Filmhuset, 2023-02-24

“It is an irresistible story”

As a teenager, director and screenwriter Sarah Gyllenstierna decided to enter the film industry. Since then, she’s served as assistant director to Spike Lee, written several feature scripts, and worked on everything from art films to documentaries. We sat down to talk about her upcoming feature debut, dealing with hungry wild boars on set, and the irresistibility of taking on a project that feels scary at first.

You are in post-production on your debut feature film Hunting in a White Field. Can you tell us briefly about the movie?

– Hunting in a White Field is the story of three men who go to a remote cabin to hunt. They enjoy the first few days of hunting, and their competitive instincts kick in. But then, suddenly, all the animals disappear and the forest falls silent. The men become obsessed with the idea that the hunt must go on.

It sounds scary and exciting! Where are you in the process right now and what are your thoughts?

– We have just finished editing the movie. Now the next exciting period begins: working on the sound, which is hugely important for this movie. I love sound and music in movies, so I’m looking forward to this phase immensely!

The film will be released this fall but has already won an award at Industry Village Les Arcs for developing the film’s soundtrack and original music. Can you tell us more about that work?

– This is a movie where the original music, and also the sound design, is extremely important. Several parts of the movie are not dialogue-driven but depend on the images and tension that are built gradually. Such a development requires a lot of sound and music.

You have several scripts in development, but this is your first time adapting a book. What attracted you to this particular story and what has your work on the text been like?

– I stuck with this story because it is so crazy and has so many layers. It felt scary to do, which made me unable to let it go. It has an unusual mix of absurdism and a journey into the heart of darkness. Irresistible, in other words.

With only three characters, it feels like the casting is very central. How did you find Ardalan Esmaili, Magnus Krepper and Jens Hultén?

– I had Ardalan in mind already while writing the script. Then it was a matter of finding two other actors who could not only portray these characters, but all three would also work well together. We had the help of a great casting director, Sara Törnkvist.

Two months of filming in the forest outside Trollhättan sounds intense. Can you share some anecdotes from the shoot?

– The whole team had to learn how best to deal with a hungry boar, haha. Pigs aside, one of the most difficult shooting days we had was when we were shooting in a dense forest at the edge of a large field and the worst thunder and lightning storm ever hit very quickly. We had no margin of shooting time so we had decided beforehand that we could shoot in the rain, so we kept working first. But when the lightning started to strike right by us, the producers checked the weather map and saw that we were in a place where several lightning areas converged. So we had to leave in a hurry. We lost half a day of shooting, which was disastrous. But no one was struck by lightning so it was worth it.

Let’s back up a bit. You moved to New York right after high school with a clear goal of getting into the movie business. Can you tell us about your path to where you are now? And what advice would you give to people who want to enter the movie world today?

– I have worked in many production roles – often close to the directors, on feature films, documentaries and art films – and have been able to learn both about filmmaking in general and about how different directors work. At the same time, I’ve been writing scripts and making short films on the side. It’s taken a while, but I’ve learned a lot along the way. The advice I would give is to either go to film school or try to get a job in the type of film you like and want to make. There are many different ways in, but it can be difficult to switch tracks from commercials or certain TV genres to feature films or vice versa, for example.

How has it been working from Filmhuset?

– Great! The atmosphere is inviting and the large windows and many seats give a feeling of meeting place and openness.