Climate activists who are prepared to risk everything, entrepreneurs who seek spiritual guidance through psychedelic drugs and hooligans who turn to violence.
These are some of the Swedes that journalist Niklas Källner meets in the new series “Niklas and reality”.
– It hasn’t been easy, many have been doubtful and questioned my angle, he says in Nyhetsmorgon.
On the crowded street, climate activists block the road with a long banner while chanting slogans. A frustrated car driver walks up to the taxi which is at the front of the line of honking cars.
– Run over them. Just run over them. Damn idiots, he says to the taxi driver.
In the first episode of “Niklas and reality”, journalist Niklas Källner meets people who are committed to the climate, both through peaceful demonstrations and through actions that have prison terms on the punishment scale.
– These are subjects that do not belong to my everyday life and then curiosity grows – why do you do this? says Niklas Källner in Nyhetsmorgon.
Stuck on the runway
Father-of-three Björn from Extinction Rebellion is one of the first climate activists to be sentenced to prison in Sweden after he glued himself to the runway at Växjö airport.
He describes that the actions have an effect because people are social beings who take after each other – if people around you live as usual, there is a great risk that you will do the same yourself.
– So you see someone who thinks this crisis is so serious that he climbs into an airport and is prepared to be sentenced to prison for it. “Is there something I’ve missed”, others then think, says Björn in “Niklas and reality”.
At the same time, the family must face consequences. His wife manages the finances, which are strained, and the children will soon have to live with the fact that their father is in prison.
– It’s a sore point. It’s actually hard, says Björn in the program.
“Broadens one’s perspective”
The idea behind the documentary series, which is broadcast in three parts, is to understand what lies behind different people’s life choices. Above all, those who are prepared to go a little further than everyone else.
– It broadens one’s perspective. It’s so easy to talk ABOUT something, but here you get to talk WITH the people and ask the questions you go around with, says Niklas Källner in Nyhetsmorgon.
“Niklas and reality” premieres on May 2 on and TV4 and TV4 Play.