15/05/2023 - The feature, toplined by Josefin Neldén, Mikkel Boe Følsgaard and Lisa Carlehed, is inspired by the life of Sally Bauer, the first Scandinavian to swim across the English Channel in 1939

Sala-born helmer Frida Kempff is set to direct The Swedish Torpedo, a new period drama inspired by the life of Sally Bauer, the first Scandinavian to swim across the English Channel in 1939. The news was first reported by Variety last week.

Filming on the project will commence in August in Sweden, Estonia, Belgium and the UK. The story is set at a time when Europe is on the brink of war. We zoom in on Sally, a 30-year-old single mum who dreams of being the first European woman to cross the English Channel. While society and her family urge her to follow her duties as a mother, she breaks free from conventions to pursue her dreams. The cast is toplined by Josefin Neldén (Border [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ali Abbasi
film profile], 438 Days [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile]), Mikkel Boe Følsgaard (A Royal Affair [+see also:
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trailer
interview: Mikkel Boe Følsgaard
interview: Nikolaj Arcel
film profile], Borgen) and Lisa Carlehed (The Emigrants [+see also:
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film profile]).

The Swedish Torpedo is Kempff’s third feature. The helmer previously won the Cannes Jury Prize with her short Micky Bader, and then went on to direct the doc Winter Buoy (2015) and the horror flick Knocking [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Frida Kempff
film profile] (2021).

“Five years ago, I didn’t know who Sally Bauer was, and even less what she had achieved. Five days ahead of the outbreak of World War II, she swam across the English Channel. I feel this is a story that needs to be told, about a woman who accomplished the impossible and shattered both social norms and world records,” said Kempff.

The Swedish Torpedo is being produced by David Herdies and Erik Andersson (see the interview) at Sweden’s Momento Film. Co-producing are Riina Sildos, Elina Litvinova, Sebastian Schelenz, Klaus Heydeman, SVT and CMore, with backing from the Swedish Film Institute, Creative Europe, the Nordisk Film & TV Fond, the Finnish Film Foundation, YLE, the Wallonia-Brussels Federation, the Estonian Film Institute, Konstnärsnämnden and the Norrköpings filmfond.