A merrily inquisitive journey back to the small hours when the modern night was born, this is the story of a forgotten revolution. Traditionally sleep was something precious and the nights long and dark with a mystical midnight hour of tranquil wakefulness.
Swedish title: Den sömniga revolutionen
Year of release: 2009
Category: Documentary for adults
Direction, Screenplay and Art Work: Johanne Fronth-Nygren and Klara Swantesson
Animation: Johan Sonestedt, Veronica Wallenberg, Klara Swantesson
In the eighteenth century this changed with the appearance of caffeine, clocks, artificial lighting and a new work ethic. Anxious not to waste a single minute modern man began staying up long after his old bedtime, snored loudly at work the next day, and has never stopped yawning since.
Although today’s society aims to keep sleep at an efficient minimum, experiments show that given the opportunity modern men and women quickly return to the traditional sleep pattern. So what is the `natural´ way to sleep?
Producer: Uzi Geffenblad
Voice: Alex Jennings (Swedish version Michael Segerström)
Additional voices: Lars-Göran Persson, Mia Tinglöf, Sirkka Hannula, Helene Almqvist
Music: Eske Nørrelykke, G.F Händel (Water music)
Sound and mix: Leif Westerlund, Cinepost AB
Recording English speaker: Tom O´Pray, Envy Post Production
About the Directors
Johanne Fronth-Nygren lead a peripatetic existence studying history, art history and film in Britain, Norway and Denmark.
She now lives in London where she writes and translates books, investigates everyday life through different art forms, and makes sure she gets at least eight hours of sleep a night.
Klara Swantesson is an animation director, illustrator & graphic-designer living in Copenhagen. Her animated documentary Radicalized has been shown around the world at film festivals.
The film won the Synchro Film&Video Award at the Tricky Women festival in Vienna 2007 and was nominated as Best Shor tfilm at the “Golden Beetle” award in Sweden 2007. She has the last years realized the magic in taking a nap once in a while.
Visit Klara’s website >>
Filmen är en samproduktion med SVT/Kortfilm, Caisa Westling och har finansierats med Förhandsstöd av Svenska Filminstitutet (SFI) / Kortfilmskonsulenten Anne-Marie Söhrman Fermelin samt produktionsstöd från Film i Väst, Jessica Ask och Konstnärsnämnden.
