she told Dagens Nyheter. After finishing the novel, Siwe received the idea to adapt it into a film together with Gottfridsson. Once they acquired the rights from the author they began planning the film. "First, Linn and I talked together on what we wanted to keep [from the novel]. The book cannot be translated into film. We have great respect for the book and the film must stand on its own legs. And even if we have [made changes to the story], we have stayed faithful to the essence," Siwe said. Josephine Mattson was cast in the lead role of Jenna and it became her acting debut. Siwe searched a long time for an actor to play the role, and she was not pleased until she found Mattson. She explains that the reason for that is that Mattson was a regular girl and not an "actor-wannabe". The film was shot in Trollhättan and Vänersborg. Filming began in June 2008. According to Siwe, the hospital scenes largely affected the film team emotionally, and a lot of crew members were crying during the filming. The pre-production, production, and post-production of Glowing Stars lasted for five years. After the film was completed, Siwe told Norrköpings Tidningar that "I am proud of the acting, the manuscript, the photography — and that I was able to make the film. It has been a heavy ride. But I didn't feel that until afterwards." She also commented on the writing process: "I didn't want to stop until I had a really good manuscript because I felt such strong respect for Johanna and her book. Johanna has never said that she wrote a children's book, and adults can also read it with great enjoyment. I want to achieve the same thing with the film." Reception The world premiere of Glowing Stars occurred at the 2009 Gothenburg Film Festival, and the film was met with much praise from critics. The acclaim continued after it was released in theaters. Christer Uggeldahl of Hufvudstadsbladet gave the film four out of five stars, praising the director and the cast. He wrote that the actors are "as bold as they are skillful", and added that, because of her feeling for nuances, it is hard to tell that this is Siwe's directing debut. "Here we have a director who knows a girl's room inside and out and who knows how to switch between images