Both newcomers are writer/directors and share music-related buzz on the web. In von Horn’s drama about a young man who tries to get his life back on track after serving time in prison for the murder of his girlfriend, the young Swedish pop star Ulrik Munther plays the title role.
Meanwhile Kung Fury has been an online phenomenon since the release on April 16 of the music video True Survivor, theme song of the short film for which 80s iconic actor David Hasselhoff lent his voice (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTidn2dBYbY).
The two promising directors have used opposite routes for the financing of their works. The Here After is a Swedish/Polish/French co-production between Zentropa International Sweden, Lava Films and Cinema Defacto backed by the Swedish Film Institute, the Polish Film Institute, CNC-Institut Français, Film i Väst, Opus Film and Eurimages, with TrustNordisk handling sales. Nordisk Film will release it domestically.
The martial arts comedy Kung Fury with Nazis, dinosaurs, robots and Norse gods pulled in $630,019 via one of the most successful Kickstarter campaigns ever. The film also received production funding from the Swedish Film Institute’s new Moving Sweden initiative. Anna Server, head of the SFI said: “The aim for that scheme is to find new talents and new thinking from older talents. When one film gets invited to Cannes while the scheme has been running only for a year and a half, I think we can say that it is doing its job!”
Kung Fury will have its world premiere on May 28 simultaneously on SVT Play and YouTube.