BUFF Malmö Film Festival 2022: Interview of Head of Programming Daniel Lundquist

Exposing children to a variety of contexts and to the diversity of cinema is Daniel Lundquist’s mission, as head of programming of Sweden’s BUFF Malmö Film Festival (19-25 March 2022), whom we were delighted to interview.

Since 1984, BUFF Malmö Film Festival has been the most important screening venue for films for children and young people in the Nordic countries. As such, BUFF screens films told from the perspective of children or young people. Every year in Malmö, Sweden, the festival features works which address pressing issues and move the viewer. In 2022, the festival is adopting a hybrid format, allowing audiences to discover the film programme in various venues across the city of Malmö, as well as from the comfort of their home, online. Among this year’s lineup, audiences will have the opportunity to discover titles such as Medusa (dir. Anita Rocha Da Silveira), Shabu (dir. Shamira Raphaëla), Playground (dir. Laura Wandel), Sisterhood (dir. Dina Duma), Olga (dir. Elie Grappe), A Tale of Love and Desire (dir. Leyla Bouzid), or I Am Zlatan (dir. Jens Sjögren), the opening night film.

We had the honour of chatting with Daniel Lundquist who serves as head of programming of BUFF Malmö Film Festival, to talk about the festival’s identity and what’s to expect from this year’s lineup and events.

Film Fest Report: Hi Daniel! Can you tell us a bit about your background? And tell us what makes you inspired, happy or proud to be in charge of the programme of BUFF Film Festival?

Daniel Lundquist: My film interest started at a very young age but during my childhood I was starving for film… There was only one movie theater in my hometown and I remember it as a very magical place. I guess it started with Star Wars… and continued with a lot of action films but my interest developed when I got the opportunity to see films such as Stand by Me and Do the Right Thing during my early teen years. I still think that the cinema is a magical place, after all these years. And working with BUFF gives me the possibility to spread moments of magic to today’s children and young people.

Can you tell us about the festival’s editorial line? What makes it unique?

Primarily we want to present films for the young audience that they would not have met if it wasn’t for BUFF. When you look at the list of films that are most viewed by children and young people you can see that the diversity is not so big. Children watch a lot of animation, teenagers watch a lot of American blockbusters. But there are so many other great films out there. Films that never would get a chance to reach an international audience if we did not have film festivals. Malmö is a multicultural city and it is important for us to include films from all over the world, films with different perspectives, films who make the young audience feel included and represented. The young perspective is important for us. Meeting other children or teenagers on the big screen can be very powerful and important. It can help you to better understand yourself and the world you live in.

Speaking about this year’s lineup: how did you come up with the theme “challenges”? And how does the selection tackle this theme?

Growing up is challenging in many ways and we realized that many films this year were tackling this, sometimes on a personal level and sometimes on a more global level. For example we have seen many films dealing with mental health – films about teenagers experiencing difficulties or about children growing up with parents who are not mentally stable. We have also seen many LGBT-related stories and several films about children and teenagers who feel that they do not fit into the standards of a typical boy or a girl. These norm breaking stories are super important to show, both to achieve a greater understanding of our differences, but also for counteracting feelings of loneliness and isolation. A challenge on a bigger level is the environment and climate changes and we screen several films that touch on that theme.

Can you introduce 2 to 3 titles from this year’s programme you’re particularly excited to feature to the audience of BUFF Film Festival?

I love all films in the program, but it is always interesting to see how they react on the films that are far away from the films they normally see. We have had two strong years for Latin American children’s films with two Mexican award winners, Los Lobos and Mesquite’s Heart, and this year we will screen Sun & Daughter from Bolivia. It is a beautiful children’s film about missing and growing up, directed by Catalina Razzini, taking place on the small island Isla del sol in the Lake Titicaca.

When it comes to films for teenagers I am very curious to see how they will react to Fall of the Queens, a thriller from Argentina directed by Lucas Turturro. It is a dark story about envy, sexuality, power and death. The film is amazing, but very different from many other youth films in our program. I hope the young audience will enjoy it!

And of course I am very much looking forward to our big gala opening with the Swedish children’s film Mini Zlatan and Uncle Darling, directed by Christian Lo.

Finally, what are the opportunities of running a hybrid event? And do you think that may become the new norm for film festivals?

I think many festivals will continue having online content as a complement to the physical event. The good thing about it is that you can reach out to a bigger audience. Not everyone has the opportunity to travel to a specific city to experience a film festival for example, so it is good to be available for more people. However, in my opinion it is not possible to create a film festival online. The soul of a film festival must be the physical event, where you meet people and watch films together on a big screen. There is nothing wrong with watching films at home on your computer, but it has very little to do with the experience you will get at a film festival.

Many thanks to Daniel Lundquist and the team of BUFF Malmö Film Festival.