Håkan Dahlström

Directing

Biography

Håkan Dahlström, born in Sweden (1952) has dedicated himself to art since his childhood in Málaga (Spain), he spent some ten years there and studied at Picasso’s Art School. A lot of his youth he travelled extensively with his family, both his parents were artists (writer Sture Dahlström and painter Anna-Stina Ehrenfeldt). They lived for a year in the Arizona desert, to which he years later – in 1974 – returned and filmed the 16mm film “Mirror Movement”. His understanding of Nature and Cosmos is vital, observing plants and animals that are present in his work since his beginnings. He started out as a filmmaker when he found his father's camera at the age of 14 and in 1967 won the gold medal at Unescos 5th International Contest for Young Filmmakers (Paris). The following years in California, (San Fransisco) he lived and worked among other artists in the avant-garde circles and participated in the underground film movement, showing his work amongst other places at the Berkeley Film Archives. Back in Sweden he won prizes from Swedish Television in 1967, 1968 and 1969. His work has been shown in cinemathéques and art centers in Scandinavia, Paris, London as well as on television. Today he continues filming on video, using different media and also ways to achieve interaction between film, photography and 3-dimensional work.

Known For

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'Mirror Movement' was filmed in the desert outside Tucson, Arizona, in 1973, on 16mm Kodachrome stock and with a Bolex camera. In front of the camera were Christallo Parmakis and Bob Di Matteo. At this time I worked with images and narrative in, one could say, a musical way – in the sense that we did not use a previously set script. What interested me was what the film itself needed, going from one scene to the next, the imagery and what could be achieved with that landscape and the combination of those two people. This way of working involved editing in the camera, hard work and dedication. (Håkan Dahlström)

Mirror Movement

1973Movie

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Filmed in Spain, London, and Sweden with an old Bolex silent camera, this film was originally part of a longer film – that was split into a diptych, the other one being 'Hommage à Meliérs.' They work as independent films. (Håkan Dahlström)

A Cabinet for Daydreams

1970Movie

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A choreography of sorts, involving a camera and a couple who are in the midst of their existential errands. Filmed at Heingeborgen in Skåne, Sweden, in the year 2000. The couple are author Sture Dahlström (voice and text) and his wife, painter Anna-Stina Ehrenfeldt. (Filmform)

Existential Errands

2000Movie

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1970 short film by Håkan Dahlström.

Hommage à Meliérs

1970Movie

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Portrait of the painter Anna-Stina Ehrenfeldt by Håkan and Sture Dahlström.

Anna-Stina Ehrenfeldt: Painter

1999Movie

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Anna-Stina Ehrenfeldt and I were in Seville for a few of months in 2002. We decided to make a film. We had excellent wordless communication and had made several films together over the years. We decided on the following setup: I was to film, choose location and props, she would work with the material in front of the camera. I chose the Plaza de España in Seville and built a giant wheel. We had to hire a horse cart to get it there in four pieces and then assemble it in situ. Then we filmed it. (Håkan Dahlström)