The Swedish Film Institute on Wednesday announced the nominations for the Guldbagge (Golden Bug) awards, Sweden’s top film prize, with politics taking center stage among the feature contenders.
Axel Petersén’s Shame on Dry Land, a neo-noir set in the world of online gamblers who fled Sweden for refuge in Malta, lead the pack with 9 Guldbagge nominations. But it was snubbed in the best film category. Per Fly’s cold war thriller Hammarskjöld, starring Mikael Persbrandt as the titular Swedish diplomat, and former UN Secretary-General, who died in a mysterious plane crash, received seven nominations, including best film, tying with Opponent, Milad Alami’s drama about a family who flee Iran for Northern Sweden.
Alongside Hammarskjöld and Opponent, best film nominees include Mika Gustafson’s social drama Paris Is Burning, the relationship drama 100 Seasons from director Giovanni Bucchieri, and The Gullspång Miracle, a documentary from director Maria Fredriksson about two pious sisters who buy an apartment after witnessing what they take as a divine sign, only to realize that the seller is the spitting image of their dead sister, who committed suicide some thirty years before.
Fredriksson, Alami, and Petersén are all up for the best directing Guldbagge, alongside Ami-Ro Sköld, nominated for the animated drama The Store.
Going up against Persbrandt in the best actor category are Payman Maadi for Opponent, Joel Spira for Shame on Dry Land and Gustaf Hammarsten for his starring role in Lukas Moodysson’s Together 99. Best actress nominees include Maral Nasiri for Opponent, Karin Franz Körlof for Andreas Öhman’s One Day All This Will Be Yours, Sanna Sundqvist for Thank You, I’m Sorry from director Lisa Aschan, and Lena Olin for Mårten Klingberg’s Second Act.
The Guldbagge Awards will be handed out at a gala ceremony in Stockholm on Jan. 15, 2024.
