Today, the nominations for the Swedish Film Awards 2023 were announced. The award is called Guldbaggen (The Golden Beetle). A total of 25 films have been nominated. 22 feature films, of which four are documentaries and three short films. Regarding the number of nominations, Shame on Dry Land (Syndabocken) by Axel Petersén won nine nominations. Among them were Best Director, Best Editing, Best Script, and Best Cinematography, but curiously enough, not Best Film. The Opponent (Motståndaren), which premiered in the Panorama section at the Berlinale, was nominated in seven categories, as was Hammarskjöld. where Mikael Persbrandt plays the world-renowned diplomat. Paradise is Burning (Paradiset brinner), which won two awards at Venice, had to settle for three nominations.
Surprises at the Swedish Film Awards
In the Best Film category, we find the aforementioned three films, together with the successful documentary The Gullspång Miracle (Miraklet i Gullspång). The latter was also nominated for Best Documentary. The biggest surprise, and a welcome one, was the nomination for Giovanni Bucchieri’s 100 Seasons (100 Årstider). I reviewed the film here, and I couldn’t be happier over this nomination for a film that is a rare bird in the Swedish cinematic landscape. As a polar opposite to Shame on Dry Land, the Best Film nomination was the only one the film got. Maybe quite fitting since Bucchieri’s film deals with Bipolar disorder. It’s the first time since 2016 that a film has solely received a nomination for Best Film.
Interestingly enough, Lena Olin received her first Guldbaggen nomination ever for her role in Second Act (Andra Akten). Olin, who has had the bulk of her career in the US, has been nominated for several major international awards, including an Oscar for her performance in Enemies, a Love Story in 1990. Peter Haber is making a nominee comeback after 27 years. He was nominated for Best Actor three years in a row: 1994, 1995 and 1996. Annika Rogell has once before been nominated for Best Film for My Skinny Sister (Min lilla syster 2015) She has produced six films that won or were nominated for Guldbaggar, the most famous being Aniara (with four awards including Best Director and Best Actress).
Lukas Moodyson’s Together 99 (Tillsammans 99) landed four nominations. One for the script, and the other three for acting. Mikael Persbrandt scored his eighth nomination for Best Actor in a Leading Role. That is a record, and he won twice. For the role in Jan Troell’s Everlasting Moments (Maria Larssons eviga ögonblick 2009), and for Nobody Owns Me (Mig äger ingen) in 2013. In addition to these categories, the Honorary Golden Beetle, Gullspiran, for outstanding achievements in Swedish Youth film, and audience awards are also awarded.
The Swedish Film Awards gala will take place on January 15, 2024, at Cirkus in Stockholm, with actress Shima Niavarani as host.