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.
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Diana Maria OlssonDirectorFilmography: 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.
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Diana Maria OlssonWriterFilmography: 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).
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Diana Maria OlssonProducerFlickan Flaskan Fosterlandet
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Project Type:Documentary
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Runtime:56 minutes 41 seconds
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Completion Date:August 4, 2021
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Production Budget:30,000 EUR
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Country of Origin:Lithuania
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Country of Filming:Lithuania, Sweden
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Language:English
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Shooting Format:Digital
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Aspect Ratio:16:19
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Film Color:Color
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First-time Filmmaker:No
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Student Project:No
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Sibiu
Romania
September 9, 2021
World Premiere
Official selection -
Cannes World Film FestivalCannes
France
October 19, 2021
Winner
Best Women Film -
Cannes World Film FestivalCannes
France
October 17, 2021
Nominee
Best Human Rights Film -
Krakow Film FestivalKrakow
Poland
July 2, 2022
Poland Premiere
Official Selection -
International Children Care Film FestivalParis
France
July 1, 2022
French Premiere
Special Mention -
Porto Femme International Film FestivalPorto
Portugal
September 16, 2022
Portugal Premiere
Best Documentary Film
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.
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.