Léonore Ekstrand – The Real Estate #Berlinale2018

PODCAST| Chiara Nicoletti interviews Léonore Ekstrand, actress of the film The Real Estate.

FRED’s Chiara Nicoletti is joined by Léonore Ekstrand, the ultimate protagonist of The Real Estate, a film directed by Axel Petersén and Måns Månsson, in competition at the 68° Berlinale. Leonore had already worked with both the directors in different films and this was for them the perfect occasion to work all together. There would be no film without Léonore as The Real Estate was conceived around the actress, her irreverent character. Nojet is a spoiled woman, she’s extreme, sensual, rude, violent, crazy, kind and yet it is difficult not to empathize with her. As she’s portraying a strong female character on screen, Léonore Ekstrand comments on the effects of the MeToo movement in the cinema world.

The Real Estate:  After a life of luxury financed by her father, 68-year-old Nojet inherits one of his apartment buildings in Stockholm’s city centre. This lady of leisure returns home from a Spanish island, but instead of a well-organised state of affairs, she finds total chaos. Her half-brother and his son, who is not averse to hitting the bottle and other excesses, have seriously neglected their job as estate caretakers. The building is in a wretched state and full of tenants without a single legal contract between them. Nojet seeks advice from her old friend Lex, the family lawyer-cum-music producer who is in the throes of organising a gala for homeless people. He proposes selling the building to an estate agent. The latter shows an interest at first, but Nojet’s supposedly future-proof inheritance is increasingly proving to be something of a curse. At the heart of The Real Estate is a woman who is still living the good life of yesteryear and just doesn’t want the party to end. The situation in which Nojet now finds herself feels, to her, like a surreal nightmare. She plays the role of a businesswoman and femme fatale and ends up becoming a warrior in her own cause.

To discover more about the film, click here.