision, because somebody has to make the film totally cohesive. But of course, I would never accept her saying we’re doing something just because she feels like it. She has to explain.

MG: I think we pushed each other to be better together.

AÖ: So, for this film, Mika said in the beginning that she didn’t want any scene to feel like she’d seen it before. She didn’t want anyone to think, “I know how the story ends.” So we were always looking for something new, and that’s a really fun way to work

Mika, you started working in documentary. Was there always a plan to transition to narrative filmmaking?

MG: I went to film school to learn fiction filmmaking. The documentary was a coincidence. I’m not sure if I’m going to make a documentary again. I made that documentary at the same time I went to film school, and I learned a lot. Making a documentary gives you some tools that could be interesting, even if it’s not where you come from. I’m really glad I did it once. I think my way into film was my interest in actors and directing actors. It’s always been my nerdy thing, thinking about how you direct actors so that it looks authentic or magic, and thinking about how you create this world. It’s always been a goal for me. When we were on set with “Paradise is Burning,” on the first day, the first hour, I was like, “Okay, I’ve been trained for this. I’ve been trained for this for 15 years, and now it’s gonna happen.” It felt like the Olympics. 

Paradise Is Burning

You found the lead cast in interesting ways, at the supermarket, at a train station, and then scouting at a school. I was struck by how authentic their sisterhood felt. How did you work with them on that chemistry?

MG: We had these workshops for three or four months before starting shooting. The three of them are all first-time actors, so we had to go through what acting is and how you work text and improvisation. We also worked on confidence, because it takes confidence standing on set, having 50 people looking at you while you’re acting. So it was really about building them up and having a good time and have them get to know each other during this process. The film has a lot of fights and intimacy, so Alex and I made a program together. It took us 10 months to find them, and they are very talented, but they also needed to go through eight weeks of shooting. We started with the physical part, the fight training because a fight is a dance. So we showed them how it works.

AÖ: And a scene is also of a dance. It’s, “I sit here, and you move there,” and so on.

MG: This sounds so simple, but I think to get actors to play well on camera, it is always about the connection between the actors and the director, and that’s about trust and safety. I know it sounds so simple, but I think that is really what we worked on.

AÖ: We also took them Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu classes, so they would loosen up around each other. We didn’t want them standing still. They needed to be like sisters, which is sometimes rough.

MG:  And we took them swimming. A lot of stuff like that. 

AÖ: Then, as you said, in the workshops they learned about the turning point in a scene. They didn’t know what that was. They were able to practice in front of each other and with each other. That creates a bond. Also, when the art director had dressed up the whole department, we took them to the apartment and they got to go inside without anyone else, just the three of them. We gave them the key and they had spent half an hour in there, just being themselves, just three of them. 

I wanted to ask about the house because you never see their parents, but you get an idea of what they’re like with the beautiful framed portraits and all the colorful belongings. How did you work with the art director to craft what this house would look like absent of a mother? 

MG:  I’m glad you asked that. We don’t get that question a lot. We did a lot of research. We traveled around Sweden and visited a lot of different small suburbs in Sweden to try to find a specific tone, that wouldn’t say specifically where in Sweden this film takes place, or whether it’s in a big city or a small city. We wanted it to be both specific and universal. 

AÖ: Our production designer, Catharina Nyqvist Ehrnrooth, is super talented. Like Mika said, we wanted it to be like they live alone, but not necessarily that image you always see of a house that is just gray and dirty.

MG:  We don’t want to look down on the girls or pity them. You know when you have a vision and someone totally understands your vision and then she’s topping it? That’s Catharina. I think that’s the best way to work when you work with other people who know what you want but they do it even better. I remember, for example, we said in the script that you can walk around from the kitchen to the living room. When we visited the house while she was working on it, I was like, “Wasn’t the wall over here?” She was like, “Yeah, I took it down. Like it says in the script.” I think she’s extraordinary. 

