NARRATIVE FEATURES - AMERICAN INDEPENDENT COMPETITION - SPONSORED BY

Sunday, March 25, 6:30 PM at Regal - Purchase tickets
Thursday, March 29, 4:15 PM at Regal - Purchase tickets

SWEDISH AUTO
USA, 2006, 97 MIN
DIRECTED BY DEREK SIEG
Southeast Premiere

Director Derek Sieg's feature debut yields a romantic drama with enduring insight and grace. Carter and Darla (Lukas Haas, Brick, and January Jones, We Are Marshall), are dedicated but harmless voyeurs, loners in an American small town. He's a car mechanic who works on Volvos and Saabs; she's a counter-girl at the local diner with some real problems at home. Only when they chance to really know one another do they begin to see possibilities beyond their stifled existences. Offering authentic performances, this subtle and well-paced character piece, winner of the Audience Award at the Athens, Greece International Film Festival, explores the margins that define us: between our private and public lives, and between our lives and the lives of others. Shot in Charlottesville, Virginia, Sieg's camera affectionately captures nuances of place and the beloved cars that Carter patiently repairs and refurbishes alongside Leroy (Lee Weaver, The 40 Year-Old Virgin) and his son Bobby (Chris Williams, Dodgeball) at the Swedish Auto shop. With an evocative and tender soundtrack, Swedish Auto delivers a story that balances deep wounds and new realities, fragility and hopefulness.