RIGA IFF: Sargātājs

John Skoog
Redoubt
Värn
SE, DK, NL, PL, FI
2025, 85’, sv
Age 16+

 

The Cold War. Paradoxically – its hotspot. From thick mud, ivy-like wires and orphaned cinder blocks, the lonely Karl begins to build a fortress. Quietly, he gathers scrap metal and, like an all-mighty creator, fashions walls that will protect and shelter him and his surroundings. Obsession, caution or paranoia – Karl’s passion project confounds those around him, yet the very youngest are intrigued. As his Sisyphean stones roll forward, his relationships with the villagers come to a crossroads: what fear could justify the need for a fortress? Whom does he fear – himself or the stranger?

 

Eleven years ago, Skoog, an acclaimed Swedish visual artist and director, created a short film in Sweden’s southern province about a figure akin to Herzog’s protagonists – the farmer and local Samaritan Karl-Göran Persson, who transforms his home into an impregnable fortress. In this magnum opus, Skoog returns to the man, exploring the prosaic and hideously beautiful, the history and micro-history, phobias and social realities of life before the fall of the Berlin Wall. The striking screen painting, shot on 35mm film, focuses on the body, face and wary, muddy hands of French legendary actor Denis Lavant – the enigmatic M. Merde from Holy Motors (2012). Included in the San Sebastián International Film Festival, the work is a material and metaphysical journey through a single consciousness, showcasing Skoog’s delicate, poetic visual lexicon. The film was produced by Ruben Östlund’s studio.