AÖ: In the script, the mother’s never mentioned, or the father either, or where they are. So a lot of people asked if we should see a closet or the mom’s dresses. But we said, no, none of that. The kids don’t care where the mom is, so don’t worry about it. The film is about the sisters. I think Catharina took that to heart. So she made the house as though the kids were taking over. There are still some signs but –

MG:  It’s really finding the right balance. 

You had searched for your cinematographer for quite a while to find someone who had the right vibe. I’d love to hear how you landed Sine Vadstrup Brooker?

MG:  She’s a Danish cinematographer. While writing the script, Alex and I talked about how the film should be tactile, like blood on your finger or scratches on your knees. That it should feel sweaty. Also, I wanted to film it on film. But then I was like, okay, I have not just one first-time actor; I have three first-time actors. To film it on film, that can cost a lot. But Sine was really good. She understood the vision, and said “Let’s see how we can do it.” She doesn’t come from an art house background, but that was okay. We were different, but it was a good kind of clash.

AÖ: She’s very technical. She’s a super hard worker. So she made a 16-millimeter look test. She filmed the actors, their skin tones, and all the cinematographer’s palettes, and she made a digital cover to go with the Alexa camera. When we wrote the script, we talked about how the cinematography should be almost like a character of its own. Mika said, like a stray dog.

MG: I wanted it to be like the camera follows the character, and then it sees something else and pivots, like “Oh, sorry, we were here.” 

AÖ: Or it’s hesitant where to look. 

MG: So it was quite a playful collaboration. 

AÖ: A lot of cinematographers we spoke to said, “Oh,I love it. I’ll do whatever you want.” But you want to get that inspiration back. So Sine would hear how Mika wanted it and then ask, “What do you think about this?” She would question and dive into Mika’s vision, bringing her own ideas as well. You want that kind of collaboration.

The cinematography really brings out the chaos of not just their situation, but also just being a teenage girl. That ferocity. I love those scenes where the sisters are with those other teenage girls and they’re hanging out by the water and dancing together. Also the various ceremonies they have for Mira’s first period and Steffi’s tooth at the end. I’d love to hear what you were hoping to bring in terms of the chaos of girlhood to cinema?

MG: When we started to work with this I wanted to create something that I miss myself, something I would want to see when I go to a film festival. I wanted to create the film that I’m longing for myself. And it was really this relationship and these girls being more than girls, being human beings and complex and not just good or bad. Like I said before, we shouldn’t look down on them or pity them because of their hard situation, but also they should have, like a strong inner belief in themselves and bonds between them. That was something really important that we came back to all the time while writing.

AÖ: Also, as Mika has said, in movies with boys there’s usually a crew of boys. But whenever it’s female characters, there’s always four of them,and  one is blonde and pretty, and one is quiet and one is loud, etc. It’s always like Carrie and the girls from “Sex in the City.” It’s never twenty girls hanging out. 

MG: We had a discussion about this before shooting the film, because we have this scene by the pool with all the girls. You always have to prioritize. Directing is prioritization. So the question was, is it necessary to have twenty girls? Because they’re going to need makeup and wardrobe, and everything. But I had a picture of this pool party. So is it enough with seven girls? I thought, no. I have this whole picture and that’s what I want to see. I wanted to see this enormous, like, ocean of female bodies bonded together. Because, you don’t need to have sisters or siblings to recognize yourself in the film. We also talked a lot about how it’s not always your parents who raise you. It’s also your friends. So the film is really a tribute to the ones you grew up with.

I love that. My closest relation as a kid was my best friend, and I still think of her as my sister to this day. You feel that in this film.

AÖ:  Which one are you? I’m Meera. 

I feel like I’m Laura because she’s the most responsible. I was always taking on a lot of the household management and traditions. 

MG: I could really recognize myself in Sasha (Mitja Siren). I felt so strongly about this film, I think everybody does with their first feature. You’ll go on from it into this long career of films, but your first is always your first. You work for it and you train yourself for it. So I almost felt like Sasha, when he’s going up on stage where he’s supposed to sing. That’s how I felt the first day on set, like this karaoke man about to play his song. 

