Ultras


“Football culture – an eternal topic for debate, a constant headache for the law. 

A subcultural mega-phenomenon that both reflects and influences its various social contexts around the globe. 

The beating heart of football.

From the curves on the short end of the arena the ultras create an electric energy, a huge force, with their chants and choreographies.

With my film I want to make the broad spectra of  people on the terraces proud of what they are a part of.

Give all those who see the stands as their second home a confirmation that they are part of something big and powerful, something worldwide and society-changing, something interesting and meaningful. 

And create curiosity, contribute with an ounce of complexity to those who want to challenge their view of the phenomenon.

In a polarized time, the football stand offers an unprecedented meeting place. 

It sounds as a cliché, but there we unite for our club despite differences in the other arenas of life. 

A joint invention that breaks boundaries and blows up barriers.

There is also a balancing act between the constructive and the destructive, the balancing act where many of us feel most alive. Where else would we go, without this chance to ventilate? 

There, a small world of it’s own is created within the big one, a world where it is the ultras who set the agenda and have the power.

It’s about the force of the collective, and finding power and meaning in one’s life through a subcultural context.

I wanted to make a film for football supporters to recognize themselves in.

This isn’t a critical review, it’s a tribute.”

– Ragnhild Ekner, Director

Related people



Production facts:

ULTRAS

Length: 89 min

Swedish Premiere: March 28, 2025


With ultras from Gothenburg, Bari, 
Buenos Aires, Sleman, Poznan, 
Eastbourne, Brighton, London, 
Casablanca, Kenitra, Cairo
 


Directed by Ragnhild Ekner

Photography Fabian Sigurd, Ania Winiarska, 
Joel Viksten Abrahamsson, Martina Carlstedt, 
Neil Wigardt

Editing Sofie Steenberger, Neil Wigardt, 
Joel Viksten Abrahamsson

Sound Design Pietari Koskinen

Music Kan3da, Luke Eargoggle

Colorist Peter Magnusson

Graphic Design Alba Lange
 
Produced by Story / Tobias Janson

in Co-Production with 
Film i Väst / Kristina Börjeson
SVT / Charlotte Gry Daae Madsen
Wacky Tie Films / Pasi Hakkio
Ström Pictures / Monica Hellström

with Support from 
Swedish Film Institute / Juan Pablo Libossart
Nordisk Film & TV Fond / Karolina Lidin
Danish Film Institute / Cecilia Lidin
Finnish Film Foundation / Pekka Uotila, 
Iris Olsson
AVEK / Mikko Peltonen, Oskar Forstén
The Swedish Arts Grants Committee
Film Stockholm / Filmbasen
Film Tampere
Göteborgs Stad

in Collaboration with YLE / Jenny Westergård, 
Mikko Peltonen
International Sales Autlook Filmsales
 

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