H:r Landshövding

An unusual insight into the everyday office work and the representational duties of Anders Björck, the governor of Uppsala county in Sweden, based on a one-year observation.There are amazing sights to behold: a professional politician of the 21st century sowing a field? It isn’t just the historic costumes and the baroque music that all over Uppsala are part of the 300th anniversary celebrations of the birth of Swedish natural scientist Carl Linnaeus (Carl von Linné) that make the people and the political transactions in this feature seem out of step with time. No mobile phones, no computer, no internet. There is no multi-tasking – instead one thing is done after the other. Everything moves along in a slow, dignified and almost ceremonious fashion. Here, policy-making means sitting at the desk, delivering speeches, unveiling commemorative plaques, dining with royalty, following protocol. This version of democracy and its officially appointed representative have a rather old-fashioned air – and sometimes they are downright funny. Foregoing interviews and off camera commentary, filmed on 16mm black and white stock, with meaningful omissions and clever sound editing, this is a fascinating film in the spirit of cinéma vérité.