Göteborg Film Festival (GFF), formerly Göteborg International Film Festival (GIFF), known in English as the Gothenburg Film Festival, formerly Gothenburg International Film Festival, is an annual film festival in Gothenburg, Sweden and the largest film event in Scandinavia. When it was launched on February 8, 1979, it showed 17 films on 3 screens and had 3,000 visitors.
 The Draken (Dragon) cinema, the main venue of the festival. | |
| Location | Gothenburg, Sweden |
|---|---|
| Awards | Dragon Award Best Nordic Film, The Ingmar Bergman International Debut Award, etc. |
| No. of films | circa 450 films from 70 countries (in 2012), 10 theaters, and many other venues |
| Website | https://goteborgfilmfestival.se/ |
Today, the film festival takes place over 10 days each year at the end of January and beginning of February. In recent years an estimated 450 films from 60 countries annually have been screened for 115,000 visitors.[1] The film festival is an important market place for contractors in the movie industry.
Awards
As of 2022[update] the following prizes were awarded:[2]
Dragon Awards
- Dragon Award Best Nordic Film (Nordiska filmpriset)
- Dragon Award Best Acting (since 2019)
- Audience Dragon Award Best Nordic Film – (Nordiska Filmpriset – Publikens val)
- Dragon Award Best Nordic Documentary (since 2013)
- Dragon Award Best International Film
- Honorary Dragon Award
- Nordic Honorary Dragon Award
- Dragon Award Best Swedish Short
Other awards
- FIPRESCI Award
- Sven Nykvist Cinematography Award, named for Sven Nykvist
- The Ingmar Bergman International Debut Award, named for Ingmar Bergman
- Draken Film Award (since 2022, for a Swedish short film)
- Audience Choice Award for Best Swedish Short
- Angelo Award, the Swedish Church's award
- Nordisk Film & TV Fond Prize, awarded by the Nordisk Film & TV Fond, secretariat to the Nordic Council[3]
Dragon Award for Best Nordic Film
The festival's main award is the Dragon Award for Best Nordic Film, which can be won for feature film productions from the Nordic countries. The following films have received the award:[4][5]
| Year | English title | Original title | Director | Country | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | David or Goliath | David eller Goliath | Anne Wivel | Norway | |
| Directed by Andrei Tarkovsky | Regi: Andrej Tarkovskij | Michal Leszczylowski | Sweden | ||
| 1990 | A Handful of Time | En håndfull tid | Martin Asphaug | Norway | |
| 1991 | Dolly and Her Lover | Räpsy ja Dolly eli Pariisi odottaa | Matti Ijäs | Finland | |
| 1992 | Freud's Leaving Home | Freud flyttar hemifrån | Susanne Bier | Denmark | |
| 1993 | Russian Pizza Blues | Michael Wikke and Steen Rasmussen | Denmark | ||
| 1994 | Spring of Joy | Glädjekällan | Richard Hobert | Sweden | |
| 1995 | Cross My Heart and Hope to Die | Ti kniver i hjertet | Marius Holst | Norway | |
| 1996 | The Atlantic | Atlanten | Kristian Petri, Jan Röed and Magnus Enquist | Sweden | |
| 1997 | Body Troopers | Jakten på nyresteinen | Vibeke Idsøe | Norway | |
| 1998 | Tic Tac | Daniel Alfredson | Sweden | ||
| 1999 | Yearning for a Life | Lusten till ett liv | Christer Engberg | Sweden | |
| 2000 | My Mother Had Fourteen Children | Min mamma hade 14 barn | Lars-Lennart Forsberg | Sweden | |
| Knockout | Agneta Fagerström Olsson | Sweden | |||
| 2001 | Cool and Crazy | Heftig og begeistret | Knut Erik Jensen | Norway | |
| 2002 | The Bricklayer | Muraren | Stefan Jarl | Sweden | |
| 2003 | Noi the Albino | Nói albínói | Dagur Kári | Iceland | |
| 2004 | Med kameran som tröst, del 2 | Carl Johan De Geer | Sweden | ||
| 2005 | Frozen Land | Paha maa | Aku Louhimies | Finland | |
| 2006 | Dark Horse | Voksne mennesker | Dagur Kári | Iceland | |
| 2007 | Darling | Darling | Johan Kling | Sweden | |
| 2008 | Let the Right One In | Låt den rätte komma in | Tomas Alfredson | Sweden | |
| 2009 | The Visitor | Muukalainen | Jukka-Pekka Valkeapää | Finland | |
| 2010 | R | Tobias Lindholm and Michael Noer | Denmark | ||
| 2011 | She Monkeys | Apflickorna | Lisa Aschan | Sweden | |
| 2012 | The Orheim Company | Kompani Orheim | Arild Andresen | Norway | |
| 2013 | Before Snowfall | Før snøen faller | Hisham Zaman | Norway | |
| 2014 | Letter to the King | Brev til Kongen | Hisham Zaman | Norway | |
| 2015 | In Your Arms | I dine hænder | Samanou Acheche Sahlstrøm | Denmark | [6] |
| 2016 | Land of Mine | Under sandet | Martin Zandvliet | Denmark | [7] |
| 2017 | Sami Blood | Sameblod | Amanda Kernell | Sweden | [8] |
| 2018 | Amateurs | Amatörer | Gabriela Pichler | Sweden | [9] |
| 2019 | Queen of Hearts | Dronningen | May el-Toukhy | Denmark | [10] |
| 2020 | Beware of Children | Barn | Dag Johan Haugerud | Norway | [11] |
| 2021 | Tigers (2020 film) | Tigrar | Ronnie Sandahl | Sweden | |
| 2022 | As in Heaven | Du som er i himlen | Tea Lindeburg | Denmark | |
| 2023 | Unruly | Ustyrlig | Malou Reymann | Denmark | |
| 2024 | Mother, Couch | Mother, Couch | Niclas Larsson | Sweden |
Dragon Award for Best Nordic Documentary
| Year | English title | Original title | Director | Country | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Finnish Blood Swedish Heart | Laulu koti-ikävästä | Mika Ronkainen | Finland | |
| 2014 | Pine Ridge | Pine Ridge | Anna Eborn | Denmark | |
| 2015 | The Look of Silence | The Look of Silence | Joshua Oppenheimer | [6] | |
| 2016 | Don Juan | Jerzy Sladkowski | Sweden | [12] | |
| 2017 | The War Show | Obaidah Zytoon, Andreas Dalsgaard | Denmark/Finland/Syria | [13] | |
| 2018 | The Distant Barking of Dogs | Olegs krig | Simon Lereng Wilmont | Sweden | [14] |
| 2019 | Transnistra | Anna Eborn | Denmark | [15] | |
| 2020 | Colombia in My Arms | Jenni Kivistö, Jussi Rastas | Finland, Norway, Denmark, France | [16] | |
| 2022 | A House Made of Splinters | Будинок зі скалок | Simon Lereng Vilmont | Finland, Denmark, Ukraine, Sweden | [17] |
| 2023 | Apolonia, Apolonia | Lea Glob | Denmark, Poland, France | [18] | |
Festival program
The festival is made up of several film sections. Films are chosen in each category with the advice of a committee of film experts. Categories have included:
Animation featuring short and long animated films.
Documentaries
Debuts where debutees can be discovered.
Focus featuring a region or theme in focus for that year. In 2012 focus was on Arab film and the Arab Spring.
Festival Favorites is a selection of the most liked and prized films that have been shown at festivals throughout the world during the past year.
Five Continents showing films from all categories and unconditionally traveling the globe to find the best films.
Gala featuring great films, great directors, red carpets and Oscar nominees.
HBTQ – a collection of various films that all depict nontraditional love or non-heterosexual roles.
Nordic Competition focusing on new Nordic feature-films competing for the festival's Nordic Film Prize (100,000 SEK).
Nordic Light including the best of the Sweden's four Nordic neighboring countries.
Swedish World Premiers with feature-films and documentaries being shown to general audiences for the first time.
Swedish Pictures often including circa 100 Swedish short-films.
Notes
External links
- Official web page
- English-language podcast (Radio Sweden)
- Gothenburg Film Festival at IMDb