The film about the 13-year-old Sasha, played by Sigrid Johnson, who processes the grief after her mother's death by becoming a stand-up comedian, has been well received at the film festival.

The drama comedy has competed in the Berlinale's Generation Kplus section and is now awarded the world's foremost film prize to a children's and youth film, Kristallbjörnen.

The director is Sanna Lenken.

The three-time golden beetle-awarded director is also behind the TV series Thin Blue Line and Thunder in my heart.

Comedy queen is her second feature film.

The debut, My Little Sister, won the same award during the Berlin Film Festival 2015.

- It's always fun to win prizes, not what you always expect, but it's fun to feel that someone has seen and liked the film.

I am very grateful and happy, says Sanna Lenken to Kulturnyheterna.

She continues:

- I think mainly of my daughters who I think will like having two bears at home and I think they will be very proud of their mother.

Balance between seriousness and humor

The film is written by Linn Gottfridsson, based on Jenny Jägerfeld's novel from 2018 of the same name.

After the death of her mother, the main character Sasha desperately wants to make her father laugh again, at the same time as she herself has to hold back her own tears.

And according to the director, one of the big difficulties with the production was to strike a balance between seriousness and humor.

- We wanted to handle it respectfully and not joke about the seriousness, which was tricky.

We wanted to do it in an easy way but not give in to the deep, says Sanna Lenken.

The director is currently in Malmö and will soon go to his home in Stockholm.

So the victory celebration must take place along the way, she says.

- It may be to celebrate yourself on the train.

But hopefully we will meet the whole team soon and celebrate together, says Sanna Lenken.

In the clip above, you can hear the director's reaction to receiving the award.

In the clip below, you can hear the actor Oscar Töringe about the reception at the film festival.

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Oscar Töringe and Sigrid Johnson during the filming of Comedy Queen, which is a film adaptation of Jenny Jägerfeld's book.

Photo: Adam Ihse / TT