A press conference held at 1 p.m. today marked the release of the program for the 41st Göteborg Film Festival, the largest film festival in the Nordic countries.
The festival will show 399 films from 78 countries during 11 intense days, January 26–February 5. In addition there will be seminars, discussions, parties and live music.
The tickets will be released to festival members on January 11 and to the general public on January 13.
Amateurs by Gabriela Pichler to Open Göteborg Film Festival
The world premiere of Gabriela Pichler's Amateurs will kick off Göteborg Film Festival.
The uncompromising debut Eat Sleep Die immediately established Gabriela Pichler as one of Sweden’s most-respected directors. Eat Sleep Die won the Audience Award at Venice Film Festival's Critic's Week and four Guldbagge Awards (the Swedish equivalent to the Oscars) including Best Film, Best Director and Best Screenplay.
Now Pichler is back with her second feature Amateurs – an intelligent, warm and wonderfully funny film about who gets to decide a community's outward image. The small municipality of Lafors hopes to solve its economic drought by attracting a German discount supermarket. In order to bolster Lafors' brand, local teenagers are asked to produce films about their hometown, but the films do not turn out as expected. The project gets called off, but two young girls decide to continue working on their documentary anyway. Based on a script that Pichler wrote together with author Jonas Hassen Khemiri, Pichler depicts everyone, from the discontented citizens to angst-ridden politicans with great precision, an engaging sense of humor and 100% accuracy.
Amatuers is also included in Nordic Competition.
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Nine Films Compete for One Million Crowns
For the 30th time, Göteborg Film Festival will hand out the award for best Nordic film, Dragon Award Best Nordic Film. All in all, nine films are included in the competition, which offers a prize sum of one million SEK that is handed out in cooperation with Volvo Car Group, Region Västra Götaland and City of Gothenburg.
This year’s nominees are: Amateurs by Gabriela Pichler (Sweden), The Charmer by Milad Alami (Denmark/Sweden), Euphoria by Lisa Langseth (Sweden/Germany), What Will People Say by Iram Haq (Norway/Germany/Sweden), Jimmie by Jesper Ganslandt (Sweden/Austria/Croatia), The Violin Player by Paavo Westerberg (Finland), The Return by Malene Choi (Denmark), Holiday by Isabella Eklöf (Denmark) och And Breathe Normally by Ísold Uggadóttir (Iceland/Sweden/Belgium).
The award will be handed out at the Dragon Award gala on Saturday, February 3.
Presenting partner for Dragon Award Best Nordic Film is Volvo Car Group.
The festival launches new international competition
This year Göteborg Film Festival will launch its new International Competition. The section includes 20 international films and the festival audience will select the winner. Dragon Award Best International Film along with 50 000 SEK (approx. 5000 euros) is awarded to the winner. Dragon Award Best International FIlm is presented by newspaper Göteborgs-Posten.
The 20 films nominated for Dragon Award Best International Film are: Disobedience by Sebastián Lelio, The Death of Stalin by Armando Iannucci, Angels Wear White by Vivian Qu, Western by Valeska Grisebach, Nico, 1988 by Susanna Nicchiarelli, Mademoiselle Paradis by Barbara Albert, Pity by Babis Makridis, Over the Limit by Marta Prus, Marlina the Murderer in Four Acts by Mouly Surya, The Wound by John Trengove, Men Don't Cry by Alen Drljevic, Good Favour by Rebecca Daly, Sweet Country by Warwick Thornton, Pororoca by Constantin Popescu, Makala by Emmanuel Gras, The Other Side of Everything by Mila Turajlic, Outside In by Lynn Shelton, Israfil by Ida Panahandeh, Anna's War by Aleksei Fedorchenko and The Eternal Feminine by Natalia Beristáin.
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The Ingmar Bergman International Debut Award
Ingmar Bergman was the honorary president of Göteborg Film Festival until his death in 2007. In cooperation with him, the festival established an international film award for “a debuting filmmaker who in their film treats an existential theme with a dynamic or experimental approach to the cinematic means of expression.”
The eight films nominated for the award, which will be handed out for the eleventh time: Dead Pigs by Cathy Yan (China/USA) Ava by Sadaf Foroughi (Iran/Canada/Qatar) Malila: The Farewell Flower by Anucha Boonyawatana (Thailand) Death of a Poetess by Dana Goldberg, co-director: Efrat Mishori (Israel) Microhabitat by Jeon Go-woon (South Korea) The Flower Shop by Ruben Desiere (Belgium/Slovakia) Menina by Cristina Pinheiro (France) The Blessed by Sofia Djama (Algeria/France/Qatar)
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Focus: Electric Shadows of China
The swift and unpredictable social changes that China is experiencing creates a rich and nuanced film culture full of young filmmakers who explore new cinematic paths beyond the standardized commercial film culture. These films are the focus of Göteborg Film Festival’s Electric Shadows of China.
– To those interested in Chinese film culture, it’s clear that Chinese cinema today is an electrifying place that reflects and challenges a superpower that is currently going through political, economic and cultural changes that will have an impact on the entire world, says Jonas Holmberg, Artistic Director, Göteborg Film Festival.
Seven feature films, four documentaries and a retrospective form the programme for Electric Shadows of China.
"As one of the most influential actors of our time, Juliette Binoche has behind her a wide range of iconic performances that have helped shape modern European film history.", Jonas Holmberg, Artistic Director, Göteborg Film Festival.
Nordic Honorary Dragon Award 2018: Alicia Vikander
Göteborg Film Festival proudly presents the recipient of the 2018 Nordic Honorary Dragon Award: Alicia Vikander. The Academy Awarded actress actress will visit the festival Jan 26 to Jan 28.
Guédiguian, Iannucci, von Trotta and Laurie Anderson set for Göteborg Film Festival
A selection of guests that will attend the 41st Göteborg Film Festival.
Laurie Anderson visited the festival 2016 with Heart of a Dog. This year she returns with her VR-project Chalkroom. Anderson will hold a Master Class on February 2.
French director Robert Guédiguian and actress Ariane Ascaride will attend the festival with House by the Sea, which screens in the section Masters.
BAFTA- and Emmy award-winning writer and director Armando Iannucci will attend the festival with his critically acclaimed The Death of Stalin. The film will screen as part of the International Competition. Iannucci will give a Master Class January 30.
Legendary director Margarethe von Trotta received the festival's Honorary Award in 2013. This year she attends the festival with her new film Forget About Nick. Von Trotta has also contributed to the Bergman celebrations by selecting Hour of the Wolf for a retrospective. Von Trotta will give a Master Class on February 2.
British author and screenwriter Ian McEwan ("Atonement", "Amsterdam") will visit the festival together with director Dominic Cooke with their film On Chesil Beach.
French filmmakers Olivier Nakache and Eric Toledano will visit the festival with C'est la vie.
A complete guest list will be published on goteborgfilmfestival.se shortly.
