Hanna Bergholm: Nightborn

About this episode

Hanna Bergholm discusses her film Nightborn, exploring themes of motherhood and identity through a dark fable lens.

After her breakout horror hit Hatching, Finnish writer-director Hanna Bergholm returns with Nightborn, a dark, Grimm-style fable about motherhood, identity, and the fears we don’t talk about. Premiering in Berlinale Competition, the English-language film follows a new mother who becomes convinced something is terribly wrong with her baby. In this episode, Bergholm dives into the personal experiences behind the story, her fascination with practical effects and unsettling creature design, and why she wanted to explore rage, isolation, and transformation in parenthood — all with a touch of dark humor. Host: Wendy Mitchell, filmwendy.com Presenting partner: Nordisk Film & TV Fond, https://nordiskfilmogtvfond.com/ Audio producer: Karoline Balstrøm Logo designed by: Tine Seerup Music artist: Bail Bonds Title: Swimming Lessons

People in this episode

Host: Wendy Mitchell

Guest: Hanna Bergholm

Topics covered

• horror
• motherhood
• identity
• parenthood
• dark humor
• creature design

Keywords

• Hanna Bergholm
• Nightborn
• Hatching
• motherhood
• horror
• dark humor
• creature design

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Nordisk Film & TV Fond, filmwendy.com

Books & works: Hatching, Nightborn

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