Swedish films at festivals
Swedish films are travelling the world on festivals and markets. Here you find the latest news on where and when. Enjoy!
Swedish films at CPH:DOX
© B-Reel Films
World Premiere in Main Competition - Amazomania
In 1996, a Brazilian official and a Swedish journalist ventured into the Amazon to document the isolated Korubo tribe caught in escalating land conflicts. Initially hailed as a heroic breakthrough, the footage now demands to be re-examined. Uncovering the hidden costs of “discovery” the film confronts the colonial legacy and exposes the long-term repercussions for the Korubo.
Directed by Nathan Grossman
Produced by B-Reel Films / Cecilia Nessen with support from the Swedish Film Institute.
Sales Autlook Filmsales
© Garagefilm International
World Premiere in Nordic:Dox - A Sweetness from Nowhere
When there’s no other way out, play dead – a survival tactic we share with jellyfish. In 2011 Berlin, a haunting shout triggers a journey through trauma and survival. A Sweetness from Nowhere blends documentary, poetry, and fable, transcending boundaries between reality and fantasy to reveal unexpected connections and the path to healing.
Directed by Ester Bergsmark
Produced by Garagefilm International / Anna-Maria Kantarius, with support from the Swedish Film Institute.
Sales Outplay Films
© Lia Hietala
World Premiere in Nordic:Dox - Almost Forever
Almost Forever follows Jasmine, Philip, and their motley crew of friends as they explore friendship, love, and identity over five formative years. As the carefree summers of childhood fade into teenage turmoil, the bonds that once united them are tested, reshaping their paths to adulthood.
Directed by Lia Hietala and Hannah Reinikainen
Produced by Story / Melissa Lindgren with support from the Swedish Film Institute.
Sales Visionär Films
© Guillamue Briquet /Mantaray Film
World Premiere in Human: Rights Award - The Phantom Pain of Rojava
Director Maryam Ebrahimi portrays Kurdish guerrilla fighters who were once hailed as heroes in the war against ISIS but are now left abandoned. A post-war story that, over five years, follows four friends living in a home for wounded soldiers in Rojava, a self-governing Kurdish region in northern Syria.
Directed by Maryam Ebrahimi
Produced by Mantaray Film / Stina Gardell, Mirjam Gelhorn, with support from the Swedish Film Institute.
© Simon Averin Markström, Gustav Ågerstrand
Screening in Artists & Auteurs - La Belle Année
Morières les Avignon, France. While emptying her childhood home after her estranged father’s death, Angelica recalls a fierce and solitary love she had as a teenager for her history teacher, Miss B. And as her list of duties never seems to diminish, an intense desire grows in Angelica: to meet her again.
Directed by Angelica Ruffier
Produced by MDEMC /Marta Dauliūtė and Brynhildur Þórarinsdóttir, with support from the Swedish Film Institute.
Sales Odd Slice Filmes
World Premiere in Artists & Auteurs - Mother Creature
A daughter attempts to pull the monster of her childhood out from under the bed in an original, deeply personal and creative film about her mother's mental illness.
Directed by Maria Tórgarð
Produced by Gustav Ahnelöv
World Premiere in Artists & Auteurs - You say that you’re staying at the party because you’re having fun
A stylish and thought-provoking courtroom drama examines sexual assault through institutional and linguistic filters as a young woman recounts her testimony twice in two different languages.
Directed by Siri Hammarén
Produced by Siri Hammarén, Balder Ljunggren
International Premiere in Artists & Auteurs - The Red Line
A fascinating and original portrait of Stockholm's constant expansion and today's human hustle and bustle, told through a red metro line and its passengers.
Directed by Mira Campau
Produced by Beatrice Fröjd
© MDEMC
Screening in Sound & Vision - Celtic Utopia
Celtic Utopia tells the story of a new Ireland and its vibrant music scene, but also that of a post-colonial society wrestling with its heritage. A society where folk music carries both the oppression of the past and the dream of a bright future. The Irish folk music renaissance sees artists coming from punk, hip-hop, and beyond, rediscovering an ancient tradition and taking it in unexpected directions. In Celtic Utopia, they take us on a ballad tour around the island, telling stories and singing songs to try to understand their past and to heal their colonial wounds.
Directed by Dennis Harvey, Lars Lovén
Produced by MDEMC / Elin Lilleman Eriksson
Sales Split Screen
© Ita Zbroniec-Zajt
Danish Premiere in Parafictions - Redoubt
At the height of the Cold War, farm worker Karl-Göran Persson collects scrap metal to fortify his house, hoping to shield himself and his neighbours. His efforts are met with bewilderment from the adults and quiet amusement from the children.
