Mikael Gyllström recounts abuse by director decades later

Violinist Mikael Gyllström says he was abused for years by director Staffan Hildebrand, whom he met when he was 13. In a new SVT documentary, he describes how a role in a film and an invitation to Stockholm led to the abuse.

Gyllström met Hildebrand at Delsbostämman, a folk music gathering in Hälsingland. Hildebrand was about to turn 29 and was there to make a documentary. After Gyllström was given a role, the director invited him to travel by train to Stockholm.

They went to a restaurant and the cinema, and Gyllström was allowed to eat as much candy as he wanted. At Hildebrand’s apartment, the director suggested that Gyllström sleep on a mattress in his bedroom. Gyllström says the first abuse happened that evening.

“I was incredibly ashamed. So it also became a secret for me,” Gyllström says in the documentary, Inside the documentary: The boys, the director and the truth. His parents, friends and people at school did not know, he says. He describes what happened during later meetings as a repeated process.

As a young person, Gyllström saw the relationship as an exchange: Hildebrand gave him access to an exciting life, film roles and trips. Looking back through old diaries, he now sees the director’s actions as planned. “He got into everywhere,” Gyllström says, referring to his music circle and family.

After four years, Gyllström says, he found the courage to tell Hildebrand he no longer wanted to have sex with him. He continued to feel unwell after ending contact and attempted suicide on one occasion.

Hildebrand describes the relationship as a love story and says he “fell instantly in love”. He acknowledges that he did wrong but says he did not understand that at the time. Asked by reporter Negra Efendić to consider that Gyllström was a child who believed the abuse was his fault, Hildebrand says: “Yes, but it wasn’t his fault, it was mine. And I do ask for forgiveness.”

Gyllström says he does not believe Hildebrand understands what the abuse meant to him. “A sick desire,” he says.

The documentary is available on SVT Play and is scheduled to air on SVT1 on Tuesday at 9pm.