At the heart of Thomas Mann's classic novel Death in Venice, and Luchino Visconti's 1971 film adaptation by the same name, is an older man's obsession with a young, strikingly beautiful boy. After an extensive casting process, Visconti found the perfect boy in the Swedish 15-year-old Björn Andrésen, whom the director then presented to the world as "the most beautiful boy in the world". Overnight, Björn becomes a world star and sex object. Shortly afterwards, he is marketed as a western pop idol in Japan. He later describes the media circus as "a living nightmare".

In The Most Beautiful Boy in the World, Björn looks back on an eventful life - depression, alcohol problems and personal tragedies have left their mark on him. And it all started with a star status that he never really wanted. Kristina Lindström and Kristian Petri's documentary shows the reverse side of this medal, and sheds new light on the destructive effect that art and pop culture's tendency to objectify can have. The Most Beautiful Boy in the World is a poignant portrait of a faded icon and an interesting exploration of art and society's fixation on beauty.

Kristina Lindström (b. 1957) and Kristian Petri (b. 1956) are Swedish filmmakers, writers and journalists. In 2000-2010, Lindström was head of the Swedish national public television broadcaster's cultural editorial staff. She has received a number of awards for her books and documentaries. Petri has directed several feature films, documentaries and TV series, and has been nominated for the Guldbagge film award five times.