'An oddly delicate fable … The Giant is among other things surely the strangest underdog sports movie of the year.' – Hollywood Reporter

Abandoned by his mother at birth and largely unable to communicate due to a facial deformity, Rikard is forced to live in a small world, with the game of pétanque offering his only escape. In his dreams, however, he's a hulking figure stepping over hills and striding across plains in search of happiness. It'll take the same striving spirit to overcome the odds when he's kicked off the team after an accident, but decides to still try his luck at the Nordic championships.

First-time feature director Johannes Nyholm may be familiar to MIFF goers through his short films (La Palmas, MIFF 2011; Dreams from the Woods, MIFF 2010; The Tale of Little Puppetboy, MIFF 2009), which have also screened at Cannes. Here, he takes inspiration from his own music video for The Tallest Man on Earth, his love of pétanque and his experience working in a nursing home to create a film restrained in focus but big in impact. Indeed, it won Best Film and Best Screenplay at the 52nd Guldbagge Awards (the Swedish Oscars), and was a Special Jury Prize recipient at the 2016 San Sebastián International Film Festival.