Songs from the Second Floor

One evening, a series of strange events with no apparent logic take their course. A clerk is made redundant; an immigrant is violently attacked; a magician makes a disastrous mess of his routine. One person stands out in this collection of characters – it’s Karl and his face is covered in ash. He has just put a match to his furniture store in order to cash in on the insurance. No one gets a wink of sleep that night.

Screening Schedule

No physical screenings scheduled.

Script: Roy Andersson
Cinematography: Istvan Borbas, Jesper Klevenas, Robert Komarek
Music: Benny Andersson
Actors: Lasse Nordh (Kalle), Stefan Larsson (Stefan), Bengt C.W. Carlsson (Lennart), Torbjorn Fahlstrom (Pelle Wiger)
Production: Roy Andersson Filmproduktion AB, Sweden Τ. +468662 5700 F. +46 8662 9240 www.royandersson.com
Producers: Roy Andersson, Philippe Bober, Lisa Alwert, Sanne Glaesel, Johann Mardel
Co-production: Danmarks Radio & Easy Film (Denmark) & Nordisk Film Fond (Norway) & Swedish Film Institute (Sweden)
Format: 35mm Color
Production Country: Sweden-France-Germany-Denmark
Production Year: 2000
Duration: 98
Distribution in Greece: ΑΜΑ filmsGeorge StergiakisT. +30 210 3221 925, F. +30 210 3214 998amafilms@otenet.gr www.amafilms.gr
Contact: The Coproduction Office, FranceT. +33 1 5602 6000, F. +33 1 5602 6001info@thecopro.de www.thecpro.de

Awards
Jury Prize – Cannes IFF 2000, France
Audience Award – Brothers Manaki IFF 2001, FYROM
Film Critics Award – Norwegian IFF 2000, Norway
Non-American Film Award 2002, Denmark

Roy Andersson

Roy Andersson was born in 1943 in Goteborg, Sweden. In 1969, he graduated from the Swedish Film School, and his first feature, A Swedish Love Story, won four prizes at the Berlin Film Festival in 1970. Giliap, his second film, was presented at the Directors’ Fortnight at Cannes in 1976. In 1975, he started a pioneering career as a commercials director, earning a total of eight Golden Lions at Cannes. In 1981, he founded Studio 24 in Stockholm in order to freely produce and make his films. This is also where he developed his unique filmmaking style. After Something Happened (1987) and World of Glory (1991), two shorts that earned the most prestigious awards (Clermont-Ferrand, among others), he shot Songs from the Second Floor and won the Special Jury Prize at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival. As the first chapter in The Living Trilogy, Songs from the Second Floor was followed in 2007 by You, the Living, which also screened at Cannes. The films cemented his personal style characterized by stationary shots and meticulously conceived tableaux, absurdist comedy as well and an essential humanity. In 2009, Roy Andersson was distinguished by an exhibition at The Museum of Modern Art, New York, presenting not only his film oeuvre, but also several of his commercials. A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence, his fifth feature film, is the final chapter in the The Living Trilogy, which has been 15 years in the making.

Filmography

1967 Besoka sin son / Visiting One's Son (short)
1968 Hamta en cykel / To Fetch a Bike (short)
1969 Lordagen den 5:10 (medium length)
1969 En karlekshistoria / Swedish Love Story
1975 Giliap
1979 Sa fruktansvart onodigt (doc)
1987 Nagonting har hant / Something Happened (short)
1989 Trygare kan ingen vara (short)
1991 Harlig ar jorden / World of Glory (short)
2000 Un Matin partout dans le monde (short, TV)
2000 Sanger fran andra vaningen / Songs from the Second Floor
2007 Du Levande / You, the Living
2014 En duva satt pa en gren och funderade pa tillvaron / A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence