In 1970, filmmaker Luchino Visconti traveled throughout Europe looking for the perfect boy to personify absolute beauty in his adaptation for the screen of Thomas Mann’s Death in Venice. In Stockholm, he discovered Björn Andrésen, a shy 15-year-old teenager whom he brought to international fame overnight and led to spending a short but intense part of his turbulent youth between the Lido in Venice, London, the Cannes Film Festival and far-away Japan. Fifty years after the premiere of DEATH IN VENICE, Björn takes us on a remarkable journey made of personal memories, cinema history, stardust, and tragic events.
The Most Beautiful Boy in the World
Kristina Lindström, Kristian Petri
Born in 1957 in Sundbyberg/Sweden. Studied journalism in Gothenburg. Work as head of culture at SVT. Active as writer, journalist and filmmaker.
2003 PER JONSSON, Fernsehdokumentation
2012 PALME, Dokumentarfilm
2014 ASTRID, TV Mini-Serie
2017 ERAN - PUNK I TRE DELAR, TV Mini-Serie
2020 TYSTNADEN - EN FILM OM SILENCE, MUSIKEN OCH TIDEN, Fernsehdokumentation
2021 THE MOST BEAUTIFUL BOY IN THE WORLD (Co-Regie), Dokumentarfilm HOF 2021
Born in 1956 in Ärtemark/Sweden. Studied philosophy and English literature. Active as filmmaker, writer, and cultural journalist.
1987 ROCKET GARDEN, Kurzfilm
1989 TONG TANA - EN RESA TILL BORNEOS INRE, Dokumentarfilm
1995 ATLANTEN, Dokumentarfilm
1995 SOMMAREN, Spielfilm
2000 FYREN, Dokumentarfilm
2002 TOKYO NOISE, Dokumentarfilm
2003 DETALJER, Spielfilm 2005 BRUNNEN, Dokumentarfilm 2010 OND TRO, Spielfilm
2016 HOTELLET, Dokumentarfilm
2018 LÅNGFILM 136, Dokumentarfilm
2020 TYSTNADEN - EN FILM OM SILENCE, MUSIKEN OCH TIDEN, Fernsehdokumentation
2021 THE MOST BEAUTIFUL BOY IN THE WORLD (Co-Regie), Dokumentarfilm HOF 2021
“We filmed THE MOST BEAUTIFUL BOY IN THE WORLD for five years in Stockholm, Copenhagen, Paris, Budapest, Venice, and Tokyo, following in Björn’s footsteps. With him, we searched to learn the truth about his mother’s death and his father’s identity by reaching into the archives and interviews with close family.
We searched for people who had crossed his path over the decades. It was of course difficult to find some of them fifty years on, but miraculously many of them were available and willing to talk in front of the camera. […]
We believe more in interesting questions than in simple answers. This is not an easy story. We hope it is gripping. We hope that Björn will come forward as the complex and interesting person that he is. This is a story with many layers, a box within a box within a box.”