Winner of the Golden Bear at Berlinale Shorts in 2010, Ruben Östlund’s mesmerizing story of a failed bank robbery is based on a real-life incident witnessed by the film’s director and his producer (Erik Hemmendorff) in Stockholm. A single-take short with over 96 performers orchestrating events in front of the camera, Incident by a Bank is a fascinating exercise in real-time storytelling that’s brimming with drama, tension and comedy. Shot as one stationary wide-shot and then made more dynamic in post-production by editing scenes from the high-resolution image, Östlund and his team were able to take one eight-minute long sequence and turn it into a ten minute short (12-mins if you include titles). This unusual approach from the director results in his film maintaining a certain level of authenticity to its story, whilst also preserving the real-time feel of his short. Since completing Incident by a Bank Östlund has gone on to create three award-winning feature films; his latest The Square picking up the Palme d’Or at this years’ Cannes.
