About the film

One of Sweden's greatest modern painters, Lars Lerin, struggled for decades with phobias and the addiction to alcohol and pills that came along with them. After a long time in detox, he meets the Brazilian dancer Junior online and decides to invite him to Sweden. They start an affair despite being unable to speak a word of each other's language. Lerin's cousin Sara Broos films the search for love and self-acceptance that follows. She shows the artist at his most vulnerable: ecstatically happy when he and Junior first meet each other in person; befuddled and panicky when, soon after, he feels trapped in the relationship, asking himself if he is really worthy of another person's love. Good-natured Junior is unembarrassed as he reveals his feelings to the camera. Lars's unstable behavior puts his patience to the test, but Junior is far less haunted by ghosts from the past and continues to be hopeful about the future of their relationship. Broos was given access to Lerin's diaries, and she uses a powerful soundtrack – a perfect match for the vast Swedish landscape in which Lars lives – to tell this modern love story.

Wybrane festiwale i nagrody / Selected festivals and awards: 2012 – MFF Amsterdam / IDFA, 2012 – MFF Karlowe Wary / Karlovy Vary IFF, 2012 – MFF Göteborg: Nagroda Dragon Award dla Najlepszego Szwedzkiego Filmu Dokumentalnego / Goethenburg IFF: Dragon Award Best Swedish Documentary