Image Courtesy Concha Productions
Over the last 20 years, Sweden has taken in more than 2 million immigrants, which accounts for 20% of the country’s population. If you add in children born in-country to immigrant parents, the percentage rises to 25% of the population.
Given Sweden’s history with the film industry and some solid film schools there, it’s only natural that some of these immigrants become filmmakers. There’s now even more Swedish directors making films worth your attention: Ali Abassi (Holy Spider, Border, The Apprentice) and Daniel Espinosa (Snabba Cash), just to name a few.
Another to watch is Manuel Concha, whose popular Suedi (a slang, derogatory term for ‘Swedish’ often used by immigrants) made a splash as a direct-to-streaming film in 2021.
In the film, Mahmod (Kardo Razzazi) and two friends find a cash stash of 90 million Swedish kroner. The two friends take their shares of the money and run to other countries to live it up. Mahmod, who is desperate to fit into Swedish culture, uses the money to create a new identity: Sebastian Von Steinberg. He buys a Volvo, blue contact lenses, and an apartment in a nice section of Stockholm. Even though he was born in Sweden, he hides his Kurdish heritage in order to better fit in.
He soon meets Isabell, a super Swedish blonde woman from a wealthy family. And then the usual rom-com storyline begins. Mahmod’s relationship gets more complicated when Isabell (Agnes Lindström Bolmgren) proposes to him, and he has to create friends and family that support his new identity.
The film doesn’t deliver anything new with this rom-com storyline, but it uses it in service of a couple of bigger plot points. The cash Mahmod found is soon to be invalidated for newer versions of the bills, creating a need to spend it or launder it quickly. This creates a larger storyline that ties everything together.
The familiar rom-com storyline also serves to highlight immigrant experiences in Sweden, with Mahmod and his immigrant friends experiencing racism and classicism. During a dinner with Isabell’s family and friends, Mahmod/Sebastian gets asked where he’s from. When he answers Sweden, a man continues with, “Uh, well, where are your parents from?”
There’s plenty of laughs here, and they’re delivered with the gusto and energy of an early Edgar Wright comedy. Though the rom-com structure is way too familiar, it’s used to tell a larger story that’s more entertaining and endearing.
The film became the most-watched film on ViaPlay (A Nordic streaming service) the year it came out, gaining over a million views in its first month. Concha, who also wrote, produced, and photographed the film himself, was nominated for Best Screenplay at the 2021 Guldbagge Awards (Swedish Oscars).
Suedi is available to rent on Amazon Prime.