Pia Lundberg on Her Program, Noomi Rapace, Agnieszka Holland and Nordic Films

In her second year as Artistic Director of Sweden’s Göteborg Film Festival, the biggest film festival in the Nordic region, Pia Lundberg has curated another outstanding program, with 266 films including 15 world premieres such as “Zejtune” by Sundance-winner Alex Camilleri (“Luzzu”), the presence of top-tier talent, from Noomi Rapace, Renate Reinsve, Agnieszka Holland to Nabil Ayouch, and a topical central theme of Truth that will play out -both on and off screen.

As outlined by Lundberg in this interview, Swedish film might be lacking these days a much need support from the local government, blatantly illustrated by the last-minute decision from Sweden’s Minister for Culture Parisa Liljestrand not to attend the opening ceremony on Jan. 23

But the 49 year-old film executive is used to navigating the often-troubled waters of Swedish film and politics, and stays focused on its main objectives: to serve as main hub of film culture in the Nordic region and to challenge audiences’ gaze on society and themselves.

The future for Göteborg looks bright says Lundberg, as its stable funding has been renewed for 2026, the Nordic-driven festival can count on the region’s sustained wide breath of quality pics and talent, the unwavering support from its 270,000+ ticket buyers and industry heavyweights such as Ruben Östlund and Alicia Vikander, and a buoyant film and TV industry sidebar that attracts more than 2,000 international delegates.

Lundberg spoke to us ahead of the festival kick off. 

Last year, at Göteborg’s opening ceremony, Sweden’s Culture Minister Parisa Liljestrand was booed following her controversial speech in which she called for Swedish films to become more commercial. This year she’s decided not to attend at all. What’s your reaction?

Pia Lundberg: I regret that the Minister for Culture has chosen not to attend the Nordic region’s largest film event. Göteborg is one of the most significant platforms for Swedish cinema, where films meet an engaged audience from across the country while the industry, international stakeholders and political decision-makers come together. At this time, when Swedish film is in a vulnerable position and the direction of Swedish film policy remains unclear, dialogue between politicians, film professionals and audiences is particularly important. It would, of course, have meant a great deal to have the Minister attending – not least as a signal that Swedish film matters. 

How was your experience of overseeing the festival program for the second year?

Pia Lundberg: The first year was of course a bit overwhelming and I felt very much like an absolute beginner, coming into a very experienced team of colleagues. So this year was a lot easier because I knew what to expect. I love the curating part, especially the focuses, because you really have to do much more beyond the film screenings.

Truth is this year’s overarching theme. Can you circle back on this choice, why it fits Göteborg’s DNA, and how this theme will be explored in the program?

The festival has been making a major focus for some 10 years now, and I agree when you say that ‘Truth’ fits Göteborg’s DNA which is among others, to stir our audience’s interest on burning societal issues. Truth is such a central theme, at a time when facts, scientific evidence and objective truth lose their power in our society. In today’s post-truth era, it is most appropriate to explore how film can both reflect and influence our understanding of reality.

Our Focus will have 11 films reflecting truth from very different perspectives, from Kaouther Ben Hania’s ““The Voice of Hind Rajab,” Kirill Serebrennikov’s “The Disappearance of Josef Mengele,” Andreas Pichler’ “Elon Musk Unveiled,” Petter Næss’s “No Comment” to Tia Lessin and Carl Deal’s  “Steal This Story, Please!” Deal, who is an Oscar-nominated filmmaker and journalist, will also attend our Focus Day on Truth, Monday Jan. 26, where he will discuss his film and long-time collaboration with Michael Moore. 

This year again you have a mind-blowing film stunt related to your main theme – Truth Tickets, with a lie detector test to make audiences not only reflect about truth but also face it in a tangible way. How did you come up with this brilliant idea, and who helped you put together the whole concept?

The Truth Ticket project was developed in a creative and close collaboration between the festival and our agency partner BBDO Nordics. Turning truth into a literal currency through a lie detector test feels perfectly aligned with this year’s theme. The promo film, starring David Dencik and Alexander Karim, is produced by Slutet Är Nära, and directed by Mats Udd. 

Going back to your programming, how many films did you watch, and what were your biggest challenges, considering the overall film industry context and calendar year?

We saw some 3,000 films across the programming committee. And I think one of our major challenges is definitely the one you mentioned, the timing of the festival in the calendar year.

The competition is really fierce, but I think we worked it out as well as we could, and we’ve collaborated closely with our closest “competitors.” With Sundance  – which unspools over exactly the same dates – we’re sharing a few titles like Andrius Blaževičius’ “How to Divorce During the War” and Malin Barr’s “Sauna Sickness.”

It was a bit trickier with Rotterdam which kickstarts a week after us; there were a few slots that we could work on because they have their first competition on the Friday [January 29]. I’ve been on the phone with [festival director] Vania Kaludjercic quite a few times and we’ve managed to also share some films such as Itonje Søimer Guttormsen’s “Butterfly” and Sean Dunn’s “The Fall of Sir Douglas Weatherford.”

Would you ever consider trying to get a FIAPF accreditation to join the A-list competitive festivals? Tallinn, for instance, really benefited from this…

We’ve of course followed Tallinn with great interest. but it’s not something that we are considering at the moment for various reasons. Göteborg is already strong, with an engaged and wonderful audience; focusing on world premieres would change the program quite a lot, although we did get 15 world premieres and five international premieres for the feature-length films and many more in our short film programs.

