Juno Films acquires North American distribution rights for Viaplay and Lasse Hallström’s Hilma

Photo credit: Jenny Drakenlind

Double Oscar-nominee Lasse Hallström’s Hilma, a cinematic portrait of the extraordinary Swedish artist and feminist pioneer Hilma af Klint, has been acquired by Juno Films for distribution in the U.S. and Canada.

Hilma will have its North American festival premiere opening weekend at Palm Springs International Film Festival and will premiere theatrically April 14th at the Quad Cinema in NYC before a national rollout.

Lasse Hallström’s Hilma brings to the big screen the life story of a woman who defied conventions and revolutionized the art world when her work was exhibited in its entirety in 2019 at the Guggenheim Museum in NYC. Hilma died in 1944, unknown and unrecognized as the woman who invented abstract painting, displacing Kandinsky, Malevich and Mondrian as the initiators of abstract painting and Modernism. From her adoration of the anthroposophist Rudolf Steiner and her invincible belief in spirits, to her unconventional romantic life and close circle of fellow female artists who converged around Hilma and her atelier, the film provides a nuanced portrait of a woman who chose to remain true to her vision as an artist, despite working in a hostile, misogynistic world where women were not expected to express themselves and still were not allowed to vote.

“I’ve spent several years trying to understand the mystery of Hilma af Klint,” said Hallström. “This is a story about an unwavering search for the truth about humanity and the universe, at a time when men set all the rules. Despite so many obstacles, Hilma created art that influences our lives today. My ambition is for the audience to experience these struggles with all their senses.”

“Lasse Hallström has brought to life one of the least recognized and most enigmatic painters working in the early twentieth century,” said Juno Films CEO, Vondah Elizabeth Sheldon. “His portrait of Hilma is nuanced and will help cement a place in the canon of great artists for this visionary whom critics initially overlooked, partly due to Hilma’s own insouciance towards the art world and because her paintings lay in storage until their discovery in 1967.”

Hilma is produced by Helena Danielsson for Viaplay Studios, Lasse Hallström and Sigurjon Sighvatsson. The film’s cast is a who’s who of screen talent, starring Lena Olin (Oscar-nominated for Enemies, A Love Story) as Hilma as a mature woman, Tora Hallström (Hachi: A Dog’s Tale) as Hilma in her youth, Tom Wlaschiha (Game of Thrones) as Rudolf Steiner, and Catherine Chalk (Hereafter) as Hilma’s lover and artistic collaborator.

Juno Films is a boutique film distributor. Some of the company’s recent releases include Lucile Hadzihalilovic’s Earwig, Peter Hedge’s The Same Storm, and the Sundance documentary The Most Beautiful Boy In The World.