‘The Last Journey’ Directors Talk Lessons Learned On Road Trip With Elderly Father: “Life Consists Of Many Different Chapters” – Contenders International

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Household names at home but working under the moniker of Filip och Fredrik, Swedish TV hosts and journalists Filip Hammar and Fredrik Wikingsson are now in the international spotlight with their documentary The Last Journey, Sweden’s Oscar entry.

The movie follows a road trip they organize for Hammar’s elderly father, retired French teacher Lars, taking him back to his favorite holiday destination in the South of France in a bid to reignite his spark for life.

The work – touching on such universal themes as aging and the shifting relationships between parents and children over time – has drawn more than 400,000 spectators in Sweden, making it the highest-grossing documentary ever in the country. RELATED: Best International Feature Film Oscar Winners Through The Years: Photo Gallery “It started out as a private project,” Hammar explained during Deadline’s Contenders International panel.  “I’d been talking to my mom because she called me continuously and she’s like, ‘h’He’s so depressed, he’s just sitting in his recliner at home.’” The documentary idea grew out of a conversation with Wikingsson and the realization that the trip would make a good premise for a film. “We just wanted to make sure the whole filming thing didn’t get in the way of the experience for Filip’s dad,” said Wikingsson. “That was the main thing.

It started out as life, not as a movie.” RELATED: Contenders International — Deadline’s Complete Coverage This aim did not stop the duo from occasionally playing with reality behind the scenes, to reconstruct aspects of France that Hammar’s father held dear.