TIFF 2017 Profile: Niki Lindroth von Bahr
“If night cleaners in a hamburger restaurant were starring in a musical, what would they sing about?”
The Burden (original title Min Börda) is one of the most entertaining and ambitious short films I have ever seen. Drawing inspiration from old school Hollywood musicals, director Niki Lindroth von Bahr is able to present dark themes while still offering an fantastically fun viewing experience.
Taking place within a number of nondescript commercial venues, The Burden features animal employees expressing their loneliness, boredom, and existential anxieties through a series of upbeat, cheerful song and dance numbers. Each song rivals the last and the lyrics are equal parts clever, dark, hilarious, devastating, and relatable. Even cooler? Every song was written and composed especially for the film and was recorded with a live 15-person orchestra!
Over two years in the making, The Burden is an incredible feat of creativity, craftsmanship, and patience — all of the animations, models, and puppets were made by hand! Oh, and speaking of… get ready to squeal and then never stop squealing because the singing, dancing anthropomorphized animal puppets you will meet in this film are AMAZING. This is one film that is not to be missed!
Niki Lindroth von Bahr is an artist and filmmaker based in Stockholm, Sweden.
Her previous films Bath House (2014) and Tord and Tord (2010) have screened at festivals around the world, including Berlinale, Sundance Film Festival, and Annecy International Animation Film Festival. Tord and Tord was nominated for Best Short Film at the Guldbagge Awards (Sweden’s main film award ceremony)and Bath House won the Grand Prix at Anima in Brussels 2015.
Niki also works with sculpture and costume design and she (along with Nicklas Nilsson) designed and made the costumes for David Bowie’s ‘Blackstar’ music video in 2016.
The Burden had its World Premiere at Göteborg International Film Festival (where it won Best Swedish Short Film and the Audience Award) and has since screened at Cannes’ Director’s Fortnight, Curtas Vila do Conde International Film Festival (where it won Best Animation), Annecy International Animation Film Festival (where it won Best Short Film), and Melbourne International Film Festival.
You can see the North American Premiere of The Burden at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival, screening as part of Short Cuts Programme 06 on September 10th at 9:30PM and September 16th at 6:45PM. GET YOUR TICKETS HERE.
Tell us a little bit about yourself and how you got involved with filmmaking.
Niki Lindroth von Bahr: I actually started out by studying prop making for film and theatre. I’ve always been very interested in materials and wanted to build the sets and puppets for my own films. That, combined with my love for narrative and telling a good story, got me in to the stop motion animation business.
Tell us a bit about THE BURDEN. Where did the idea come from?
NLVB: I’ve always loved old school Hollywood musicals and wanted to make a homage to the genre. I also wanted to shed light upon the kind of pointless, underpaid labour that exists everywhere but is seldom paid attention to. If night cleaners in a hamburger restaurant were starring in a musical, what would they sing about?
What inspired you to tell this story through anthropomorphized animals instead human characters?
NLVB: I’ve used animal characters in all of my three films. One reason is that I like to see the films as modern fables. Another is that I find human puppets really uncomfortable to look at.
Was there a thought process or rationale behind which animals would be featured in this film or which roles they would fill?
NLVB: I’ve worked with different animal themes for all of my films. For The Burden, I only used animal species that are common in medical experiments, such as rhesus monkeys, beagle dogs, and banstickle fish.
How did you and your team take your initial ideas and develop them into the amazing songs that are featured in THE BURDEN?
NLVB: Hans Appelqvist, a great artist and composer, made the music according to my descriptions of the atmosphere in the film’s different episodes. Many old Busby Berkeley clips were sent back and forth. We also decided to really kill the budget from day one by recording the songs live with an orchestra of 15 musicians, but it was worth it.
What was your biggest personal highlight from working on this project? Your biggest challenge?
NLVB: The film took me more than two years to make and there were a lot of challenges — making puppets tap dance, for example. We also had a very small budget, which made everything much harder than it already was. I’m very proud of the end scene, starring a huge model that measures 2.5 meters in all directions. It turned out just the way I wanted.
Can you tell us about some/all of the other amazing women who worked on this film?
NLVB: Johanna Schubert was my main animator and she is incredibly talented. For example, she alone animated eight monkeys dancing at the same time for a two minute scene. Also, Sepidar Hosseini and Denise Holland Bethke, who created all of the fabulous choreography.
Who are your favourite women working in the film industry?
NLVB: I love all of Jessica Hausners films, Réka Bucsi is a really talented animation director, and I’m also a fan of the Swedish Director of Photography Ita Zbroniec-Zajt — watch out for her!
What’s the best advice about filmmaking you’ve ever received?
NLVB: “Don’t rush.” I really did follow up on that, haha.
What are you working on now/next?
NLVB: I’m still a bit exhausted from The Burden production to be honest. Right now, I work with sculpture for upcoming gallery exhibitions. My next film project will be something scary. Maybe enacted in the financial world. Starring animal puppets.
And now for some fun ones! If a movie about your life was created, who would star and what genre would it be?
NLVB: Comedy/horror starring Danny DeVito.
What’s your favorite song to sing at karaoke?
NLVB: I do a GREAT interpretation of Britney Spears’ ‘Toxic’!
You were just given a yacht. What would you name it?
NLVB: “Bitch Better Have My Money”.
Recommend one #MUFFApproved film for our blog readers:
NLVB: Hotel (dir. Jessica Hausner)
Follow Niki on Instagram and Vimeo and check out her personal website to see her previous work and to stay up-to-date on her future projects.
Lisa Gallagher is the Producer of The MUFF Society in Toronto. She is a lover of cats, carbs, and laying down.
Follow her on Instagram and Letterboxd.
