Mathias Broe’s “Sauna,” selected for World Cinema Dramatic Competition at Sundance, is making history.
“It’s the first time we have a trans person in a leading role in a feature film in Denmark. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have made this movie,” the debuting director tells Variety.
“We don’t have many trans actors in Denmark and in order to carry an entire feature, you need experience. That’s why we chose Nina Rask, who is trans-masc and a big comedian and actor,” Broe tells Variety.
“We ended up using non-professional queer actors in minor roles and did a lot of research within the community to make it as authentic as possible. Creating queer stories can be very tricky, you want to do everything right, but we had to say: ‘We’re not going to make a good film if we do everything ‘right.’ We have to create a real story with real human beings.”
Rask is joined by Magnus Juhl Andersen, cast as Johan, who works as a receptionist at Copenhagen’s only gay sauna. When he meets transgender William, things get complicated. They also get good.
“I’m a part of the queer community and my partner started transitioning while we were doing the film. I used to identify as a classic cis gay, but over the years my own identity has expanded and so has our environment. When we think about the LGBTQ+ umbrella, everyone assumes it’s the same struggle, but people fight different fights,” said Broe, who’s showing that clash – through a love story.
“A sauna is a good place to explore such conflict because for a trans guy, it’s hard to access these spaces. Even though that’s what you’re identifying with, both sexually and gender identity-wise.”
Written by William Lipperts in collaboration with Broe, “Sauna” is based on Mads Ananda Lodahl’s novel. It’s produced by Mads-August Hertz for Nordisk Film Production with support from New Danish Screen at the Danish Film Institute, DR, and Nordisk Film Distribution. TrustNordisk handles sales and has shared in exclusivity with Variety a trailer.
“This community wants – and needs – to see themselves on the screen. We had a test screening and someone said: ‘I cried for two hours, because I realized I haven’t seen these images before,’” noted Broe.
“For me, building bridges is the most powerful thing. I really want to be in conversation with people that are curious and I want them to feel invited into this universe. I collaborated with a screenwriter who has a sense of humor and with a producer who’s not in the queer environment himself, but he’s very open. It made this film so much bigger.”
Broe wanted to help his audience “find empathy towards a community that’s pushed aside politically.” He also showed some of its internal battles.
“The new generation talks about gender identity and wanting to change the language around pronouns, and the older generation either doesn’t understand it or finds it foolish. At the same time, we’re also forgetting what they had to go through,” he argued.
“I thought it was interesting to combine these two approaches. This sauna [in the film] has looked the same since the 1970s. If a culture is not being challenged or pushed, or isn’t open to change, it will be stuck in time.”
Trying to depict “loneliness within the cis gay community,” he opted for a somber mood.
“I grew up with an alcoholic father in the countryside of Denmark, being queer. Other people involved in the film, my producer and my screenwriter, brought light and humor to the story. I’m drawn to darkness,” he admitted.
“At first, we had this classical narrative of Johan being this ‘new gay in town.’ But we didn’t want it to be your typical coming-of-age tale. He’s slowly shedding his layers. Who is this guy? Should we fear him or love him? His actions come from love, but he doesn’t know how to listen and that becomes a big problem. He doesn’t listen to William’s needs.”
Still, the attraction is undeniable. But navigating the film’s sexual content was a “fight” for its director.
“We cut out a lot of intimacy, but it was never about showing a lot of skin: it was about telling this story in the right way. It’s important to be exposed to different ways of having sex, however, and different kinds of bodies interacting with each other intimately. I haven’t really seen it depicted like this in other movies and I think that’s why it took me so long to understand my own sexuality. Now, being with a trans person, I’m also in transition.”
In “Sauna,” sex is “awkward and messy, beautiful and vulnerable.”
“Johan and William are trying to reach each other in a very sensitive way. I have this theory that if people are not in touch with their bodies, with lust and desire, it can be very overwhelming to see others explore it [on the screen]. It’s not like we’re not exposed to it, but being in a public space with others, or maybe your mom or your partner, and being confronted with these images can be overwhelming. I think that’s why people are so afraid of sex on film.”
