Minority fears in monstrous forms: De-Orientalism as a Monster film.

Monsters in films and folk stories are understood to represent society´s implicit fear and are increasingly employed by post-colonial artists to symbolize oppression.

In recent decades, the surge in Muslim immigrants in Europe and Sweden has fuelled xenophobia and Orientalism, rendering them vulnerable and with little to no representation in post-colonial artistic discourse.

To address this gap, Palestinian filmmaker Mamdooh Afdile, taking an insider perspective, proposes a collaboration with myth-historian Bo Erikson, and music composer Kent Olofsson.

Building on the proposition that the Swedish folk monsters once symbolized conservative fears in Sweden, Afdile with his collaborators seeks to resurrect these monsters in an experimental film, offering it a new context in the Muslim minority’s narrative.

Over a three-year period, this research will explore the Muslim immigrant perspective, leading to a De-Orientalizing artwork as a Monster film, in response to the xenophobia in Sweden.

Key questions include: 1) How can studying the historical roles of a folk monster contribute to re-envisioning it in a contemporary de-Orientalizing artwork?

To what extent can insights from folk stories inform cinematic decision-making?2) Given the explicit sexual scenes in Swedish folk stories, in which way can abstract visuals and musical composition be a substitute in a cinematic adaptation to accommodate a conservative (Muslim) audience as well?