Eva von Bahr is a three-fold Oscar-nominated makeup designer who has won three Guldbagge prizes at the national Swedish film awards in the makeup category. It was around 1990, during her university years in Lund where she studied economic history at the time, that she came across a newspaper article about veteran makeup artist Kaj Grönberg, who’s been active in film and television since the 1970s and worked on films such as The Flight of the Eagle (1982), Robber’s Daughter (1984) and Pelle the Conqueror (1987). She was fascinated by the creative examples from his career presented in the article, not least the rumphobs in Ronia or for that matter the horror-inspired make up work in Suzanne Osten’s Lethal Film (1988). Quite literally, the article persuaded Eva von Bahr into pursuing a similar career. Quite on the spur of the moment, she decided to go full on into a profession she did not really know anything about as of yet.
In order to reach her goal, she started out working with hairstyling, went on to wigs and then entered the world of makeup and mask making. She got an apprenticeship on national Swedish television, where she spent the next four years educating herself on all things make up and hair. She got assorted assignments for stage and TV, including the Swedish version of This is Your Life, one of the most popular and highly regarded TV shows at the time (early 1990s). After an initial period of struggle, she started to experience a gradual ease when it came to find work.
Through the years, Eva von Bahr has worked and continues to work with both film and television, including the hugely successful Millennium series, and she still also does work for the stage from time to time. Her first really grand film assignment was Arn: The Knight Templar (2007), one of her biggest jobs to date when it comes to production size. One of the collaborators she got on board was one Love Larson, who would become both her professional as well as private partner in the future. Since then, they work together on more or less every project, under the company handle The Makeup Designers.
Before each film production, they look for inspiration in different films that feel relevant to the project in question, not least to determine what does not work and what to avoid. It is also important for Eva von Bahr to be inspired by reality, to bring in realistic details in order to create the characters. She believes that what made the Oscar Academy pay attention to their work may have to do with their care with realistic details, as they have often worked with “loose prosthetics” on main characters, as applied on the Ove character in A Man Called Ove (2015) or the Allan character in The Hundred Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared (2013).
Despite her great international success, Eva von Bahr prefers to work in Sweden rather than in the USA or the UK. The filming procedure is different in the US, where the work on large film productions is much more divided and segregated, which means that the film’s make up designers do not have the same overall responsibility and transparency in the work. In addition, von Bahr appreciates the comparatively less hierarchical and more inclusive structure of Swedish film productions. As a mask designer, it gives her more influence and space to collaborate with, for instance, the film’s director, as well as to be part of the film’s many production phases, which von Bahr considers important in order to safeguard her artistic integrity and freedom.
Freya Kilander (2018, edited by ed. 2023)
(translated by: Jan Lumholdt)
Basic info
Main profession: Makeup Designer
Born: 1968
Active: 1994-
Filmography
Mask:
Dune 2 (2024)
Nelly Rapp – Dödens spegel (2023)
Konferensen (2023)
Bränn alla mina brev (2022)
Dune (2021)
Den osannolike mördaren (tv-serie, 2021)
Nelly Rapp – Monsteragent (2020)
Andra sidan (2020)
Bohemian Rhapsody (2018)
Euphoria (2018)
Tårtgeneralen (2018)
Halvdan Viking (2018)
Hundraettåringen som smet från notan och försvann (2016)
Jätten (2016)
En man som heter Ove (2015)
Krakel Spektakel (2014)
Hundraåringen som klev ut genom fönstret och försvann (2013)
Monica Z (2013)
Annika Bengtzon: Den röda vargen (2012)
Annika Bengtzon: En plats i solen (2012)
Annika Bengtzon: Livstid (2012)
Nobels testamente (2012)
Annika Bengtzon: Prime Time (2012)
Annika Bengtzon: Studio sex (2012)
Himlen är oskyldigt blå (2010)
Behandlingen (2009)
Småvilt (2009)
Superhjältejul (2009)
Arn – riket vid vägens slut (2008)
Wallander: Firewall (2008)
Wallander: One Step Behind (2008)
Wallander: Sidetracked (2008)
Arn: tempelriddaren (2007)
Den nya människan (2007)
Frostbiten (2006)
Min frus förste älskare (2006)
Vanya vet (2006)
Varannan vecka (2006)
God Morgon alla barn (2005)
Skenbart (2003)
Tillfällig fru sökes (2003)
Livet i 8 bitar (2002)
Familjehemligheter (2001)
Dubbel-8 (2000)
En häxa i familjen (2000)
Järngänget (2000)
Sjön (1999)
Zingo (1998)
Selma & Johanna (1997)
Under ytan (1997)
Den vita lejoninnan (1996)
Nu är pappa trött igen (1996)
Lust och fägring stor (1995)
Good Night Irene (1994)
Smink:
Babas bilar (2006)
Rancid (2004)
Sjön (1999)
Ernst Billgrens Kontakt (1998)
Perukmakare:
God Morgon alla barn (2005)
Lasermannen (2005)
Den bästa av mödrar (2005)
Övrig medarbetare:
Systrar 1968 (2018)
Alena (2016)
Hundraettåringen som smet från notan och försvann (2016)
Upp i det blå (2016)
Förortsungar (2006)
Ondskan (2003)
Awards
2022: Guldbaggenominerad, Bästa mask/smink (Bränn alla mina brev).
2022: Academy Award-nominering, Bästa smink och hår (Dune).
2021: Guldbagge för Bästa mask/smink (Nelly Rapp – Monsteragent).
2019: Guldbaggenominerad, Bästa mask/smink (Tårtgeneralen).
2017: Academy Award-nominering, Bästa smink (En man som heter Ove).
2017: Guldbagge för Bästa mask/smink (Jätten).
2017: Guldbaggenominerad, Bästa mask/smink (Hundraettåringen som smet från notan och försvann).
2016: Guldbagge för Bästa mask/smink (En man som heter Ove).
2016: Academy Award-nominering, Bästa hår och smink (Hundraåringen som klev ut genom fönstret och försvann).
2014: Guldbaggenominerad, Bästa mask/smink (Hundraåringen som klev ut genom fönstret och försvann).
2014: Guldbaggenominerad, Bästa mask/smink (Monica Z).