Born and raised on a farm in the Swedish countryside, Malin might be one of few directors who knows how to operate a tractor as well as a camera. The woods were her playground when she was growing up, and those solitary walks through nature’s wild spaces helped shape her imagination and cultivate her artistic sensibility (let’s just say she’s still known to bust out an electric guitar in the middle of the woods and play for her audience of birds!).

The rhythms of rural life also gave her a keen eye for detail and a deep sensitivity to the human condition. Like the landscape she’s native to, her work balances silence and scale, using small moments to explore deep topics. And no matter what she’s shooting, she always leaves plenty of room for the viewer to see themselves on screen. “If suddenly the story is about them,” she says, “then I know I have succeeded.”

Shortly after secondary school Malin traded the quiet of the country for the energy and culture of city life, and her career path has taken her to Stockholm, Berlin, Mexico City…anywhere with specialty coffee and music with a good bass! After attending theater school Malin launched a career as a still photographer. Inspired by the creative atmosphere of her collaborative then-studio, she began her directing career shooting music videos. This soon led to commercials, brand films, art films, short films…whatever opportunity presented itself. “I’ve always been one of those artists who learns by doing,” she says. “I just throw myself into it…it’s always a process of exploration.”

Malin has been shortlisted for the Young Director Award in Cannes in the category "Changing the world frame by frame.” Her first short film “Brynjar” was shot in 2018 in Iceland using a handheld 16mm camera, a small crew, and a documentary approach that had her capturing firsthand accounts of dead whales exploding (that’s the sailor’s life for you).

One of her most personal projects to date is her short film “Madden.” A coming of age story inspired by her teenage years on the farm, this film explores themes of relating to your herd, duty vs. longing, and the threshold moments we experience at so many transitional phases of our lives. After having its international premiere at the Berlinale 2023, it was awarded Best Swedish Short at the Gothenburg International Film Festival (GIFF) 2023.

Malin is currently in development for a feature film based on "Madden", as well working on a new short film. When she’s not writing or directing, you can find her reading, playing piano, building stools by hand, horseback riding, and/or swimming in -10 C water at the start of every day (who needs coffee when you have the Polar Plunge?).