Documentary Spotlights Renowned Beacon, NY Chocolatier’s Journey to Sweet Success

A Hudson Valley-based chocolatier is the subject of a new documentary.

Director Charlie Bennet explained in a social media post that 15 months ago he wanted to give his friend Hakan Martensson the spotlight and his amazing work as a chocolatier.

Beacon NY Chocolatier The Focus of New Documentary

The name Hakan Martensson might sound familiar to Hudson Valley locals as HÅKAN Chocolatier has called Main Street in Beacon, New York home since October 2020.  A business that he built from scratch during the COVID pandemic.

The shop offers "stunning bonbons made with hard-to-find and uniquely sourced ingredients" with chocolate creations that range from "salt vs sweet, bitter vs sour, and rough vs elegant"  according to their website. And judging by the Hakan Instagram account, it's safe to say Martensson knows how to use chocolate in unique ways.

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A post shared by HÅKAN chocolatier (@hakanchocolatier)

Yes, that's a chocolate dragon. Amazing work, right!? I digress. Back to the documentary...

Director Finds Soulmate Documentary Partner

Bennet found a "soulmate partner" for this documentary project and got to work. With cinematographer Stephen Szmed at his side, the team arrived in Beacon, New York for the first day of shooting. They captured some great footage so much so that they realized there was more to the story. On Instagram Bennet writes:

 Our first shoot day at @hakanchocolatier went very well and we brought home a ton of great footage. After reviewing this footage together with the incredible editor @georgehowareyou we realized that there were more to the story than what we originally thought.

Håkan Gets World Premier Date in NYC

With all of that footage, Bennet and Szmed along with their production team filmed a full documentary that is just about ready for the big screen. Håkan will premiere on February 12th at Scandinavia House in New York City. Bennet goes on to thank the whole team who worked on the film and adds in his Instagram post about the film:

I am so incredibly proud of what we accomplished and so grateful for the hard work everyone put into this.

Watch the trailer for Håkan below:

 

 

 

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  A post shared by Charlie Bennet (@charlie.bennet)