Richard Hobert(1951-2025)

Hobert was born in Kalmar, Sweden Dec 1, 1951. He studied political science, languages and film and theatre at the Lund University from 1970 to 1973. He debuted as a radio playwright in 1974. Hobert worked as a writer and assistant director up to his debut as a director in 1978. During the eighties, he wrote and directed several TV-films, among them the internationally awarded The Twelve Months of Summer, Age Unknown and The Fifteenth Chieftain. His debut on the big screen in 1993, Spring of Joy, was the first film in a cycle of seven, called "The Seven Deadly Sins". The stories were focused on the same Swedish family, ranging from comedy to drama and a thriller. He wrote, directed and co-produced the project during the nineties. "Spring of Joy" was awarded "The Ingmar Bergman-Prize", Bergman" with Bergman's personal motivation: "A Masterpiece". "Spring of Joy" as well as the other films in the Cycle:"The Hands", "Autumn in Paradise", "Run for your life", "The Eye", "Where the Rainbow ends" and "The Birthday" received Scandinavian and international awards. In 2002, Everyone loves Alice was a major critics' and box office success. The film won the "Best European Film" award at The Hollywood Film Festival. "This powerful film is reminiscent in intensity and intimacy of Ingmar Bergman's gripping 1973 film Scenes From A Marriage" (Hollywood Reporter). His next film, Three Suns, a medieval love story, was considered a disappointment and was widely criticized. A year later, 2005, Hobert returned to the big screens with Harry's Daughters, starring Lena Endre and Amanda Ooms. The film, about the violent conflict between two sisters after the loss of a child, was generally received as a powerful comeback and praised as one of his best films ever. In the following years, Hobert wrote several theatre plays. He also directed one of them, Security, (USA: "Manhattan Security") at the Royal Dramatic Theatre in Stockholm. In 2011 he once again returned to the cinema. He wrote and directed A One-Way to Antibes .The tragicomic drama, about a half-blind widower who learns that his children have conceived an elaborate plan to get their hands on his assets before he dies-and then does a counterattack-was a success. The actor Sven-Bertil Taube received a National Award for "Best Leading Male Actor" in January 2012. The film also launched a real shooting star in the female support role, Rebecca Ferguson( Mission Impossible). She was discovered by Hobert at a local flea market and the role opened up for an immediate international career. Hobert's first novel "The Birdcatcher's Son" was published in October 2018. It is a love drama based on a true story. The film, shot at the Faroe Islands, written and directed by Hobert, will open theatrically in Sweden April 5, 2019.