My Life as Siw

In 1964, Swedish singer and actor Siw Malmkvist landed a number-one hit in Germany with the song “Liebeskummer lohnt sich nicht” (Heartbreak Isn’t Worth It). In the country of her birth, she had been a star since the age of nineteen. She’s now approaching ninety and sorting through her belongings with her children and grandchildren. After the death of her husband, she no longer wants to live alone in the large flat and is preparing to move. As part of it, she’s also watching her way through an enormous collection of self-shot Super-8 films. After purchasing her first camera at the age of twenty-four – and throughout her entire career – Siw started filming her life in front of and behind the camera as well as impressions of her travels. Raised in modest circumstances, her talent and fearlessness catapulted her onto the international stage and in front of the cameras of the new medium at the time, television. Combined with archival materials and interviews, Siw’s recordings paint the portrait of a free-spirited and irrepressibly curious woman.