Private Project

First Class Citizen

In the film, Diana Maria Olsson shares her most intimate experiences from a violent relationship and at the same time challenges the image of Sweden as a country that respects gender equality. The story of a husband who turns out to be the eponymous ‘first-class citizen’ exposes the mechanisms of hypocrisy. The director not only works through her own story but also collects common experiences of women in similar situations. The director and narrator’s motivation to inspire women to have the courage to leave abusive relationships goes beyond the framework of a self-documentary. First Class Citizen becomes the beginning of a multi-voiced indictment of patriarchy.

  • Diana Maria Olsson
    Director
    Filmography: Documentary “First Class Citizen” 57 min. (Sweden/Lithuania), music documentary “The Girl The Bottle and The Motherland” 58 min. (Sweden, SVT), documentary “The Sun Rose in a Wheel” (Lithuania LRT), documentary series such as "Attitude", "The Portraits of time” - documentaries are found now in the Golden Archive of LRT. “Vilnius European Capital of Culture 2009” (Lithuania, LRT) and documentary series such as, "Attitude", "The Portraits of time”. Documentaries are found now in the Golden Archive of LRT.
  • Diana Maria Olsson
    Writer
    Filmography: Documentary “First Class Citizen” 57 min. (Sweden/Lithuania), music documentary “The Girl The Bottle and The Motherland” 58 min. (Sweden, SVT), documentary “The Sun Rose in a Wheel” (Lithuania LRT), “Vilnius European Capital of Culture 2009” (Lithuania, LRT).
  • Diana Maria Olsson
    Producer
    Flickan Flaskan Fosterlandet
  • Project Type:
    Documentary
  • Runtime:
    56 minutes 41 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    August 4, 2021
  • Production Budget:
    30,000 EUR
  • Country of Origin:
    Lithuania
  • Country of Filming:
    Lithuania, Sweden
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:19
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Sibiu
    Romania
    September 9, 2021
    World Premiere
    Official selection
  • Cannes World Film Festival
    Cannes
    France
    October 19, 2021
    Winner
    Best Women Film
  • Cannes World Film Festival
    Cannes
    France
    October 17, 2021
    Nominee
    Best Human Rights Film
  • Krakow Film Festival
    Krakow
    Poland
    July 2, 2022
    Poland Premiere
    Official Selection
  • International Children Care Film Festival
    Paris
    France
    July 1, 2022
    French Premiere
    Special Mention
  • Porto Femme International Film Festival
    Porto
    Portugal
    September 16, 2022
    Portugal Premiere
    Best Documentary Film
Director Biography - Diana Maria Olsson

Diana Maria Olsson was born on July 6, 1983, in Lithuania and grew up with her exiled grandfather. Diana has double master's and double bachelor's degrees - in directing, journalism, public relations, and visual culture. She held her degrees at Vilnius University of Lithuania and Lund University of Sweden. She has also studied a civilization course at Sorbonne University.
During her studies, she worked on television documentaries such as "Vilnius - European Capital of Culture 2009", "Attitude", and "The Portraits of Time" in Lithuanian National Television (LRT), documentaries are found now in the Golden Archive of LRT. She was also politically active and was working at the Lithuanian Parliament.
In 2011 Diana created a television broadcast pilot about the cinema world: "On the Red Carpet" where she interviewed Marina Tarkovskaja among others. The broadcast was confirmed, but she moved to Sweden, because of family reasons. In 2019 she made a Swedish music documentary: "Flickan Flaskan och Fostelandet" (The Girl, The Bottle and The Motherland"), which was fully funded by Swedish National Television (SVT). She is the founder of a film production company "Zen Division" (2018, Sweden), and the president of the organization "Child and Family in Focus" (2021, Sweden). She speaks Lithuanian, English, Swedish, Russian, German and French. Diana has a burning interest in sports and health, and she has worked as a yoga teacher for several years.

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Director Statement

It's really hard for other people to understand what you are living because ''they are not in your shoes''. In the beginning, I wanted to make a film to encourage other women to leave their violent husbands, I wanted to say, “leave him you will get help....” Now I would say: The mother would rather tolerate any beating, any kind of violence, but the most absolute form of violence is the separation of mother and child.