EVERGREEN, 7min., Sweden, Drama
Directed by Malin Barr, Christian Hillborg
Swedish Mia suffers from anxiety induced paranoia and as she prepares for her immigration interview, the line between reality and dream starts to become blurred.

https://www.instagram.com/evergreenthemovie

Director Biography - Malin Barr, Christian Hillborg

Malin Barr is a Swedish actress, writer, director who divides her time between Los Angeles and Stockholm, where she is currently studying screenwriting at the esteemed Alma Löv Script Academy. Malin’s passion lies in telling authentic and complex female-centric stories and she is drawn to alienated characters and exploring themes of identity, gender and perfectionism.

EVERGREEN is her second short film and her debut as a director. Her previous work include short films Hedda Needs Help (2017) which screened and won multiple awards at festivals internationally and was acquired by ShortsTV and Evergreen (2022) presently in post-production. She is currently working on her upcoming short film I’m Gorgeous and developing numerous projects including a female-driven Western, a drama-comedy TV series and a debut feature film, See Me, which she’s currently developing at Cine Qua Non Storylines Lab.
(Co-Director) Christian Hillborg is a Swedish actor. He’s been seen in many award winning TV- shows, including AMAZON’s FLEABAG (Winner of 6 Emmy’s 2019), the lead character Erik on the popular NETFLIX show THE LAST KINGDOM, as well as the respected Scandinavian TV shows THE BRIDGE, EASY MONEY, BEFORE WE DIE, TOPDOG.

Director Statement
With this film, I hope to raise awareness of the hardship that immigrants of all nationalities are facing while applying for permanent residency in the U.S and open up for a conversation around the subject. This issue is a reality regardless of what skin color you have, what country you are from, or what languages you speak. Ironically, as the US country that is in fact created by immigrants.

In this story, we follow Mia, a European immigrant’s story, yet “Mia” could be anyone in the world. For me, her story represents the issue of the immigration process in the U.S.

The film explores through an experimental, nightmare-like lens, the fear and feeling of paranoia that immigrants might experience, while being tested by a system that is not only difficult and scrutinizing but also intimidating, overwhelming and even at times disrespectful. Having to respond to endless requests, both personal and professional, being challenged as to the existence of a job, the validity of a relationship or being able to prove that oneself is “extraordinary” enough to live in the country. The sentiment I managed to gather from my own experiences as well as other immigrant friends, was the sense of not being wanted, trusted or welcomed.

Therefore, I hope to shed light on this issue and open up a discussion around the questions:
Is this process really fair and respectful? To what extent is this a valid test or is it an exercise and abuse of control? How do we decide who is worthy to stay in a country based on their ethnicity, gender, fortune, skills, nationality, religion or who they love and marry?

Kate He - Producer

CAST LIST:

Malin Barr - Mia
Zach Appelman - Seth
Rana Roy - Jessica
Andrew Dits - Robert