In the Presence of a Clown

In 1925, eccentric inventor and Franz Schubert devotee Carl Åkerblom is confined to a psychiatric ward in Uppsala after attempting to murder his fiancée. Obsessed with death, music, and the future of cinema, he joins forces with a fellow patient to create a “living talkie,” an experimental film performance with live-spoken dialogue. As the project unfolds, art, madness, and mortality collide in a tragicomic reflection on creativity and human frailty.

Cast

Börje Ahlstedt

Uncle Carl Åkerblom

Marie Richardson

Pauline Thibualt

Erland Josephson

Osvald Vogler

Pernilla August

Karin Bergman

Anita Björk

Anna Åkerblom