Louise Wachtmeister: A Few Of My Favourite Things

Director Louise Wachtmeister may miss being in school, but she’s found plenty of ways to keep giving herself homework.

Born in New York and raised in Stockholm, the Swedish-American new—land signing was named a Rising Star at Roygalan in 2025, while her directorial debut for the Swedish Cancer Society went on to win Gold at the 1.4 Awards and Silver at Ciclope.

For her Favourite Things, Wachtmeister shares the notebooks, colours, and keepsakes that provide a little structure to her creative life.

The Notebooks

I have a notebook for almost everything.

Ideas, quotes, sketching, journaling, poetry, mind maps, storyboards...

They’re like little drawers in my mind where I organise my thoughts.

I can’t always bring all of them with me, so it’s good to have some that are pocket-sized.

I’m currently into learning new words.

I have a dedicated notebook where I collect them.

A few recent ones are: fugacious, énouement, insatiate, elucidate, veracious, equanimity...

I’ve noticed that nouns that describe feelings are my favourites.

For example, énouement means: “The bittersweet emotion of standing in the present and wishing you could reassure your past self about the future.”

I like having language for complex emotions.

The Teapot

I fell in love with this teapot when I saw it at my sister’s art school, where the students had an exhibition with things they’d made that year.

I like items that feel like works of art, even if that’s not their intended purpose.

It’s probably the most-used item on my desk, watching the others come and go.

The Refrigerator Noticeboard

The side of my refrigerator serves as my noticeboard.

Its content is always changing and being updated with whatever’s going on in my life.

It has my calendar, to-do list, postcards, photos...

It’s kind of like my horizontal desk’s vertical brother.

I like having it out on display for me to see things clearly so I can remember things, move things around, add and replace.

The Marriage Story Poster

I was working in LA in 2019 when Marriage Story came out, and I saw it with a friend at the Chinese Theatre.

I remember feeling so moved and inspired by the experience.

As we walked out of the cinema, they were handing out these posters from the movie.

I took one with me and kept it for years.

This summer I finally decided to frame it and hang it on my wall because it’s such a fond memory of mine.

The poster had an ugly Netflix logo on it at the bottom right that I’ve covered with a flower I pressed :)

The Colour Dictionaries

I have two Dictionaries of Colour Combinations by Sanzo Wada that I recommend to everyone.

Not only do I use them when making treatments, set-design mood boards, colour grading... I also take them with me when buying clothes, interior design, you name it!

The Oil Pastels

A friend gave me these oil pastel crayons for my birthday and suggested that I keep them on my desk.

That way they’re always within reach.

Whether it’s with your morning coffee or during a Zoom meeting.

I thought that was so smart!

Not making it this big deal in your head of, “Now I’m going to take out my crayons and create...”

The Camera

I love taking photos and usually bring my camera to set.

The shoot is my favourite part of the process, where I feel the most present and grateful.

Build with obsession but live with joy!

If I get a second or two to capture a moment between takes, I will.

Pictured above is a behind the scenes shot with cinematographer Andreas Johannessen, 1st AD Sina Hashem Pour and cast Amorina Sandwall.