The Freethinker

Fritänkaren

Epic in scope, Peter Watkins’ rarely-screened film is a formally radical exploration of art, politics and the legacy of August Strindberg.

  • Director

    Peter Watkins

  • With

    Anders Mattsson, Lena Settervall, Roland Borgström, Ingela Berger

  • Sweden 1994. 276min + interval

  • Digital

  • English subtitles

Watkins’ vast portrait of August Strindberg examines the Swedish playwright not simply as a literary figure, but as a lens through which to explore class, nationalism and artistic freedom. Produced as part of a video production course for the Swedish Folk High School, the project took Watkins and 24 students two years to complete, and combines dramatised scenes with discussions between performers and crew, continually interrogating its own methods of representation.

James Bell