Sagolandet

When the fifty-year-old Swedish filmmaker Jan Troell was making preparations for the shooting of SAGOLANDET, he became a father for the first time. This event gave the film - a search for fantasy, creativity and happiness - a special twist. The initial version consisted of an interview with American psychologist Rollo May, who argues that the ultimate goal in life is creativity. In raptures over the birth of his daughter, Troell took his camera and went out into the streets to record manifestations of that creativity. He soon realised that material comfort and safety for most people are much more important than happiness, adventure and fantasy. By alternating interview situations with images of his growing daughter, Troell in the end manages to draw a parallel between the need for creativity and curiosity in a child's life and the absence of these qualities in modern-day Sweden.