Levan Akin

Levan Akin (born 14 December 1979) is a Swedish film director and screenwriter, best known for his film And Then We Danced,[1][2] that received critical acclaim and won the 2019 Guldbagge Award for Best Film.[3]

Levan Akin
Born (1979-12-14) 14 December 1979
Botkyrka, Sweden
Occupation(s)film director
screenwriter

Biography

Levan Akin was born and raised in Tumba, Sweden.[4][5] His parents, of Georgian origin, had moved to Sweden in the 1960s, when Georgia was one of the republics of the Soviet Union.[6] Levan Akin returns to Georgia every year with his sister for the summer holidays.[4] There he consolidates his knowledge of Georgian culture and the practice of the Georgian language.[7]

Career

Levan Akin started out as an assistant director in film productions, mainly at Sveriges Television. He worked at Studio 24 for the production of You, the Living (Du Levande) by Roy Andersson (2007).

In 2008, he won two awards at the Hamburg Film Festival alongside film designer and producer Erika Stark for the short film De sista sakerna (2008).[8] Levan Akin then directed series such as Second Avenue (Andra Avenyn, 2008–2010), Livet i Fagervik (2009), Anno 1790 (2011) and Real Humans (Äkta människor, 2012) for the television channel Sveriges Television.

In autumn 2011, his first feature film Katinkas kalas, premiered at the Stockholm International Film Festival. The scenario was based on the inner tensions of a group of young people celebrating a birthday on a summer night. Three of the cast, mostly not known to the wider public, received nominations for the L'Oréal Paris Rising Star award,[9] and Yohanna Idha was nominated for 2013 Guldbagge Award as Best Supporting Actress.[10]

In 2019, Levan Akin's second film And Then We Danced was released to critical acclaim.[11][12] It was premiered in the Directors' Fortnight section at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival[13][14] where it received a fifteen-minute standing ovation.[15] Set in Georgia, the film follows Merab, a student from a Georgian traditional dance school who falls in love with his male rival. The Georgian Orthodox Church officially expressed its disapproval of the promotion and screening of the film, and the release of the film in November 2019 caused riots in Tbilisi and Batumi.[16][17][18][19][20]

In June 2020, Levan Akin was selected as a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.[21]

Filmography

Feature films

Short film
  • 2008: De sista sakerna

TV shows
  • 2007: Labyrint mobisodes
  • 2008–2010: Second Avenue (Andra Avenyn) (10 episodes)
  • 2009: Livet i Fagervik (3 episodes)
  • 2011: Anno 1790 (3 episodes)
  • 2012: Real Humans (Äkta människor) (20 episodes)
  • 2022: Interview with the Vampire (2 episodes)

References
  1. Meza, Ed (19 August 2019). "Levan Akin on the Impact of 'And Then We Danced'". Variety. Retrieved 2020-04-26.
  2. Andersson, Jan-Olov (13 September 2019). "Levan Akin om att hans film är Sveriges Oscarsbidrag: "Det är helt galet"". Aftonbladet (in Swedish). Retrieved 2020-04-26.
  3. Dalton, Ben (21 January 2020). "'And Then We Danced', 'Aniara' lead winners at Sweden's 2020 Guldbagge awards". Screendaily. Retrieved 2020-04-26.
  4. Oscarsson, Mattias (16 May 2019). "Levan Akin: Vi hade livvakter under inspelningen" (in Swedish). Sydsvenskan. Retrieved 12 November 2019.
  5. "Als wir tanzten" (in German). Queer Film Festival. Retrieved 12 November 2019.
  6. Lagercrantz, Ylva Spindler (13 June 2019). "Hyllade Levan fick ha livvakter i Georgien" (in Swedish). Scen & Film. Retrieved 12 November 2019.
  7. Cauhapé, Véronique (6 November 2019). "Levan Akin, réalisateur de " Et puis nous danserons " : " La Géorgie est composée de deux mondes parallèles "" (in French). Le Monde. Retrieved 12 November 2019.
  8. Eriksson, Karoline (8 November 2011). "Filmfest med kulturhipsters – SvD". Svenska Dagbladet (in Swedish). Filmfest med kulturhipsters – SvD. Retrieved 12 November 2019.
  9. "Svenska skådespelartalanger nominerade till L'Oréal Paris Rising Star" (in Swedish). News Powered by Cision. Retrieved 12 November 2019.
  10. Boyd Van Hoeij (6 May 2012). "Certain People". Variety.
  11. "And Then We Danced". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
  12. "And Then We Danced". Metacritic. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
  13. Keslassy, Elsa (4 April 2019). "Cannes: Deerskin With Jean Dujardin to Open Directors' Fortnight". Variety. Retrieved 19 April 2019.
  14. Goodfellow, Melanie. "Cannes Directors' Fortnight unveils genre-heavy 2019 selection". ScreenDaily. Retrieved 23 April 2019.
  15. Fenwick, George (2020-03-06). "And Then We Danced is putting a spotlight on homophobia in Georgia". Evening Standard. Retrieved 2020-10-08.
  16. "Police mobilized at Amirani Cinema". InterPressNews. 8 November 2019. Retrieved 2020-10-08.
  17. "Riot police mobilized at Amirani Cinema". InterPressNews. 8 November 2019. Retrieved 2020-10-08.
  18. "Georgian March members trying to forcibly enter Amirani Cinema". InterPressNews. 8 November 2019. Retrieved 2020-10-08.
  19. Protesters clash with police officers at "Apollo" cinema in Batumi
  20. "Protesters clash with police officers at "Apollo" cinema in Batumi". InterPressNews. 8 November 2019. Retrieved 2020-10-08.
  21. "ACADEMY INVITES 819 TO MEMBERSHIP". Oscars.org | Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. 2020-06-30. Retrieved 2020-12-07.
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