Hot Docs

Sven is a timid Swedish archeology student in his early twenties. Chillingly, he recalls the exact moment he realized he was different: As a 16-year-old, he read a newspaper account of a sexual assault on a child. It was then that he admitted to himself, “I am a pig like him.” In this brutally frank and haunting story, filmmakers Sebastian Meise and Thomas Reider spend years observing Sven as he sets boundaries for himself and struggles with this most taboo sexual disorder. His very public confession in this film and his genuine attempts to seek professional help enable us to better understand these very complex desires. More importantly, they are a sincere—yet certainly controversial— attempt on his part to ensure he controls his impulses and never harms a child. Can outing oneself mitigate the risk of sexually offending or result in persecution and social exile? Chris McDonald

Media Coverage

• Toronto Standard review