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Song to Bergslagen

'Song to Bergslagen’ is about every day life.
We could have called it, Song to Sweden or Song to the World but we chose this, as we can best speak about what is local to us. Bergslagen consists of deep forests in a lake-rich area with hilly terrain. It has a harsh climate and the shifts of the seasons strongly affect both humans and animals.

Bergslagen can't be found on any map and yet it stretches over vast areas of Västmanland, Värmland and Dalarna, in central Sweden. The iron-ore below has always determined its borders. Swedish Kings traded this iron to fuel and fire their wars far away in Europe and in exchange, they always left these Bergs-men alone. Bergslagen means, ‘the law of the mountains’.

This long tradition shaped and built a society, which is no more. The heyday of iron-ore is over, but the legacy of a proud people remains. Another time beckons and new generations live their lives; schools, jobs, weekdays and weekends - in search of a life, in a new age, that has not yet taken its form.

  • Nina Hedenius
    Director
    Old Man in the cottage
  • William Long
    Director
    Vision Man
  • William Long
    Producer
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    Sång till Bergslagen
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Feature
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 51 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    January 10, 2021
  • Country of Origin:
    Sweden
  • Country of Filming:
    Sweden
  • Language:
    Swedish
  • Shooting Format:
    RED 6K & 16mm archive
  • Aspect Ratio:
    1.85:1
  • Film Color:
    Black & White and Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • None
  • International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA)
    Amsterdam
    Netherlands
    November 20, 2021
    International Premier
    Official selection - Masters
Distribution Information
  • William Long & Swedish Television
    Distributor
    Country: Worldwide
    Rights: All Rights
Director Biography - Nina Hedenius, William Long

Co-directors:
Nina Hedenius (born 1942) is an unusual and unique filmmaker who is known for her poetic, lingering and empathetic films about life in the Swedish countryside. She has been active since the 1960s and has many acclaimed films behind her that have screened at festivals all over the world. Amongst others in the ‘Masters section’ of IDFA. ‘Way of Nature’, ‘The Old Man in the Cottage’, ‘Winter Saga’, and ‘The Art of Cleaning’ to name a few. ‘Song to Bergslagen’ is probably Nina’s last film.

William Long (born in Melbourne 1966) is best known for his documentary ‘Vision Man’, which received over 30 international awards. He is also an acclaimed cinematographer and was awarded an Emmy for "outstanding achievement in documentary filmmaking" on National Geographic’s film, ‘The Realm of the Great White Bear’.

Nina and William both live in Bergslagen.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

As the title suggests, this film could be about anything
Our focus is on the everyday
Easily recognised and yet so easily overlooked
An invitation to something else

Almost entirely without words, the film sketches portraits of present and past inhabitants; of the workers at the iron foundry and an elderly woman with parchment skin nodding off in a rocking chair. These poetic capsules of time are captured at times in grainy black-and-white and sometimes in richly saturated color.
Scenes showing a language class for immigrants and children at school cast a glance at the new people who will populate and shape Bergslagen in the coming years. Just as nature adapts to the seasons, so Bergslagen moves with the changing times.