Alf is nearing 40 and still lives with his mother, Monica, in Norrköping. She wants him to find a proper job and move out; he would rather perfect his diabolo routine and wander through the city’s cultural life. When an opportunity arrives to tour Europe with his act, both mother and son discover how difficult it is to let go.
Kim Ekberg began with Anita and John Holm, mother and son in real life, and a few leftover rolls of 16mm film. Working with a four-person crew, no fixed script and non-professional performers, they invented scenes together in real locations.
The limits of 16mm made room for first takes, chance and changing light, while the story found its final rhythm through montage. The result feels at once lived-in and delicately stylised: a hopeful portrait of drifting and art-making in a city where cultural life is under pressure.
