Swedish-Danish writer-director Maria Bäck (I Remember When I Die, Psychosis in Stockholm) likes to push the envelope. With her new feature, Brave New Love, she invites us to talk about love, relationships and desire — but not within the tidy bounds of what’s considered “normal” or “right.”
The film centers on Kate, a mother torn between her husband, Orla, and a secret relationship with another man, Andreas. A triangle of madness? Of sadness? Of badness? Something else entirely? Watch and decide for yourself.
Brave New Love stars Kathrine Thorborg Johansen (Post Mortem: No One Dies in Skarnes) as Kate, Simon Sears (Shadow and Bone) as Orla, young Noemi Carbone Mannov as their daughter Athena, Anders Danielsen Lie (Sentimental Value, Everybody Digs Bill Evans) as Andreas and Angeliki Papoulia (Dogtooth, The Lobster). The film world premieres Sunday, Aug. 9, in the main international competition at the 79th edition of the Locarno Film Festival in Switzerland.
Produced by Anna-Maria Kantariusand and featuring cinematography by Maria Von Hausswolff, Brave New Love was edited by Julius Krebs Damsbo. Reinvent Yellow is handling international sales.
Ahead of the Locarno premiere of the film, Bäck talked to THR about the inspiration for Brave New Love, why she enjoys asking tough questions, working with a cast of actors who have made names for themselves and why the film’s title reminds you of that famous Aldous Huxley novel.