Directed by John Skoog
Produced by Plattform Produktion / Erik Hemmendorff and Caroline Drab, with support from the Swedish Film Institute.
Sales Coproduction Office
Swedish co-productions
World Premiere in Main Competition / Opening Film - Mariinka (BE, NL, DE, SE)
Young Ukrainians from the frontline town of Mariinka face a decade of war that divides their families and derails their fates. An epic and visionary masterpiece filmed over 10 years.
Directed by Pieter-Jan De Pue
Swedish co-producer Dark Riviera, with support from the Swedish Film Institute.
Sales Films Boutique
World Premiere in Nordic:Dox - Fire, Water, Earth, Air (DK, SE, NO, FO)
Fire, Water, Earth, Air is a poetic journey through climate change in the North, where science and daily life meet as communities face fire, flood, storm, and shifting land—rekindling ancient bonds with nature to prepare for the future.
Directed by Phie Ambo, Ewa Cederstam, Janne Lindgren, Rógvi Rasmussen
Swedish co-producer Mantaray Film, with support from the Swedish Film Institute.
Sales Tambo Film
World Premiere in Nordic:Dox / Danish:Dox / Sound & Vision - Where Music Grows (DK, SE)
On a remote farm in Denmark, young classical musicians from around the world come not only to prepare for concerts and auditions but to step off the chandelier lit stages for a moment, take deep breaths, lower their shoulders and find out how to balance a life in constant competition.
Directed by Katrine Philp
Swedish co-producer Ballad Film, with support from the Swedish Film Intitute.
Sales Katrine Sahlstrøm
World Premiere in Dox:Award - Whispers in May (CN, NL, KR, SE)
The film follows 14-year-old Qinghua, who with her two close friends, sets off a journey of self-discovery.
Directed by Dongnan Chen
Swedish co-producer Her Film, with support from the Swedsih Film Institute.
Sales Muyi Film & Tail Bite Tail Films
World Premiere in Nordic:Dox - The Arctic Circle of Lust (FI, DE, SE)
A northern potato farming couple learns the rules of a new relationship and how to live with different sexual orientations and needs that test the limits of love.
Directed by Markku Heikkinen
Swedish co-producer Vilda Bomben, with support from the Swedish Film Institute
Sales Finnish Film Foundation
World Premiere in F:act Award - Cambodia Beer Dreams (DK, SE, FR)
What happens to people, ethics, and morality when alcohol and capitalism are unleashed in a poor, corrupt country with few restrictions?
Directed by Laurits Nansen
Swedish co-producer Auto Images, with support from the Swedish Film Institute.
Sales Cat&Docs
World Premiere in New:Vision - Boy Cried Wolf (DE, SE)
Max Göran the artist or director or performer, walks into a tunnel, that doubles as a film set, or maybe just itself. She tests out a story told by a friend: a Finnish scientist, Erkki Pulliainen, known as Susi (Wolf) once smeared his face with blood and let wolves lick it, to prove they weren’t dangerous.
Directed by Max Göran
Swedish co-producer Max Göran
Sales Max Göran
World Premiere in UNG:DOX - Tsumu - Where Do You Go With Your Dreams? (DK, SE)
In East Greenland’s biggest city Tasiilaq, Lars, Eino and Thomas are fighting for a brighter future for themselves and their friends.
Directed by Laurits Nansen
Swedish co-producer Momento Film, with support from the Swedish Film Institute
Sales Holy Ravioli
Screening in Special Premieres - A World Gone Mad - The War Diaries of Astrid Lindgren (DE, SE)
The Swedish author's early years during World War II, told through her own diaries in a beautiful and thoughtful film about life, death and art in the shadow of war.
Directed by Wilfried Hauke
Swedish co-producer Auto Images
Sales Rise and Shine World Sales
Screening in Backstory - Amílcar (ES, FR, PT, SE, CV)
A film documentary that expresses all the modernity of Amílcar Cabral's vision.
Directed by Miguel Eek
Swedish co-producer Sisyfos Film
Sales In Perspective
European Premiere in Highlights - The Cycle of Love (UK, SE)
In 1977, PK, a 23-year-old Delhi street artist from a poor, ‘untouchable’ family, picked up a handful of paintbrushes and a second-hand bicycle and set off on a 6000-mile cross-continent mission - to find Lotta, the woman who had captured his heart. A love story like no other, The cykle of love is an inspiring, heart-warming, epic true-life adventure about the search for self-belief and risking everything for what your heart tells you.
Directed by Orlando von Einsiedel
Swedish co-producer Kalabati Pictures
Sales Dogwoof
Read more:
Official festival site:
CPH:DOX
Published 14 April 2021
