Mikael Södersten, director

Mikael Södersten has over twenty years’ experience as a filmmaker and development executive with Scandinavia’s leading producers and television networks. He’s directed two novella-length films broadcast on Swedish TV: PASS, with Michael Nyqvist (THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO) and FISSURA, called “the best Swedish short of the decade". With Cornelia Ravenal, he’s made THE OTHER WOMAN, WHITE MAN’S BLUES, and the offbeat doc FIVE FEELINGS ABOUT FOOD, which have been screened in +25 festivals and together won seven “Best” awards. As a script doctor, he’s worked on over 70 projects, including Tomas Alfredson’s TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY and Grand Jury prizewinners at Tribeca and Sundance. As a screenwriter, he’s co-written scripts in the thriller, drama and comedy genres, including the rom com I LOVE YOU premiering nationwide in Sweden in 2016. He produced and co-edited MOVING STORIES, a feature documentary about cultural diplomacy premiering at MoMA Doc Fortnight in Feb 2018. Mikael studied Acting with Larry Moss, Film Theory at Stockholm University and has a BA in Film and Visual Arts from Harvard University. He’s taught story structure at the Swedish Royal Academy of Fine Arts and currently teaches Directing Actors at the Columbia University Graduate Film Program and in Master Classes in New York City. He’s an avid hockey player and plays keyboards in rock cover bands.

Mikael has been advisor and director for the Salon Séance project since its inception.