Cassandra Pictures is a Gothenburg-based film collective founded in 2012.

Its aim is to create films that are both honest, and free from ideological and political pressures. That is to say, they should explore questions about which the filmmakers are genuinely uncertain, and do so in a way that is entertaining and inviting to a wide audience.

 
MAMMA THERESE

A peculiar 35-year-old woman named Therese has become a local hero on account of her extraordinary dedication to charity. Despite living as a single mother with her 17-year-old son Viktor, she has cut back to part-time employment in order to devote herself to volunteer work at a mission for the homeless. But at home, where her absence is felt, Viktor is finding his own way to live the sacrificial life that was chosen for him.

Writer / Director: Michael Stöen
Producer / Art Director: Ariel McMillion

 
TAKING OFFENSE

At an elegant restaurant, a man and woman who have recently met are in love. He is Syrian — a doctor, a refugee, and an Islamist. She is Swedish — a lawyer, a feminist, and an activist. There is much common ground, and they want badly to stay there. But they must also remain true to their values, and there are serious differences. Can their love survive their convictions?

Taking Offense is currently in the funding and script-development stage. To present the concept to investors, a pitch video was shot in 2014 in which we meet Jacques — Ingrid and Mohamed’s charming but oddly aloof waiter — who has his own ideas about ideology, and how it affects human judgement.

Written and directed by Ariel McMillion and Michael Stöen