Sweding Explained

Sweding is remaking a film on a practically non-existent budget, with amateur equipment and actors. The idea comes from the film Be Kind Rewind (Michael Gondry, 2008). The point of a swede is to re-create a well known, popular film and make it funny.

The term “sweded” was coined in the 2008 Michel Gondry comedy film Be Kind Rewind, starring Jack Black and Mos Def. The film takes place in Passaic, New Jersey, where the declining VHS rental store “Be Kind Rewind” loses its entire video collection after being inadvertently magnetized. Mike (played by Mos Def) and Jerry (played by Jack Black) attempt to replace the store’s video collection by recreating films using a camcorder and claiming they are special editions from Sweden.

Be Kind Rewind premiered on February 22nd, 2008 and earned $4 million in the United States and Canada in its opening weekend. The domain for the site SwededFilms.com, which serves as a database for sweded movies, was registered the next day. On February 24th, the sweded film blog Sweded Cinema was launched and included rules for creating sweded videos:

1. Must be based on an already produced film
2. Range 2-8 minutes in length
3. Must not contain computer generated graphics
4. Based on films less than 35 years old
5. Special effects must be limited to camera tricks and arts ’n crafts
6. Sound effects created by human means
7. Hilarious.