Pippi Langstrump

"This is the most anarchistic children's book in the Swedish language," said one Swedish newspaper when Pippi Longstocking was first published in 1945. Critics cited a number of "educational irregularities" in Lindgren's book, that it was tasteless, abnormal and even unsuitable for girls. Today such reproaches seem groundless and even absurd. Nevertheless, women's studies are now examining Pippi under a microscope and sometimes saying, reproachfully, that Pippi is really some sort of super-girl or even a boy in disguise; some feminist scholars have even suggested that the story's "sexist" content should be expunged. But others see her as the influential forerunner of a new wave in children's literature of active heroines who defy social convention.
Pippi Longstocking is one of the most influential books in its genre, and Pippi herself is a heroine who, after all these years in both book and film (as played by the excellent Inger Nilsson), has managed to preserve the greater part of her practicality, curiosity, humour and irony.
Valerija Vendramin

Directed by: Olle Hellbom
Based on the novel by: Astrid Lindgren
Cast: Inger Nilsson, Pär Sundberg, Maria Persson
Sweden/Germany

Organisation: City of Women
In co-operation with: Slovenska kinoteka
With the support of: Video Art d.o.o. and TV Slovenia