Swedish writer-director Daniel Sawka, whose debut feature “Icebox” was produced by Hollywood’s legendary James L. Brooks, snatching more than 4 million unique views on HBO, will be pitching his sophomore pic “Two People Who Fall in Love” at the Nordic Co-Production showcase in Haugesund, Norway, Variety has learned in exclusivity.
The upcoming romcom, made in Swedish, is being produced by the Newen Group’s banner and talents incubator Anagram Sweden, credited for Disney+’s first Nordic original “To Cook a Bear” and the Venice Critics Week winner “East, Sleep, Die.”
Penned by Sawka, “Two People Who Fall in Love” is “a romantic dramedy about a young couple on the autism spectrum who try to answer life’s most difficult question: What the hell do you do when you fall in love,” states the logline.
As with the helmer’s 2018 Toronto Discovery sensation “Icebox” – which was Sawka’s American Film Institute graduation short expanded under Brooks’ guidance into a feature – “Two People Who Fall in Love” draws from the helmer’s personal life.
Sawka’s own Polish father’s forced immigration to Sweden in the late 60s, was the starting point for “Icebox”’, a harrowing drama about a child migrant trapped in the U.S. immigration system. With his upcoming feature, the idea was born from his own experience of growing up with a brother on the autism spectrum.
“I’ve always wanted to make a film from his perspective,” Sawka told Variety, ahead of his New Nordic Films pitch Aug 22. “This is far from a documentary, however, it’s a love story, he insisted.
“The core of this film is about how people, different from the norm, experience love. I honestly believe that there is a certain directness in the way people on the spectrum express themselves which is refreshing,” he noted, adding: “When it comes to dating, in our normative society, there are so many tiny rules and codes about how you should behave, what you should say or not say, what version of you, you want to present,” Sawka says. “But I think that in a way, maybe love works better with a more direct language, without the social filters. This is what this story will explore.”
Expanding on the pic’s tone, Sawka said it will be light, playful, and humorous. “First of all, my personal experience with my brother and other people on the spectrum has been very joyful and fun. Secondly, there are a lot of stories about people on the spectrum that make you feel pity, but that’s a disservice. I don’t want people to see my film and pity my characters. I want it to be like any other love story, for people to fall in love with my characters, to the point of even hopefully feeling slightly jealous of their love story. That’s what you get from romantic films, right?”
As with “Icebox” for which Sawka brought a documentary-like feel and look, the helmer has already spent years researching the autism spectrum, visiting group homes, activity centres, talking to educators, psychologists and conducting workshops with people with different needs, to feed the plot and tone of his script.
Mostly new actors who can relate strongly to their characters, will also bring authenticity to the project, starting with the leads, Robin Wretman Lundgren, cast as Hans, and Tuva Beckman set to play Sophie. “It has been crucial to bring in people across this production with perspectives related to the world and characters we are portraying,” said Sawka who shot a pilot with Wretman Lundgren and Beckman and praises their natural talent.
So far, the pic has secured financing from Swedish pubcaster SVT, regional film fund Film i Skåne and the leading Nordic Distribution group Scanbox Entertainment, on top of development coin from the Swedish Film Institute, according to Anagram Sweden’s Emma Åkesdotter Ronge who produces, alongside Ann Lundberg.
Filming is due to kick-off late spring or early summer 2025 in Stockholm.
At Haugesund’s Nordic Co-Production Market, Åkesdotter Ronge said she hopes “to gain interest from Nordic co-production partners and funds, and to have meetings with broadcasters and distributors.”
The 30th New Nordic Films will run over Aug. 20-23 in Haugesund, parallel to the 52nd Norwegian International Film Festival.