Borg/McEnroe is a film of one of the world’s greatest icons Björn Borg and his biggest rival, the young and talented John McEnroe and their legendary duel during the 1980’s Wimbledon tournament. It's a story of two men that became legends and the price they had to pay.
Wimbledon, 1980. The rainiest summer in decades. The world is waiting to see the number one tennis player in the world, Björn Borg, claim his fifth Wimbledon title. But few know of the drama behind the scenes: at only 24, Borg is close to the end - run-down, worn out and ridden with anxiety. Meanwhile, the challenger John McEnroe, 20, has decided to replace his former hero on the Wimbledon throne.
Borg/McEnroe is a story about the price of success. How the world’s two best tennis players, already in their early twenties, are imprisoned by their own careers. Two athletes constantly reduced to each other’s opposites by a commercialized tennis industry: the cartoonish ”lce Borg” and ”Superbrat”. Two rivals who, during Wimbledon 1980, are forced to realize that the only person capable of understanding what they are going through is their worst enemy.

Direction: Janus Metz

Script: Ronnie Sandahl

Production: Fredrik Wikström Nicastro

Co-Production: Jon Nohrstedt

Cinematography: Niels Thastum

Editing: Per Sandholt, Per K. Kirkegaard

Production Design: Lina Nordqvist

Costume Design: Kicki Ilander

Make-Up: Anna Carin Lock

Sound: Rasmus Winther Jensen, Heikki Kossi

Original Score: Jonas Struck, Vladislav Delay, Jon Ekstrand, Carl-Johan Sevedag

Visual Effects: Torbjörn Olsson, Alexander Hansson

Cast: Sverrir Gudnason, Shia LaBeouf, Stellan Skarsgård, Tuva Novotny, Leo Borg, Marcus Mossberg

Original Title: BORG

Original Languages: English, Swedish

Film Production Countries: Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Czechia

Website: https://www.borgvsmcenroefilm.com/

Social Media: https://www.instagram.com/borgvsmcenroemovie/

Statement of the Director/s
To me Borg/McEnroe is the tennis version of Raging Bull. It is
about two young men fighting to be the best in order to prove
themselves, in order to have importance, to be someone or
somebody. Locked in a rivalry against each other – one of the
greatest in the history of sports – they are ultimately playing
against themselves and their own demons.
Björn and John both had the special ability to drive themselves
to the edge and beyond. I think this characterizes most great
achievers. And although the world saw them as perfect
opposites they had this one particular thing in common – and
they recognized that in each other. They both played tennis
as if their lives depended on it and as the story unfolds we
see how these two loners ultimately find understanding and
friendship in each other.
Exploring the inner turmoil of both Björn and John, the film
deploys visceral cinematography with lots of handheld and
steady-cam stressing a sense of immediate presence and
realism. And then, this is juxtaposed with iconic establishers
creating rich atmospheric and sometimes even symbolic
imagery, driving at theme and historical importance. The film
is about a clash of titans and that calls for scale. We place the
viewer in Björn and John’s shoes, but we also step back from
this saturated and sometimes claustrophobic space into largescale
images that stress the grandness of the match and the
existential dimension of the story.
As a biopic inspired by the real events of Björn and John’s
lives and particularly their legendary 1980 Wimbledon final, Borg/McEnroe re-invokes an era in sports where tennis
players were “rock stars” and where John and Björn stood out
probably as the two biggest icons. Although I was only a kid in
1980 myself, I remember this era in tennis very clearly. In my
family we were all waiting for the 1980 Wimbledon final as
if it were a holy sermon at St. Paul’s Cathedral on Christmas
Eve. I probably only saw a guy with a funny hairdo moaning
and groaning on one side of the net and another guy throwing
crazy temper tantrums on the other, but there was still an air
of sanctity about it that I remember to this day. Now I see
that it was all about the way these two players were being
pitted against each other. This was not just two men playing tennis. This was two continents clashing. Two completely opposite attitudes and
tempers facing off against each other. Two completely different
ways of being human. Borg/McEnroe captures this beautifully.

Biography of the Director/s
With Armadillo (2010) director Janus Metz (born 1974) stepped firmly into the international limelight winning the Grand Prix of the acclaimed critics programme, Semaine de la Critique at the Cannes Film Festival. His Danish breakthrough came in 2008 with the two films, Love on Delivery & Ticket to Paradise. Metz’ body of work also include shorts, commercials, art films and music videos. In January 2015 Metz directed episode 203 Man is the Cruelest Animal of the critically acclaimed HBO series True Detective
starring Vince Vaughn, Colin Farrel and Rachel McAdams.

Filmography of the Director/s
2018 Heartbound: A Different Kind of Love Story (Documentary)
2017 Borg/McEnroe (Feature)
2015 True Detective (TV Series) (1 episode Maybe Tomorrow)
2014 The Short Life (Short)
2011 Rupture (Short)
2010 Armadillo (Documentary)
2007 Fra Thailand til Thy (Documentary)
2006 Township Boys (Documentary short)

Awards Won
Camerimage 2017
Best Directorial Debut - Janus Metz

Gasparilla International Film Festival 2018
Audience Award Best International Feature
Janus Metz

Noordelijk Film Festival 2017
Public Prize - Best Film

International Film Festival Macao 2017
Macao Audience Choice Award

Rome Film Fest 2017
People’s Choice Award

World Sales:
SF International
Anita Simovic
Sveavägen 56
Stockholm, 111 34, Sweden
E-Mail: [email protected]
Phone: +46706482611
Website: http://www.sfinternational.se/

Press:
Nordisk Film Distribution AB
Pia Norström
Skeppsbron 38
Stockholm, 111 30, Sweden
E-Mail: [email protected]
Phone: +46706397272
Website: https://www.nordiskfilm.se/