Sweden’s largest independent dance institution Skånes Dansteater and the acclaimed Swedish band Gaby and the Guns, accompanied by director Olof Werngren and photographer Martin Lang stand behind the short film Bränner Staden. With a common belief in the power of dance and music to express the strongest emotions we want to connect a theatrical expression to everyday situations. Out came eight beautiful minutes with eight dancers, four band members and a whole bunch of Malmö settings, known and unknown.

Skånes Dansteater and Gaby & The Guns present: BRÄNNER STADEN
Bränner Staden is about shaking life into things that hav become fixed in patterns. About a feeling of being trapped in a ”place” that feels smaller every day. It is calling on the city to give something back, to challenge and ”be my drug” in the sentence of overwhelming us with its full potential and persuade us to stay when we threaten to leave or even burn it to the ground.

Reviews

The film’s opening sequences are characterized by a deceptive calm, eyes that see blindly and bodies who dwell pensively in the middle of a movement.

The cast is the company’s dancers and the film resembles very much a poetic road movie, where the everyday dirty kitchen table faces the light over the West Harbour and the birds around Möllevångstorget. A declaration of love for the city itself with a background of the Malmö band Gaby and the Guns’ song ”Burning the City”.

The dancing in the film is a choreography of the street, groping hands and jerky steps over the asphalt. With an intuitive flair the filmmakers take advantage of the nuances of expression and create a new whole that lasts, an intimacy not least in the dance that is otherwise difficult to give justice to on the stage.

-Sydsvenskan

Skånes Dansteater’s collaboration with filmmaker Olof Werngren and band Gaby and the Guns is a quiet video for the song Burning the City. It is a slow and beautiful declaration of love to the city of Malmö. From exotic Möllan romanticism through the parks to a tearful ending in the West Harbour. A fun collaboration between dancers and musicians leaves toy with a taste for more.

-Skånska Dagbladet

Screenings

• 07 Dec 2011: Premiere at Dancing in the Dark – Malmö/Lund Dance Film Festival | Malmö, Sweden
• 17 Mar 2012: International Premiere at San Francisco Dance Film Festival | San Francisco, USA
• 27 Mar 2012: Agite y sirva | Mexico City, Mexico
• 28 Apr 2012: Pixel, Skånes Kortfilmfestival | Lund, Sweden
• 10–14 May 2012: Busan International Short Film Festival | Busan, South Korea
• 22 May 2012: Öppen Duk @ Göteborgs Dans & Teater Festival | Göteborg, Sweden
• 24–27 May 2012: Corona Fastnet Short Film Festival | Schull, Cork, Ireland
• Oct–Nov 2012: The 7th European Film Festival | T.B.A., Europe

Cast and Crew

Director and Scriptwriter: Olof Werngren
Director of Photography: Martin Lang
Editor: Olof Werngren
Colorist: Martin Lang
Light designer: Robert Claesson
Producer: Liselotte Lindahl
Technical assistant: Max Almqvist
Participants Gaby and the Guns: Gaby Ryd, Jens Almqvist, David Calgaro och Fabian Ris Lundblad
Dancers Skånes Dansteater: Graham Adey, Anna Altes, Sam Denton, Eric Ernestedt,
Hazuki Kojima, Laura Lohi, Jonas Svensson och Jing-Yi Wang
CEO Skånes Dansteater: Åsa Söderberg
Production manager Gaby and the Guns: Jens Almqvist
Music: Bränner staden (Ryd/Almqvist) from the album Bränner staden (On dit Oui!, 2011)
Played by Gaby and the Guns: Gaby Ryd, Jens Almqvist, David Calgaro och Fabian Ris Lundblad
Choreography: Graham Adey, Anna Altes, Sam Denton, Eric Ernestedt, Hazuki Kojima, Laura Lohi, Jonas Svensson och Jing-Yi Wang

Skånes Dansteater
Skånes Dansteater is Sweden’s largest independent dance company, a contemporary dance repertory company presenting works by Swedish and international choreographers. Performances are given on the company’s own stage as well as at the Malmö Opera and on tour in the Skåne region, in Sweden and abroad. Since 2005 Skånes Dansteater’s facilities, including the permanent stage, are located in Malmö’s Västra Hamnen. This is the location for the company’s own productions as well as guest performances and other events. Skånes Dansteater is a joint-stock company owned by the Region of Skåne (90 %) and the city of Malmö (10 %).

Gaby and the Guns
Gaby and the Guns are a Swedish folk-influenced quartet based in southern Sweden. Founding members Gaby Ryd and Jens Almqvist has been working together since 2008 and where joined by David Calgaro and Fabian Ris Lundblad in 2010. The band tours frequently all over Sweden and has been featured in both national TV and radio, spreading their sincere and beautiful songs. Up to now Gaby and the Guns has released two records, Rygg mot Rygg (2009) and Bränner Staden (2011).

Olof Werngren – Scriptwriter and Director
Olof Werngren lives in Malmö in the south of Sweden and is engaged in a wide spectra of creative activities. He has written scripts and directed music videos for Swedish music artists. He has freelanced as a creative director at Bates Y & R in Copenhagen, created video visuals to Copenhagen Fashion Week, produced an interactive exhibition for Region Skåne during the World Expo in Shanghai, worked as a VJ at the local band Lur’s gigs in New York, made a documentary about Ljudbilden & Piloten to Future Shorts Budapest, shown his own, mainly digital, art in galleries in Malmö and Copenhagen. Currently he is working on a documentary, freelancing as a graphic designer and lectures at Visual Communication at Malmö University.

Martin Lang – Director of Photography
Martin Lang has his base in Malmö, in the south of Sweden. He mainly works as a DOP or a gaffer. Started of in 2008 as a light assistant on a feature film, after his school years at the film education in Skurup Folkhögskola. He has worked with: feature films, commercials, music videos, short films etcetra.

Contact info
Pelase contact Liselotte Lindahl or Katarina Wallmo at Skånes Dansteater for more information and screening times.

Liselotte Lindahl, liselotte.lindahl@skanesdansteater.se, +46 (0)40 20 84 42
Katarina Wallmo, katarina.wallmo@skanesdansteater.se

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