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On the Critical Edge of Nordic Cinemas : Award-Winning Films as Social Critique

Rozenkrantz, Jonathan LU (2026) p.287-303
Abstract
In 2025, the Swedish Film Institute announced that it would minimise the funding of films deemed “international” to safeguard “Swedish” perspectives. Triggered by the success of a series of Swedish co-productions shot elsewhere, in other languages, by filmmakers of mixed or diasporic background, said shift in film policy is symptomatic of a wider Nationalist turn in Swedish politics, and the cultural anxieties provoked by a perceived waning of “Swedishness”. These Swedish “cinemas of elsewhere” (Westerdahl Stenport and Lunde 2019) constitute one of two notable trends in award-winning Nordic films, the other being the unprecedented celebration of a “new Nordic horror cinema” (Iversen 2016). Contextualising notable cases of each, within... (More)
In 2025, the Swedish Film Institute announced that it would minimise the funding of films deemed “international” to safeguard “Swedish” perspectives. Triggered by the success of a series of Swedish co-productions shot elsewhere, in other languages, by filmmakers of mixed or diasporic background, said shift in film policy is symptomatic of a wider Nationalist turn in Swedish politics, and the cultural anxieties provoked by a perceived waning of “Swedishness”. These Swedish “cinemas of elsewhere” (Westerdahl Stenport and Lunde 2019) constitute one of two notable trends in award-winning Nordic films, the other being the unprecedented celebration of a “new Nordic horror cinema” (Iversen 2016). Contextualising notable cases of each, within their complex production and reception histories, the chapter argues that these film challenge and interrogate the borders of Nordic film cultures and identities, through historically reflexive narratives that place them on the critical edge of Nordic cinemas. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
organization
publishing date
type
Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Cinemas of Elsewhere, Film awards, Film policy, Nationalism, New Nordic horror cinemas, Nordic cinema, Social critique, Swedish film
host publication
The Intellect Handbook of Nordic Cinema
editor
Iversen, Gunnar and Larsson, Mariah
pages
287 - 303
publisher
Intellect
ISBN
9781835952696
9781835952702
9781835952689
DOI
10.1386/9781835952689_25
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
a877f5f3-e8ab-494d-9ba4-4492fa381e58
date added to LUP
2026-05-14 20:28:40
date last changed
2026-05-26 11:33:53
@inbook{a877f5f3-e8ab-494d-9ba4-4492fa381e58,
  abstract     = {{In 2025, the Swedish Film Institute announced that it would minimise the funding of films deemed “international” to safeguard “Swedish” perspectives. Triggered by the success of a series of Swedish co-productions shot elsewhere, in other languages, by filmmakers of mixed or diasporic background, said shift in film policy is symptomatic of a wider Nationalist turn in Swedish politics, and the cultural anxieties provoked by a perceived waning of “Swedishness”. These Swedish “cinemas of elsewhere” (Westerdahl Stenport and Lunde 2019) constitute one of two notable trends in award-winning Nordic films, the other being the unprecedented celebration of a “new Nordic horror cinema” (Iversen 2016). Contextualising notable cases of each, within their complex production and reception histories, the chapter argues that these film challenge and interrogate the borders of Nordic film cultures and identities, through historically reflexive narratives that place them on the critical edge of Nordic cinemas.}},
  author       = {{Rozenkrantz, Jonathan}},
  booktitle    = {{The Intellect Handbook of Nordic Cinema}},
  editor       = {{Iversen, Gunnar and Larsson, Mariah}},
  isbn         = {{9781835952696}},
  keywords     = {{Cinemas of Elsewhere; Film awards; Film policy; Nationalism; New Nordic horror cinemas; Nordic cinema; Social critique; Swedish film}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  pages        = {{287--303}},
  publisher    = {{Intellect}},
  title        = {{On the Critical Edge of Nordic Cinemas : Award-Winning Films as Social Critique}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1386/9781835952689_25}},
  doi          = {{10.1386/9781835952689_25}},
  year         = {{2026}},
}