A World Gone Mad – The War Diaries of Astrid Lindgren
Wilfried Hauke / Germany & Sweden / 2026 / 98 min
The Swedish author's early years during World War II, told through her own diaries in a beautiful and thoughtful film about life, death and art in the shadow of war.
Astrid Lindgren’s beloved stories have provided material for dreams for countless children and adults, and have sold millions of copies worldwide. But before Lindgren became the name everyone knows and grew up with, she was a young woman in 1930s Stockholm, where she – in her own words – was still just a writer, but not yet an author.
As the storm clouds of a new world war gather on the horizon, Lindgren watches in despair. And on 1 September 1939, when Germany invades Poland and the war begins, she starts a diary, which becomes her companion during the dark years of the war. Line by line, the sensible Lindgren puts her thoughts about life, death and the role of art in the shadow of war into words.
Lindgren’s formative years as a writer have been turned into the elegant and very human film she deserves. With beautiful reconstructions of Lindgren’s life in Stockholm and the archipelago, and conversations with her family. And it also rounds off the story of how Pippi Longstocking came to be. It’s a good one – just like all her other stories.