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This intimate biopic of Moomins-creator Tove Jansson uses vibrant imagery to portray an irrepressibly creative artist.
“That’s not art!” is the scathing verdict young Tove Jansson hears from her father, in whose shadow she always imagines herself. She’s already an established illustrator by this time, near the end of World War II, but she doesn’t really believe she is taken seriously as an artist. In retrospect, one almost has to chuckle about the fact that her sketches were hastily dismissed as “doodling”, because shortly thereafter, her children’s book “The Moomins and the Great Flood” would lay the foundation of her worldwide success as an illustrator and author. Jansson deliberately defied the societal and artistic conventions of her day, not least by embracing her own bisexuality as a matter of course. Her success ultimately proved her right, because generations of people all over the world love the Moomins — and adore their creator.
You'll find a Q&A with TOVE director Zaida Bergroth here.
Meet the director
Zaida Bergroth
Writer-director Zaida Bergroth was born in a rural village in central Finland in 1977. She graduated from the Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture in Espoo in 2004 and proceeded to make various short films. Her feature-film debut came in 2009 with LAST COWBOY STANDING, which received an award for best up-and-coming director at the Busan International Film Festival in Korea. THE GOOD SON (2011) won the New Directors Competition at the Chicago International Film Festival and awards for best film at festivals in Prague, Mons, and Luxor. Bergroth’s films generally explore family relationships. TOVE is her fifth feature-length film.