Ann Petren Movies

In a series of remarkable events inspired by a true story, Maria Heiskanen stars as Maria Larsson, a Finnish mother and housewife who devotes all of her attention, care, and consideration to the well-being of her family -- but, like many homemakers, does so at the expense of her own identity and self-awareness. Not that her dockworker husband, Sigge (Mikael Persbrandt), particularly deserves such consideration; a brutish, alcoholic lout, his evenings consist of making life hell for Maria and their daughter with tyrannical, abusive behavior. Then, as the dockworkers go on strike and the family's economic situation plummets, a ray of hope appears, in the form of a Contessa camera won in a local lottery. Unsurprisingly, Maria at first attempts to pawn it to reel in extra monies, but store owner Sebastian Pedersen convinces her otherwise; he teaches her how to use it, and she begins taking gorgeous, haunting photographs with the unaffected, instinctive perceptions of a young child. As the woman's self-discovery builds and her identity takes on form and definition, Sebastian unofficially takes her on as a protégée and quietly witnesses romantic feelings for her building inside of him. Meanwhile, Sigge's life falls to pieces when the authorities connect him with the catastrophic explosion of a British vessel. Maria's daughter, Maja (Callin Öhrvall), narrates. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

Swedish filmmaker Bjorn Runge writes and directs Om Jag Vander Mig Om (Day Break), a drama concerning three different parallel story lines that take place in one day. Rickard (Jakob Eklund) is a surgeon who is cheating on his faithful wife Agnes (Pernilla August). He finds out that he didn't get the promotion he wanted and his mistress (Marie Richardson) is pregnant. Another story line involves divorced Anita (Ann Petren), her ex-husband Olof (Peter Andersson), and his young girlfriend Petra (Sanna Krepper). The final story concerns an elderly couple who hire hard-working building tradesman Anders (Magnus Krepper) for an unusual home-improvement request. Day Break won a Silver Bear award at the Berlin Film Festival in 2004. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi

The rise of racism and neo-Nazi groups in Sweden is satirized in this Swedish comedy. Flore, a 25-year old black woman has lived in Sweden all her life. She has recently become a media favorite after she was appointed minister of schools. Flore has many ideas that can improve the education system. When she falls for 50-year old Eliel, the father of five children, when must cope with the difficulty of balancing her professional and personal lives. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi