Filmform (est. 1950) is dedicated to preservation, promotion and worldwide distribution of experimental film and video art. Constantly expanding, the distribution catalogue spans from 1924 to the present, including works by Sweden’s most prominent artists and filmmakers, available to rent for public screenings and exhibitions as well as for educational purposes.
“Information is Free” and “Electronic Pollution” have been screened at various venues, including Norrköpings Konstmuseum, The Kitchen New York, Moderna Museet Stockholm, Documenta X Kassel, Galleri Forum Malmö, Palais des Beaux-Arts Brussels, Centre Georges Pompidou Paris, Bouschouwburg Brussels, Statens Museum for Kunst Copenhagen, Living Art Museum Reykjavik, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, and Borås Konstmuseum. Additionally, the films have been shown on MTV, as well as numerous festivals and television networks worldwide. “Information is Free” was nominated for Deutcher videokunstpreis and MTV videoawards. It was awarded first price as best experimental film at Nordiskt Panorama 1996.
Lucky People Center, a pioneering multimedia collective, stands as a testament to the transformative power of collaborative creativity. Rooted in Sweden, this group emerged during the 1990s and quickly gained international recognition for their innovative fusion of music, film, art, and technology. The collective started as an underground illegal nightclub in Gothenburg. It moved its base to Stockholm in the early 1990s, forming a multimedia and musical collective. The collective also produced the short films, “Information is Free” and “Electronic Pollution” comprising of short videos put together to two 30 min films. The films are made up primary from samples from different TV channels and some documentary footage collected in various parts of the world. The experience from making the short films as well as the way of working, were utilized in Lucky People Center’s most notable work, the full-length film “Lucky People Center International”, directed and edited by Johan Söderberg and Erik Pauser. The difference being that in this film the directors collected all the material themselves during a year and a half of travels around the globe. Released in 1998, the film is showcasing the diversity of human experiences and shedding light on social and cultural phenomena around the globe. Lucky People Center were playing some major events around Europe during this time. For the live events the group developed a video-sampler that was triggered by a D-Drum. The also mixed up to ten separate video streams projected on large screens surrounding the stage.
At the heart of Lucky People Center’s creative philosophy was the idea of interconnectedness. That art could be a powerful tool for fostering understanding and empathy across different cultures and backgrounds. The film and the live performances primary aim was to break down geographical and cultural boundaries through art and music and make people dance.
Erik Pauser is active as a director, producer and artist and works with film, visual arts, installation and stage performances.
Erik Pauser has produced and directed around 20 longer international documentaries and a number of shorter films.
His films and works are often based on social and historical processes. The film The Two Faces of Roman Martinez is about three generations of American war veterans who suffer from PTSD. This work led him to make the film The Face of the Enemy, which depicts the experiences of Vietnamese war veterans from what they call the American War, the war known in the West as the Vietnam War. Together with the photographer Lars Tunbjörk, he made the film Maskinen about the poet Johan Jönson. He has collaborated with Michael von Hausswolff, with Leif Elggren, Cecilia Parsberg and Johanna Ekström and a number of other artists and filmmakers. Together with Johan Söderberg, he has produced and directed the films Information is Free and Electronic Pollution as well as the feature film Lucky People Center International, which was produced by Lars Jönsson and Memfis film. Erik Pauser was executive producer for the English feature film Swimming with Men, which premiered in July 2018 in UK cinemas. Right now he is working on a film about the artist Leif Elggren.
Erik Pauser has been active as an artist primarily with installations and visual art. His works have been shown at exhibitions in Europe, Asia and the USA. Recent projects include the film and installation A Place in Europe that he made in collaboration with Cecilia Parsberg. The film was shown on cinema and TV in Sweden and as an installation version that toured Swedish cities. With the artist and writer Johanna Ekström, he made a series of projects, including the installation Brott, which was first shown at Färgfabriken in Stockholm. The exhibition consisted, among other things, of a large estate that had been ground to pieces. The project also resulted in a performance at Dansen Hus in Stockholm. The films The Two Faces of Roman Martinez and The Face of the Enemy about the two sides in the Vietnam War were also shown as installations at, among others, the Norrköping Art Museum and the Konsthallen Gothenburg.
During the 1980s, together with Carl Michael von Hausswolff and Ulrich Hillebrand, he ran one of Sweden’s most noted record companies/culture companies, Radium 226.05. The company released artists such as Freddie Wadling, Union Carbide productions, Sator Codex, Blue for Two as well as a series of pioneering experimental records with Leif Elggren among others. Radium also ran a gallery, organized festivals, produced short films, exhibitions and published a magazine. During Radium’s 7-year history, the company issued approx. 70 CDs and LPs.
Friðjon Rafnsson
Johan Söderberg
Born in 1962 in Bollnäs, Sweden. Currently based in Stockholm.
Johan Söderberg is a director and editor of international film and documentary. Making music videos, he has worked with Madonna among others. He was a member of the Lucky People Centre, a Swedish artist collective, best known for their ambient music, and for whom Söderberg together with Erik Pauser directed Lucky People Centre International (1998). Söderberg is currently a Professor at Dalarna University and the artistic leader of the unique Audiovisual Production education, a new 3 year artistic education that opened in 2010.
