About the film
NIGHT GAMES (2024)
Swedish title: Nattlekar
12 min | Short, Adventure, Drama
While the mother cries at night because the alcoholic father never comes home from his constant partying and gambling, a young boy escapes into fantasies how he saves the father from his drunken peers and helps him get home.
Director: Emil T. Jonsson
Writers: Björn Boström (screenplay), Stig Dagerman (story)
Stars: Dylan Kjellin, Simon Mezher, Josefine Wistedt
Produced by: Björn Boström and Emil T. Jonsson
See full cast & crew »
A production by Slate Film in collaboration with Region Uppsala, Allusion Film, Film Stockholm and with support from Swedish Film Institute.
Filmmaker's statement
We had a fabulous shoot with the film's darkness, all the colors and a child star whose performance blew us away. It was challenging at times and everyone struggled in the fight against time and the season which gave us increasingly shorter evenings. Fortunately, we were extremely well received by the community in Tensta where the film was shot. Everyone from the convenience store staff, the mission church, apartment owners and strangers lined up for our film and cheered, proud to see our film crew there.
Cheers,
Emil & Björn
«A poignant and imaginative exploration of a tormented child's attempt to navigate a fractured family life. The film's use of innocent childhood fantasies as a lens for processing difficult realities is both compelling and deeply moving, offering a unique perspective on coping with trauma.«
- Film Shortage
«The film does a remarkable job of tying something as dark and disturbing as substance abuse and its many devastating consequences with the innocence of childhood and its fantasies.«
- Shorted Films
«The camera has the ability to delve into a young boy's dark world of imagination, with striking use of contrasts and colors. The lense convey his emotions and experiences surrounding the battle he bravely tries to fight to reunite his parents. The visual expression gives a voice to a young person's fear, courage, and concerns, thereby providing a distinctive tone to the film, where the camera work and visual approach complement, support, and enhance the directing and screenplay with precision.«
- The jury of West Nordic International Film Festival 2025
«We hope that many people will see Night Games and that it can be the start of an important conversation.«
- Marlene Lundli, children's right organization "Maskrosbarn"