“His [Slättne’s] most well-known short is AntiFilm or, as it was originally called, En Film – En AntiFilm – En FilmFilm (“A Film – an AntiFilm – a FilmFilm’) in 1964. The film, inspired by the contemporary American avant-garde, was produced by the independent group Svenska Filmligan (“The Swedish film mob”) and has been interpreted as an attack on the film establishment, especially of Harry Schein, head of the Swedish Film Institute. The 5-minute long AntiFilm shows a young woman running across a muddy field, while several voices on the sound track talk about the TV bourgeoisie and deliver nonsensical information about film and politics, echoing Gertrude Stein with the motto, “A film is a film is a film”. The images of the barren field are reminiscent of the end of Hägringen by Peter Weiss; the desperation within modern society seems to drive the protagonists out to the deserted margins of the cities. In the case of Slättne, the relation between urban and rural is a recurring theme.”

Lars Gustaf Andersson

John Sundholm

Astrid Söderberg Widding

From A History of Swedish Experimental Film Culture: From Early Animation to Video Art