Lily Cole (“Star Wars: The Last Jedi”), Rebecca Calder (“I May Destroy You”), Maeve Dermody (“The Beast Must Die”) and Catherine Chalk (“Hereafter”) have joined the cast of “Hilma,” Lasse Hallström‘s English-language biopic of the revolutionary Swedish artist and feminist pioneer Hilma af Klint.
As previously announced, Lena Olin (“Enemies”) and Tora Hallström will play Klint at different ages of her life.
Now shooting in Stockholm and Vilnius (first still pictured above), the movie is a passion project for Hallström, the celebrated Swedish director of “The Cider House Rules” and “What’s Eating Gilbert Grape.” It explores the enigmatic life of Klint, whose unconventional art remained largely unknown for decades. Klint navigated through a male-dominated artistic scene to eventually become one of the Western world’s first abstract artists.
“Hilma” is being produced by NENT Studios with Helena Danielsson as producer and Josephine Zapata Genetay as executive producer. The film is set to premiere on Viaplay at the end of 2022 under the streaming company’s new mandate to produce two major English-language films per year.
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Cole, Calder, Dermody and Chalk will play the four women who surrounded Klint and formed with her a group nicknamed “The Five” which explored art, spiritualism and sexuality. This sorority greatly influenced Klint in her art and is believed to have helped her achieve the “Paintings for the Temple.”
“I am absolutely delighted to be working on ‘Hilma,’ a film which tells the story of the world’s first abstract painter and the pioneering group of women with whom Hilma developed her work,” said Cole.
Cole said the women who were part of “The Five” “were pushing against all the boundaries of their time, exploring new concepts of spirituality, sexuality, gender and, ultimately, art.”
“The art that Hilma produced as a consequence of their collaborations was unlike anything that had ever been made before, and arguably set the artistic agenda for the next century to follow,” said Cole, who added that she has long admired Hallström and regards “What’s Eating Gilbert Grape” as one of her “all-time favourite films.”
Speaking about the project, Hallström previously said he was inspired to make this film about Klint’s life because she overcame so many obstacles and created “abstract art six years before Kandinsky, she was ahead of them all, but she didn’t give any exhibit.”
