Johan Kling (born Carl-David Johan Natt och Dag, 7 August 1962,) is a Swedish film director, screenwriter, and novelist. His debut movie, Darling (2007), received numerous nominations and won several awards.

Johan Kling
Born
Carl-David Johan Natt och Dag

(1962-08-07) 7 August 1962 (age 62)
Stockholm, Sweden
Occupations
  • Director
  • screenwriter
  • novelist

Career

edit

Kling started his career in the early 1980s as a musician in the pop group Ratata[1] and went on to make television commercials and direct TV shows.[2]

Film

edit

Darling

His debut feature, Darling, which he wrote and directed, was released in 2007. The movie is based on a short film, Jag, made a few years earlier. Darling is "a dark comedy about morals and manners in Stockholm" and stars Michael Segerström and Michelle Meadows. The latter's performance was praised highly by Variety, which also gave acclaim to Kling's "smooth" direction.[3]

After winning the Best Film award, the "Nordic Film Prize", at the 2007 Gothenburg Film Festival,[4] Darling garnered almost every possible prize in Sweden.[5] At the 2007 Guldbagge Awards, Darling was nominated in six categories and won the awards for Best Male Actor and Best Cinematography.[6] The film was also awarded for Best Film of 2007 by the Swedish Association of Film Critics.[7]

Darling had its international premiere at the San Sebastián International Film Festival in Spain, where it competed in the New Directors section.[8]

Trust Me

Kling announced in 2008 that his next film would be Trust Me, again starring Meadows and Segerström.[9]

Writing

edit

Kling's first novel, Människor helt utan betydelse, was published in 2009, and tells the story of a PR worker and his girlfriend. The Swedish newspaper Svenska Dagbladet thought it one of the more notable Swedish books of the year.[10]

Kling has since published the novels Glasmannen (2014), Lycka (2019), and Repris (2023).

Filmography

edit

Bibliography

edit
  • Kling, Johan (2009). Människor helt utan betydelse. Norstedts. ISBN 978-91-1-301961-1.
  • Kling, Johan (2014). Glasmannen. Norstedts. ISBN 978-91-1-305445-2.
  • Kling, Johan (2019). Lycka. Natur och Kultur. ISBN 978-91-2-716158-0.
  • Kling, Johan (2023). Repris. Natur och Kultur. ISBN 978-91-2-718316-2.

References

edit
  1. ^ Tredje gången gillt för Johan Kling Sydsvenskan.se 2 February 2009 (in Swedish)
  2. ^ Kangas, Timo (5 January 2007). "Johan Kling". Realtid.se (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 7 January 2007. Retrieved 21 December 2009.
  3. ^ Rehlin, Gunnar (5 December 2007). "Rev. of Darling (Sweden)". Variety. Retrieved 21 December 2009.
  4. ^ Jensen, Jorn Rossing (5 February 2007). "Red Road takes new Bergman prize at Goteborg". Screen International. Retrieved 21 December 2009.
  5. ^ Harris, Mark (26 November 2009). "European Union Film Festival screens Europe's best". The Georgia Straight. Retrieved 21 December 2009.
  6. ^ Sjöstrand, Johan (21 January 2008). "Du levande sopade rent". Svenska Dagbladet (in Swedish). Retrieved 22 December 2009.
  7. ^ Rehlin, Gunnar (16 January 2008). "'Darling' is best Swedish film of 2007". Variety. Retrieved 22 December 2009.
  8. ^ Hopewell, John (17 August 2007). "'God' to visit San Sebastian". Variety. Retrieved 21 December 2009.
  9. ^ Jensen, Jorn Rossing (10 September 2008). "Johan Kling to follow Darling with Trust Me". Screen International. Retrieved 22 December 2009.
  10. ^ Eklund, Stefan (12 December 2009). "Hur mår Sverige efter folkhemmet?". Svenska Dagbladet (in Swedish). Retrieved 21 December 2009.
edit