Directed by Kristian A. Söderström, Videoman is a Swedish film that follows the life of a lonely VHS fanatic. Obsessed with the now defunct format, Ennio (Stefan Sauk) is a dinosaur living in the modern world. He then meets Simone (Lena Nilsson), a woman with an eighties fixation, and the pair begins an unconventional courtship.
Videoman screened at this year’s Arrow Video Frightfest, and its director was on site to present his first feature to the masses. We managed to sit down with Kristian to talk through the project. We reminisce about the days of the video store, favourite horror films, and the challenges of moving from short film to feature-length movie.
Kristian A. Söderström interview for Videoman
Videoman features a protagonist with an unhealthy fixation on VHS tape, given you made the film, would it be right to assume that you yourself are a VHS lover?
Yeah, absolutely. I’m a person who really at my age is starting to get really nostalgic about the eighties. Before it was the seventies, now it’s eighties (chuckles), so this is my next phase. For me, the video stores were almost like a temple where you could go and escape reality, look at the covers. I really miss that. It’s always been a passion of mine visiting the video store and I miss that. I’m an analogue freak as well, I like to have it in my hands, I collect films, CD’s, vinyl, whatever. That’s the starting point.
What are your feelings on the trend that people are moving further and further away from physical media?
It bothers me of course. It’s making me feel more alone and more like an outsider. Also, I think there are so many films that don’t come out on Netflix. If I want to look at sixties French movies, or Czech movies from the sixties, I can’t find them on Netflix – so where? Probably that will start having like connoisseur sites for guys like me as well, but at the moment there’s still a big gap I think if you want to find older movies. I mean there are a few classics up there like The Godfather, but the history of films is kind of disappearing and that’s really sad.
We’re here talking at Frightfest, are you a fan of the horror genre?
Oh absolutely. I love a film called Full Circle, also known as The Haunting of Julia with Mia Farrow. It’s a British film made by Richard Loncraine from the seventies. I would be so happy if they released that on a re-format. I think it’s on YouTube now, but a physical format would be better. Later today I’m meeting a guy called Simon Fitzjohn who has written a big piece on this film and he’s involved in trying to get it released. He’s going to show me some of the locations they shot it, I’m so excited for that. Then, of course, I love Roman Polanski, my favourite is The Tenant, I think it’s even better than Repulsion. It’s kind of Repulsion again, but it’s also got this black humour. For me, those elements combine psychological horror and black humour, and a character piece where you really investigate the character, those three are really important for me. That film… I’ve seen it so many times. The Shining is a masterpiece, Don’t Look Now I think is one of the best. Maybe not The Shining, but the others all have this emotional core that is often lacking in horror films. I love horror, but many times I like before the horror begins, I like the setting, the feeling of it and the relationships, but then when it turns all to the horror sometimes I get disappointed.
Kristian A. Söderström interview for Videoman
I read that the film was based on a real person, what was it about them that inspired you?
He was so fanatical. That was one of the stores that I used to… after work I used to go there on Friday nights and just hang around with him. Chatting about film. It was like a vitamin injection I got from his store. But he was so fanatic about running this store; his whole life, he hadn’t been on a vacation for fourteen years. He had to watch a movie every night before he went to sleep. It was also how he handled customers that bothered him. Customers that didn’t return tapes, he had a big list about how to chase them down. He was up in the courts and stuff. He always had crazy stories to tell me so I actually hung around and filmed him for a week. Then I got to know the person behind this and it was really a sad thing for me. I don’t know if he himself felt it, but for me, he felt like a really lonely person. He had created his own prison with this big passion of his. I liked that combo of following a dream or working with your passion and also limiting yourself in the rest of the world. That combo was what I was really drawn to, it’s not just about the films, it’s about the human being behind it.
The film features a lot of VHS tapes, where on Earth did you get all the video tapes from?
Actually, this guy when he went out of business, he brought all the tapes. He stored them in a cellar in a regular house. So that location was actually there. Not with the lighting and a lot of other stuff, but all the tapes were there. Also, when doing a low-budget first feature I was scanning which projects can I do most cheaply and because of this, it became Videoman. Also, he’s quite old right now, and maybe in a few years, I won’t be able to do this. Then I was visiting a lot of collectors doing research. I’m a collector myself so I have a few connections and trying to film in a few real locations. Their homes and stuff like that. A few we built, but the rest were real.
Kristian A. Söderström interview for Videoman
I really enjoyed the dream sequences with the television, where did that idea come from?
I had that for a long time. It was for me like a metaphor for him being stuck in his own world of films. He was trapped in his passion so to speak. If I had had a bigger budget, maybe, in the end, he would have smashed the television and then crawled out of it. I also love Videodrome so it’s a little bit of a reference to that. I like stuff like that, surrealistic stuff that’s not over the top, but is in a small way.
The score is really strong, how important to you was it that you get the music right?
Yeah, it was really important. I always love John Carpenter and him doing his own score. So when starting to want to make films I always… even it I’d done it ten years ago, or ten years from now, now it’s kinda of a big thing with electronic music coming back, but I always wanted a John Carpenter analogue synth-score. I think after the film Drive with Ryan Gosling, it was a starting point for this synth-wave movement. Young people were using analogue synths to try to make it sound like the old times, I love that. That’s what I wanted. I also wanted a revival of the eighties soundtrack where you had both pop songs and instrumental score. Back then records could be a big selling point, now film scores, most people don’t know about them, you never talk about them anymore. So I wanted to revive that as well. The concept of the soundtrack album.
Will there be a soundtrack album?
Yeah, it’s out on Lakeshore Records. They did Stranger Things and Mr. Robot. They really have a thing for the synth-wave as well. They realised Drive as well, so that’s a great thing.
Kristian A. Söderström interview for Videoman
This is your first time making a feature film, were there any unexpected challenges moving from short film format to feature?
Definitely, since it was low-budget as well it was the challenge of time. Getting many people for a longer period of time. So we had to split up the shoot. We filmed two weeks at the longest, then we had three days here and four days there. That was a challenge, just getting everybody together and trying to hold the same kind of feeling on set. When I was doing my shorts it would be day and night for three or fours days, and then it’s over.
When audiences sit down to watch Videoman, what do you hope the audience will get from watching it?
I hope they can see a bit of themselves in the film. I think it’s more a film about the crowd, than a film that the crowd would see. Hopefully, they get surprised and they can spot bits of themselves and laugh. Also that the mood and the music give them a good feeling, and hopefully a little to think about as well.
Videoman screened as part of Arrow Video Frightfest. Read our full review here. Videoman releases on DVD & Digital HD 18th February, courtesy of FrightFest Presents
