For 15 years I was responsible for Diagonalakademin, a school in animation. Based on a Nordic and Swedish situation. That can be characterized as a cottage industry, hardly recognized as an art form in the country of Ingmar Bergman. He is long gone by now but still lingers on in the heads of decision makers in film from this part of the world.
However, a kind of subversive production has been going on for the last 50 years. The strength of our animation is that it is a lean production. Because of that we are able to take higher artistic risks and an innovative approach. The working situation for our students can be compared to a navvy doing work here and there. In Sweden there is hardly an animation industry but rather personality.

In 2015 I just had to quit working with the school, not because of the students, who were lovely, ambitious and demanding, but because of problems with Folkuniversitetet, the organization we belonged to. You can't fight incompetence and stupidity at any cost...

Many good films were made at Diagonalakademin, some prizewinners and television films.
Here are a few of them...

THE LEG by Anders Haldin 2000

Short stop-motion film by Linus Hallström, Staffan Lindroth, Joakim Jonsson and Valentin Nordström. Created at Diagonalakademin 2009

SITUATION TELEFONPLAN av Staffan, Daniel, Elektra, Daniel, Lisa, Jocke, KG

Linetest Albert Engströmer

Let my people go.
The story of Hariet Tubman and her struggle against slavery and racism in the 19th century USA. Order project animated in analog cut-out technology and composited in computer.