Daniel Fridell
Daniel Fridell (born 31 March 1967) is a Swedish film director and producer. Early life. Daniel Fridell grew up in Stockholm, Sweden. According to an interview in "Aftonbladet", Daniels grandmother, Saga Sjöberg, introduced him to filmmaking when at the age of six she gave him a Super 8 camera for Christmas. His first film "Squirrel Fight" featuring two "Star Wars" dolls and a squirrel premiered at the local daycare. Film career. In 1993, while attending Kulturama Film Academy in Sweden, Daniel and actor Liam Norberg used the schools cameras at night and made the first of numerous Scandinavian  hits, "Sökarna" (English:"The Searchers") in 1993. The main actor Liam Norberg was arrested at the premiere for the film for the biggest robbery in Northern Europe. The film was accused to be financed with some of the 100 million Euros stolen from the bank but the film was still released throughout Scandinavia and went to #1 at the box office. While some of the cast went to prison, Daniel made "Cry", an urban Romeo & Juliet that was also hit the Box Office and knocked off films like "The Lion King"' from the #1 spot. "Cry" was in competition at the  Tokyo Film Festival and won several prizes including best youth film at the Rotterdam Film Festival. Fridell spent the early 1990s at the European Filmakademie in Berlin where he studied under Wim Wenders and Jan de Bont. He was invited to Los Angeles to continue studying with De Bont who was filming "Basic Instinct" and "Twister" where Daniel simultaneously enrolled at the Judith Weston Academy for Directors and Actors in Santa Monica. He produced "Under ytan" in 1997, which became a success at the cinemas in Scandinavia, France and many other territories. It opened at the Montreal Film Festival winning  numerous awards and was officially selected for over 40 film festivals. Mikael Persbrandt and Johanna Sällström won major acting awards, as well it won awards for Best Film and Photo. USA Films optioned the remake rights and the film was sold to over 25 countries and distributed in the U.S by Phaedra. In the 1990s, it was also voted Best Swedish Feature by Swedish television. His next feature, "Dubbel-8" in 2000, was an official selection at the Toronto International Film Festival. Fridell continued down this path of critically acclaimed dark drama's into the early 2000s where he wrote and  directed two features back-to-back, "Blodsbröder" (English title: "Bloodbrothers") in 2005 with Noomi Rapace and "Säg att du älskar mig" (English title: "Say That You Love Me") in 2006, both box office hits. "Say That You Love Me" newcomer, Haddy Jallow, also received Best Actress in Scandinavian for her role. Throughout his career, Fridell has also directed, produced and written many successful TV series including "Chock 1 - Dödsängeln" in 1997 with Mikael Håfström and a comedy series, "A Class of Its Own", which became a cult hit in Northern Europe. It also won the Egmont and Ebeltofts prize for  Best Scandinavian Youth program. In 2005, he wrote the screenplay together with Reidar Jönsson to the upcoming film "Hair of the Dog", a follow up to the Oscar nominated "My Life as a Dog" as well as producing "Rånarna" (English title: "Blank Point") in 2003, Universal Pictures first Scandinavian local production starring Mikael Persbrandt and Sofia Helin and "Exit" in 2006 starring Mads Mikkelsen and Alexander Skarsgård. In the mid-2000s where Fridell move to the US where his output changed from dark drama to documentaries and horror. He co-wrote and co-produced the Japanese horror "Apartment 1303" in 2007 . In 2011, he later helped out designing and co-directing the American remake "Apartment 1303 3D" with Mischa Barton and Rebecca De Mornay. In 2011, he wrote and directed the critically acclaimed feature music documentary from "Cuba, El Medico: The Cubaton Story", which has received numerous awards including Best Documentary at the New York International Latino Film Festival. It was also a festival selection at SXSW 2012, Busan International Film Festival in South Korea, Santa Barbara International Film Festival, Mar Del Plata, Afi Silver and LIDF England. He made a documentary about the connection between the sailor Carl Petterson and  Efraim Longstocking, Pippi Longstocking's father. Lindgren's ancestors gave the rights for the new fiction film.