BLUEBERRY
Directed by Emil Brulin & Hampus Hallberg
Produced by Ylva Olaison
Sweden | Swedish, English | 15' | Drama, Dark Comedy
After the death of his mother, Oscar becomes emotionally detached. In an attempt to reconnect with his feelings, he attends a Burning Man-inspired festival in the Swedish woods. There, he loses himself in a ritual, gets lost in the forest, and wakes up half-naked with an injured foot. After two days of despair, he encounters a Thai berry picker whom he convinces to help him return to the festival. This journey back marks the beginning of an awakening for Oscar.
Blueberry is the sort of nervy dark comedy that toys with the audience’s comfort – making you both laugh and wince. Hallberg and Brulin push Oscar, their forlorn protagonist, into the Swedish woods, half naked, to pose a question most people avoid – is the only way to be truly known by letting the world see your ass (and other parts!)? The humor gnaws at the edges of something rawer: Oscar’s journey through nature back to a rave is as much a hike through the hierarchical social contract and how we forge true bonds with our fellow humans as an attempt to crawl out of grief and find a surrogate mom. His time in the woods mirrors how desperately, and at times clumsily, we all want to connect. Blueberry is a wry portrait of alienation that leaves you giggling even as you feel the splinters under your skin.
- Vincent DeLuca, Programmer