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LUCKY PEOPLE CENTER INTERNATIONAL 1998 78. min. 35 mm.

"Lucky People Center International" takes audiences on a journey across cultures and continents. Directed by Erik Pauser and Johan Söderberg, this documentary delves into the lives of people from diverse backgrounds, revealing their hopes, dreams, and challenges. The film explores the lives of individuals in various countries, showcasing the beauty of human resilience and the universality of emotions. Through intimate interviews and stunning visuals by cinematographer Jan Röed and a soundtrack that weaves together a tapestry of instruments and sounds, ranging from indigenous folk instruments to modern electronic elements "Lucky People Center International" sheds light on the common threads that connect us all, transcending borders and language barriers. The film features, among others, singing apes, Tibetan Lama Sogyal Rinpoche, the Vodou queen of Awa-May, Japanese noise music, Maori hakas, Annie Sprinkle, and the Zulu nation.

Scientist Björn Merker

Lucky People Center is a Swedish artistic collective, best known for their electronic music and their short films. The collective began as an underground illegal nightclub in the city of Gothenburg before relocating to Stockholm in the early 90s and forming a multimedia and musical collective. During this time, Lucky People Center played at major events throughout Europe. In the beginning and middle of the 1990s, Erik Pauser and Johan Söderberg directed and produced 15 Lucky People Center short films/music videos that were frequently aired on MTV and other TV channels, as well as two films: "Information is Free" and "Electronic Pollution." In 1996, Erik Pauser and Johan Söderberg began production on the feature-length film "Lucky People Center International," which was released in 1998.

Djoussou Dotche, Vodou ceremony Benin
Bruno Manser dressed up as a monkey

“Using the name Lucky People Center, Erik Pauser and Johan Söderberg work as multimedia artists in Stockholm. In “International,” they apply their mixmaster mentality to cinema, slicing and dicing innumerable clips, shot over several years of intense world touring, into a bouillabaisse of art pieces, rapping rants, straight-on conversations and impressionistic images of urban flux. The flash-cut result is enough to send some viewers into mild catatonia (remember “Max Headroom”?), but when things slow down enough to let you hear from a good-natured Tibetan lama on the American fear of death or a bunch of tattooed Maori warriors chanting in unison about the evils of ATM cards, it drives home their point that the world has already left many people behind.

Other highlights include Russian troublemaker Alexander Brener, seen reading poetry and throwing a brick through a window; gray-suited Tokyo banker Toshiji Mikawa, who moonlights as a screechy electronic performance artist; gorgeous Indian dancer Pragati Sood, in sacramental form; and New Mexico shaman Franklin Bearchild Eriacho, whose common-sense recipe for religion includes “no blind faith, but intelligent devotion.” (From Variety November 1 1998)

The feature-length film Lucky People Center International was directed and edited by Erik Pauser and Johan Söderberg, with cinematography by Jan Röed. The film was produced by Lars Jönsson and co-produced by Peter Albæk Jensen, with production company Memfis film. It was produced in cooperation with SVT Sweden, Swedish Filminstitut, Zentropa productions Denmark, Nordic film and TV fund, and others. The film was released in cinemas and on TV in Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Austria, Canada, and England, and on TV in many other countries. Lucky People Center International received the Golden Gate Award at the San Francisco International Film Festival in 1999. For full credits, see https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0148428/fullcredits.

Vodou queen of Awa-May, Djossou Hounsikpe Edwige Hounnon
Vodou ceremony, Benin
Love Parade, Berlin
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