May Screenings (Online)

THE MOST BEAUTIFUL BOY IN THE WORLD

• Director: Kristina Lindström, Kristian Petri
• SWEDEN / 2021 / H264 / Colour / 93’ / English, Italian, Swedish, Japanese, French; Turkish s.t.

• Screenplay: Kristina Lindström, Kristian Petri
• Director of Photography: Erik Vallsten
• Editing: Hanna Lejonqvist, Dino Jonsäter
• Music: Anna von Hausswolff, Filip Leyman
• Producer: Stina Gardell
• Production Co.: Mantaray Film
• World Sales: Films Boutique

This film is screened within the Documentary Time section.

Theme Sponsor

The Most Beautiful Boy in the World offers an unsettling look at the destructive consequences of young fame, and focuses on Björn Andrésen, who starred in Death in Venice (1971) as a 16 year old. The documentary, which had its world premiere at 2021 Sundance Film Festival, tells the story of Andrésen as he inspects his infamous debut role and the career path it forced upon him in retrospect after fifty years. As a 16-year-old, Andrésen had met instant fame and global attention after legendary Italian director Luchino Visconti had declared him "the most beautiful boy in the world." The actor continues his career in Swedish TV series, and we have also seen him in a small role in the 2019 film Midsommar. Collaborating director duo Kristian Petri and Kristina Lindstrom brings found footage from Italy, France, and Japan together with recent interviews of Andrésen and his family, and despite its gloomy tone and traumatic subject, the film offers a much needed confrontation on the effects of objectification and the cruciality of consent.

This film was a Meetings on the Bridge participant.