Sweden sweeps Oscars - Searching for Sugar man and other Swedish film news

So I haven’t updated in awhile, because things have been afoot here. Or at least abreast. And there is now one more Swede amongst our numbers. But more on that soon… there are a lot of posts I am behind on here. So I am going to try to catch up. And will try to write about giving birth in Sweden without too many personal crazy birth details, as soon as I have a moment to process it.

But until then, Sweden had quite the night at the Oscars, winning a surprising 3 out of 3 catagories. I say surprising because 2 of the Swedish nominees were in the same category, so obviously we only expected one possible winner. But NO! Swedish tie! Everyone goes home a winner.

Looking for Sugar Man was the big winner for Sweden though. A really uplifting documentary about tracking down a long lost singer who it turns out is really big, not in Japan, but in South Africa. It is a great movie and well worth checking out, I enjoyed this one and if you like documentaries, this is certainly a fun one. But as far as Swedish film goes? Hell, as far as documentary films go for 2012? I am not convinced.

Sugar Man is a long way from Bergman. And that is OK. I don’t think, sadly, Bergman would get to far in this day and age. But there have been some interesting Swedish movies to come out this year, and the Swedish Film Institute did not nominate them for Best Foreign Film, even if they were worthy of the nod.

If you are looking to see an interesting take on life in Sweden, you should not miss Äta, Söva, dö -  Eat, Sleep, Die. A little movie that stars an actual afterschool activity counselor, about what it is like to be an unemployed immigrant in Sweden (not so fun).

As for documentaries, Sugar Man was nice, but it was up against How to Survive a Plague, an incredibly powerful documentary about what it was like to battle AIDS at the end of the 80s and early 90s. While this topic hits me a little closer to home than Sugar Man, having lost loved ones during this time who were members of Act Up, the group the documentary is about, this is a fascinating look back at just what the AIDS virus meant in the US during this time. So I hope some people also take a few minutes, or hours, of their lives to watch this one as well – and remember.