THE WILD ONES
WITH BIRGITTA STENBERG
Immediately after the second world war, 18-yearold Birgitta Stenberg left Sweden with a one way
ticket out to Europe where she lived the wild life
with bohemians from all over the world. She fell
in love, was taken advantage of, abused drugs
and took advantage of others. Those years and
those people shaped her life. A life outside of the
mainstream.
In The Wild Ones, she travels back to New York,
Paris and Rome and reunites with the men and
women who were her former lovers. They are
confronted with their past choices. What were the
consequences of their actions? How free was the
free life? And was it worth it?
Birgitta Stenberg wonders: What happens
when you don’t live your dreams?
English title The Wild Ones
Original title Alla Vilda
Directed by Lisa Belfrage & Marianne
Gustavsson
Produced by Kristina Åberg
Starring Birgitta Stenberg, Peggy Purchase,
Paulette E. Missud, Isabella Belletti, Richard Cox,
Jerry Wade, David Ericsson
Edited by Therese Elfström
Cinematography
Original music by
Genre Documentary
Length Charlotta Tengroth FSF
Format HDCAM SR ,Twix
Production company Atmo Media Network AB
Co-produced by Film i Väst/Sofie Björklund
In cooperation with Sveriges Television
With support from Svenska Filminstitutet, Film i
Halland, Film Gävleborg, Kulturfonden för Sverige
och Finland
The music for The Wild Ones was recorded live
at Strand in Stockholm with Birgitta Stenberg
in the audience. Footage from the film ran on a
screen in the background to inspire the musicians
as they improvised. This year’s winner of Nordic
Music Prize, Goran Kafjes, and David Österberg
produced the music as it was performed by a few
handpicked musicians.
DIRECTORS' VISION
SYNOPSIS
Using only her own determination, Birgitta
Stenberg availed herself of the concept freedom
long before the first generation of interrail
backpackers loosened their anchors and
left home to explore Europe. She described
society’s oddest figures honestly and without
sentimentality—always shown from the
perspective as an underdog, but never as a
victim.
Those of us who read her autobiographies from
the time were inspired by the forbidden in her
books. She put into words and took a stand for
women’s artistic expression, women’s rights and
above all else women’s desires in a way that felt
completely inappropriate but at the same time
liberating.
Together with Birgitta Stenberg, we wanted
to stand on the fringes and repudiate the
perspective of the prevailing norms, push the
limits by testing and twisting the concept of
freedom. To meet all these people who’d lived on
the fringes and describe their courage, creativity,
destructivity and to show the consequences.
What price did Birgitta and her friends pay for
their freedom?
In a time characterized by superficiality and a
warped feminine ideal, we are convinced that a
film on freedom with Birgitta Stenberg provides
an important function. We want to scrutinize her
courage, strength, and ability to think freely and
show this to a new generation.
The story of her past and present is an
important puzzle piece which can’t afford to be
forgotten in this day and time.
The Wild Ones is a film that affects everyone
who ever wondered about their life choices and
why his or her life turned out the way it did. After
reuniting with friends and lovers from the past,
Birgitta asks herself the question: “Well, what
happens if you don’t follow your dreams?”
”Freedom is just another word
for nothing left to loose”
Kris Kristofferson
In the fifties, the beat generation with Jack
Kerouac and William Burroughs became the
symbols for the free life—drugs, free love and
nonconformity. But there were also women who
lived the same lifestyle as these more well-known
men. Their story is largely untold.
When Birgitta Stenberg left Sweden as an
eighteen year old, the prospects for most women
were either a life as wife or as a secretary. Birgitta
Stenberg had other plans; she wanted to expose
herself to life so she could later write about it.
Birgitta Stenberg is now turning 80 years old
and still choosing to live a different sort of life on
the fringes.
In The Wild Ones, Birgitta Stenberg seeks out
friends and lovers from all over the world who
she hasn’t seen in over 60 years. They were
artists and bohemians who, like her, broke free
in search of a different life, away from confining
conventions. She travels to Carmel, Paris, Rome
and New York—places which have shaped her life
in various ways.
Birgitta Stenberg reflects on people’s destinies
and life choices. Through these meetings she
confronts her own roads through life and the
consequences of those choices. How an entire life
outside of the norm defines a person. And what it
cost.
The Wild Ones is about resistance, dreams and
the circumstances of living on the edge.
LISA BELFRAGE
DIRECTOR
MARIANNE GUSTAVSSON
DIRECTOR
Lisa Belfrage is a director and producer.
She’s studied and worked within theater in
Stockholm and New York, and was involved with
Stockholm’s alternative theater scene for many
years, including the free theater group Avart.
Lisa Belfage has studied narrative structure,
experimental film, and film theory.
Since Lisa Belfrage came to Atmo in 2002 she
has directed and produced a number of TV series
and documentaries. such as the documentaries.
Most recently, she’s worked with Swedish
Educational Broadcasting Company on the series
Världens bästa skitskola aired on Swedish
Television winter 2011 and raised many debates.
Lisa Belfrage read Birgitta Stenberg’s book
Love in Europe when she was 18 years old and
it changed her way of seeing the world. Lisa
Belfrage persistently works on productions which
challenge stereotypes in order to allow people to
see each other in a new light.
For many years Marianne Gustavsson has
worked as director and producer for a number
of documentaries and TV series, mostly as part
of Atmo, Blodgruppen for SVT and Made in
Europe along with many other society programs
for the Swedish Educational Broadcasting
Company. She’s maintained lasting collaborations
with previous employers such as Folke Rydén
Productions, Mattias Klum Tiearra Grande and
Swedish Educational Broadcasting Co.
Marianne Gustavsson is a trained journalist
with a BA in Political Science and Cultural
Geography from Stockholm University. She has
previously worked in web design, research and as
a feature producer for television and film.
Marianne Gustavsson is driven by a strong
commitment to social and environmental issues
which inspires her work. She has spent a good
deal of her life on the road, which contributed
in her interest in Birgitta Stenberg already at a
young age.
KRISTINA ÅBERG
PRODUCER
KONTAKTINFORMATION
Kristina Åberg is the CEO and founder of the
film production company Atmo. In addition
to producing films like Metropia, GITMO and
Regretters, she’s been involved in a number
of documentaries and television series. She is
credited as executive producer for films like She
Monkeys, Videocracy, and Like a Pascha.
Kristina Åberg has many years experience
in various Swedish Television productions. She
is chairwoman for the film division of Swedish
Film&TV Producers and was named as Producer
of the Year 2010.
Kristina Åberg is a trained journalist and has
also studied political science and business
management.
Atmo Media Network
Götgatan 9
116 46 Stockholm
Sweden
Telefon: + 46 8 462 26 90
www.atmo.se
Kristina Åberg, producent
Mobil: + 46 70 768 31 33
[email protected]
skype: kristinaaberg
Marianne Gustavsson, regissör
Mobil: + 46 70 738 64 03
[email protected]
Lisa Belfrage, regissör
Mobil: + 46 70 726 58 30
[email protected]