Or did it actually ever exist? I was looking for a new project to do after my series "How Soon Is Now. Her poignant story about two young girls in a juvenile home reminded me of Truffaut's The Blows except that it was also set in late 70s Stockholm. It explored the morals of a period when Sweden was considered a socialistic Utopia with an ultraliberal view on sexualityβonly it showed the other side of the coin.
As far as I know, the film has been very well received abroad. In Sweden we got fantastic reviews, but it enraged a lot of people that we based the film very closely on an actual event: the brothel scandal. They related to Call Girl like it was a documentary and not a work of art, as if we were telling our own alternative truth of the past. For us the 60s and 70s period is still very glamorized, almost sacred. I just wanted to make a good film about people from different layers of society; a film that asks questions.
Its a statement, of course. Call Girl is told from the point of view of two young girls, Iris and Sonja. It's their story. Am I a feminist? I think men and women should be treated equally and have the same chances in a democracy. If that makes me a feminist, then yes, I am a feminist. Despite the fact that prostitution is illegal in Sweden, would such a story be possible today? Then he got caught as part of a ring of men that exploited very young girls quite brutally.
So I don't really know. The fact that prostitution is now illegal has not changed anything. Young girls and boys in juvenile homes are still prostituting themselves, and with the explosion of internet, I think the problem is even harder to tackle today.
Do you consider that image still relevant? I like and believe in that image, but as I mentioned before, good and bad coexist. Its always been like that, and will never change. Its the story of mankind. Sweden is a paradise with dirty spots, just like everywhere else in the world. Is the social system, which provides foster care for Irisβhowever well-intentionedβnot to be trusted?
