‘Clara Sola’ Producer Hobab Ups Co-Productions

Stockholm-based production house Hobab whose buzzy Cannes Directors’ Fortnight “Clara Sola”Oscilloscope Laboratories is New York-based, and snapped her up. They are now pursuing female-led projects.

“Our vision is to combine arthouse sensitivity with mainstream appeal, and to help talents – both Nordic and international – grow with care,”Nima Yousefi is producer and joint owner of Peter Krupenin.

Pedigree European shingles Finland’s Tuffi Films, Denmark’s Toolbox and Italy’s Intramovies have boarded as co-producers Hobab’s next Swedish feature drama “Sisters,”Mika Gustafson, first-time fiction filmmaker.

Ruben Öslund’s former alumna at Göteborg’s Valand Academy, Gustafson had her international break with the short film “Mephobia,”The doc-biopic is next “Silvana,”Silvana Imam is a feminist icon and rapper.

Start lensing in June “Sisters” is penned by Gustafson with actor-screenwriter Alexander Öhrstrand, seen in “The Bridge” “The Hunt for a Killer.”

As their mother disappears for long periods, the story of their coming-of-age story follows Laura (16), Mira (12), and Steffi (7) as they struggle to make ends meet in a suburban Swedish working class housing estate. Laura is required to find a mother figure for her sisters when social services reach out to her.

“The story is told from the sisters’ point of view, which helps soften the harsh social drama and makes the film relatable and engaging. It will also mix authenticity with magic realism, and offer a heart-warm portrait of sisterhood,” said Yousefi who looks forward to Gustafson’s take on the girls’ journey into adulthood.

Final financing stage: The film received support from Film Stockholm, Film Sweden, Film Stockholm, Film Denmark, Film Stockholm, Film Finland, the Finnish Film Foundation and the Italian Ministry of Culture.

Meanwhile, Hobab’s most ambitious project to date is the Berlinale Co-production Market selected “The Wolf Will Tear Your Immaculate Hands,” reuniting ”Clara Sola”’s Swedish-Costa-Rican helmer Nathalie Álvarez-Mesén with Yousefi and U.S partner Resolve Media.

This drama has been described as a tropical Gothic tale. It is set in colonial Latin America in early 1800s. The story centers on a governess traveling to Latin America to teach the two daughters of a widower.

Slowly, she discovers that a wilderness runs within the women in the house, regardless of class and ethnicity. Yousefi believes that the drama will be thematically identical to “Clara Sola” [dealing with breaking free from patriarchal structures] but “will go deeper into the conventions of horror, before breaking them.“

Yousefi who is location scouting between Portugal, the Canary Islands and Latin America, says the project will be shot mostly in English, with some French, Spanish and indigenous language – depending on locations. He expects an A-list female lead (mixed with non -professional actors), Álvarez-Mesén’s track record and the solid script to pull in strong international partners.

Last year’s Producer on the Move will be pitching the project at the Co-Production Market, which runs Feb. 12-16.

“The Wolf Will Tear Your Immaculate Hands” won the Swedish Film Institute’s Wild Card and Eurimages Co-Production Development Award at the TorinoFilmLab in December. Production is expected to begin in the second half of 2023.

Elsewhere, Hobab is co-producer of the Berlinale Panorama-bound “Beautiful Beings” from Icelandic director Guðmundur Arnar Guðmundsson (“Heartstone”), marking its second collaboration with Iceland’ s Join Motion Pictures after “A White, White Day.”

Hobab can also be attached to the Sundance Midnight selected Finnish chiller “Hatching,”IFC Midnight purchased it.

Lazy loaded image

Mika Gustafson & Nima Yasefi
Credits to Stefan Karlsson/Hobab

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