A Film by Oskar Sjödin, Tomas Haglund
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Jawbreaker is a documentary about Anti Cimex – the band that
defined Scandinavian hardcore punk and became one of Sweden's
most influential musical exports. From their first recordings in a
chicken coop on the plains of Västergötland to the global punk scene,
marked by their uncompromising d-beat, the film paints a portrait of a
band that continued to break boundaries long after they had called it
quits.

Spanning four decades of music, chaos and retold myths, the film
moves between the past and the present. Here we encounter not just a
band, but an attitude – a force of nature.

Director Biography - Oskar Sjödin, Tomas Haglund

Oskar Sjödin:
Bad Mongo (2011)
Kosovodrömmar (2008)
Nålsögat (2005)
Hotet mot Demokratin (2001)

Tomas Haglund:
Äg din stad - drömografen (2023)
Konsten att falla mellan stolarna (2023)
Fragment ur sångfåglarnas dagbok (2021)
The Rocking Barber of Hisingen (2018)
Hommage à la démence (2013)
Bad Mongo (2011)

Director Statement
We never wanted to make a traditional music documentary. For us, Anti Cimex was never just a band—they were a state of mind. Their music became the starting point for a film about memory, resistance and what remains when the myths have outlived the people who created them.

Rather than reconstructing history, we wanted to capture its emotional echoes. By weaving together observation, archive material and dreamlike fragments, we sought a cinematic language that reflects the unpredictability and raw energy of Anti Cimex themselves. The contrast between the explosive force of the past and the quiet vulnerability of the present became central to our approach.

What began in a chicken coop in rural Sweden continues to resonate across continents. At a time when the fears and tensions that shaped the band’s worldview once again feel painfully familiar, Jawbreaker is less a film about nostalgia than about the persistence of ideas. It is a portrait of people who refused to compromise—and of the enduring power of culture created far from the mainstream.

— Tomas Haglund & Oskar Sjödin