Swedish Auto

In Derek Sieg's screenwriting and directorial debut SWEDISH AUTO, “you can smell the break fluid and the grease, and at the same time be swept up by the romance.” – Variety. Local Hero Tyler Davidson (“The Year That Trembled” 26 CIFF and 2002 Midwest Independent Filmmaker of the Year) produces this entrancing drama. In the opening sequence, Carter (Lukas Haas) impassively gazes at his surroundings through the windshield of a broken-down Volvo. An orphan with few friends, Carter rarely interacts with the world around him. He spends his days working as a mechanic at Leroy's Swedish Auto Shop, fixing cars that he never drives. He spends his nights roaming the streets of Charlottesville, Virginia, watching people to whom he never talks. His co-workers Leroy and Bobby encourage Carter to do something with other people, but little interests Carter besides obsessively but innocently stalking the beautiful, talented violinist Ann Shelton. Carter's days remain indistinguishable and monotonous until he discovers he too is being watched. As he develops a relationship with the endearing but troubled waitress Darla (January Jones), Carter must decide whether he will continue to be a bystander to life or experience it firsthand. The subtly precise acting against the backdrop of heartbreakingly beautiful sound, music, and cinematography promises triumph in Sieg's first film. –E.J.B.