Paradise is Burning

I loved his arc in the film. The way he’s you think he might be a little mischievous, but by the end, he’s a very sweet presence in their life. I think that’s not how you kind of expect that kind of character to go. I think, especially in American films, he would have just been a creepy old dude. You gave him so many more layers. 

AÖ: It’s like what Mika said. The vision was always to make sure that people sitting in the cinema would say, “Oh, I know as this is going to end. I’ve seen this before.” Instead, he’s just a sweet neighbor. 

MG: I hate to watch a film and feel like I know where it’s going or I understand what it’s trying to force me to swallow. I think the audience is smart. I think you can really trust the audience. Also, when we wrote the script we wondered, should it be punk and fun and fast, or is it slow and poetic and art house? But then, it was like can it be both? I want it to be fun and poetic. So we decided it would be punk and poetic. That was something that we wrote on the wall: punk and poetic. Because, yes, it could be both. They can be feminine or masculine at the same time. You always want to put more layers on the characters, and not make things easy or simple, make it complex.

AÖ: We also wrote early on that the film should be like euphoric freedom that is cheek to cheek with despair. Have that kind of double entendre going on. But, how do we do it at the same time?

MG:  It was a lot about tone. For me as a director, you need to find the right tone while writing. That will make the writing and the directing work and make it simultaneous. I think that’s really, really important.

It’s always in the back of your mind that these girls are not in a good situation, but at the same time, they’re doing a pretty good job making the best of it and supporting each other, and fighting and all the things that sisters do. It reminded me a little bit of “Scrapper,” which came out two years ago. I like that both of your films give the girls agency and the ability to be playful too. So you have characters that are a little grown beyond their years, but also they’re still children, and I think you both landed that.

MG: I also think Andrea Arnold and Sofia Coppola are also good role models for that kind of filmmaking.

What is it you love about their films?

MG: With Andrea Arnold, for example, I love the way she worked with the female gaze. She’s good at knowing where to place the camera. The history of cinema is filled with women filmed with the camera up and down on them. There’s an interesting scene in “Fish Tank,” where Connor (Michael Fassbender), the mother’s boyfriend, is carrying Mia (Katie Jarvis), this 16-year-old girl, into her bedroom. She’s drunk, and he carries her and puts her down. It’s nothing more than that, but I think it would have been easy to put the camera on his shoulder because she’s asleep. That way it’s his gaze on her. But that’s not how Arnold used the camera. Instead, she puts the camera under his arm, so Mia is looking up a little bit. Later, when he takes off her pants and looks at her, she closes her eyes again, but then she sneaks a peek. It’s a different way to film that scene and a great example of how to use the female gaze instead of the traditional male gaze. She’s very smart about thinking about where to put the camera, who’s looking at who, who has the power and who tells the story. She does this in several of her films.

Are there any other women filmmakers who have either inspired you or that you think more people should seek out?

AÖ: And I have two suggestions that people might not have heard of. Gabriela Pichler is a Swedish filmmaker. She made a film called “Eat Sleep Die” that is really, really good. You should check it out. Also, the films of Mai Zetterling, another Swedish filmmaker from way back. She made a movie called “The Girls,” where it is women in a theater watching a stage production, but it is just women in the audience. She filmed like fifty women or something, and it became a scandal with the men. Men going, “Why are there no men?!” I think that just as a fun, cool thing she did. 

What do you hope audiences will take away with them after they finish watching this film?

MG: What did you take away?

I just love watching films about teenage girls. I grew up in the ’90s and it feels like there weren’t that many, especially written and directed by women. I think in the last fifteen years, there’s been a lot more of them and I love to see teenage girls being complex. They’re not good, they’re not bad. They just are. I wish I had that as a teenager, but I’m glad that Gen Z has that. I hope that lots of teenage girls go see this movie.

MG:  Yeah, I hope so too.

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