Gabriela Pichler, Johan Lundborg Talk ‘Painkiller,’ Family, Class and ‘Humor as a Survival Mechanism’
variety.comAnnika Pham Chosen by Variety as one of 10 Euro Directors to Watch at 2013’s Karlovy Vary’ with her debut “Eat Sleep Die,” a Venice Critics Week winner, Sweden’s Gabriela Pichler confirmed her unique voice with her sophomore pic “Amateurs”, voted best Nordic film at the 2018 Göteborg Film Festival.
At this year’s 47th festival, she makes her comeback with “Painkiller,” her first foray into long-form scripted format, co-written with her life partner Johan Lundborg, who also serves as DP and editor.
The six-part series is a feisty socially-anchored comedy, which delves into complex mother-daughter dynamics and gentrification in Göteborg, driving class divides.As explained by the writing duo, the starting point for the story was Pichler’s personal experience of juggling between her work as a celebrated rising Swedish filmmaker, and the reality of her own mother’s struggle with chronic pain.
In “Painkiller,” the adult daughter Andrea is a celebrated avant-garde artist, still living at home with her mother Dijana, a head-strong Balkan woman and retired cleaner.
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