You have eight titles competing for the heavyweight Nordic Dragon Film Award. Could you highlight the four world premieres, including the opener “The Quiet Beekeeper”?

It’s really nice to have a Swedish opening film, because there’s been so much talk about Swedish cinema not doing well at the cinemas. The local box office share is quite low at 12% for 2025, and also the funding at the moment for Swedish films. We will discuss these topics properly at the Film Policy Summit on Jan. 23.

That said, we do have three strong Swedish films competing for the SEK 400,000 [$43,000] Dragon Award: John Skoog’s “Redoubt”, which first screened in San Sebastián, and two world premieres. “The Quiet Beekeeper,” written by and co-starring Adam Lundgren, is a moving and down-to-earth film which takes place far away from the big cities, in Värmland. With great sensitivity, Marcus Carlsson portrays the different stages of life and reminds us how the fragility between people can hold both pain and light.

Then we have Julia Thelin’s debut “The Patron,” about a young woman who pretends to be an art patron and gets involved with two young male artists. It’s very stylish and interesting, about power play.

From Finland, we have the world premiere of “Tell Everyone,” a beautifully shot and beautifully told period drama by Alli Haapasalo [“Girl Picture”], about a woman who is sent to a remote island where supposedly ‘“troublesome” women are locked away.

Finally, the fourth world premiere, “The Last Resort” from Denmark, is directed by Maria Sødahl. It’s a drama about a family whose dream-like holiday on an island is turned upside down when they get involved with a refugee. It’s very well-played by Danica Curcic and Esben Smed as the Danish couple faced with a moral dilemma. 

Based on the Nordic features and documentaries submitted, can you identify any trend?

The Nordics continues to deliver extremely engaging and powerful movies. This year in the Nordic competition we have mainly dramas, with at least three or four about families. As for documentaries, what’s interesting is that many take place in other countries than the Nordic region. There are also docu biopics like “The Curse of Kane” and a few docs about music and musicians, such as “Celtic Utopia” and “Malandro Moon,” about the frontman of the hip-hop group The Latin Kings. Both films are part of our Music Non Stop strand, a concept that started last year, with Swedish and international musicians and DJs delivering live events at the festival. 

Do you feel optimistic about the renewal of filmmaking talent in the Nordics?

We have 12 first-time Nordic filmmakers in our film program and also many new talents with short films. Our Startsladden , the most prestigious short film competition in Sweden, has eight films competing; it was really hard to choose among the many high-quality submissions this year. Therefore, although there is so much talk about Swedish film being under-financed and not reaching its audience, we can see many extremely talented newcomers eager to enter the industry. And that’s very hopeful.

In the International Competition you have the world premiere of Alex Camilleri’s “Zejtune” whose first feature “Luzzu” debuted in Sundance 2021. What can you say about this special pick?

There’s quite a bit of expectation around that film. It’s super cool to have secured it as a world premiere, thanks to our head of international program Johan Blomqvist. It’s a gripping and very finely drawn drama, portraying a young woman‘s encounter with an ageing folk singer. It’s a lovely tribute to the Maltese folk-singing tradition għana. We think that the audience will love it.

The Sven Nykvist Cinematography Award returns after a two-year hiatus. You must be happy to continue to honour the great cinematographer’s legacy…

Yes, it was discontinued, and we’re pleased to have found new partners in the Nykvist family that have been very involved in the process, and Fujifilm. As with the legendary Sven Nykvist, most well-known for his long-standing collaboration with Ingmar Bergman, many Nordic cinematographers are enjoying outstanding international careers, such as Oscar-winner Linus Sandgren [“La La Land,” “No Time to Die”], or Sophia Olsson [”Sami Blood,” “The Crown”] We’re very happy with that strand that will reward the best cinematographers from the Dragon Award Best Nordic Film nominated films. 

Noomi Rapace and Agnieszka Holland will receive respectively the Nordic and Honorary Dragon Awards. What has been their history with the festival and what does it mean to spotlight them and their career in Göteborg?

Well, it’s a huge pleasure to get both of them for the festival. With Agnieszka Holland, we have quite a funny history, actually, because it turned out – not many of us knew – that at the very first festival, 49 years ago, the opening film was called “Screen Tests,” and it was made by three Polish directors, one Agnieszka Holland. We’ll screen that film, alongside six other of her landmark features, including her latest work “Franz.”

We’re especially pleased to honor Agnieska, because through her work, she’s really tried to look into the topic of Truth, which is our focus theme.She’s been digging intomajor moral questions, such as the Holocaust in “Europa, Europa” and refugees in “Green Border.” Regarding Noomi Rapace, she is of course one of our most successful actresses in the Nordics and internationally.

The festival has screened several of her films in the past, the last ones in 2022 being Netflix’s “Black Crab,” as well as “Lamb”, which will screen this year as part of her retrospective. It feels very special to give her the Nordic Honorary Dragon Award, when she’s delivered such a great performance in” Mother Teresa.” 

The mega-stars and Göteborg natives Alicia Vikander and Ruben Östlund are major supporters of the festival – Alicia as initiator of the Alicia Vikander Film Lab which supports next gen filmmakers in Góteborg and Ruben as Honorary President. Can you comment on their attendance this year?

Yes, both Ruben and Alicia have been great supporters of the festival for quite some time now, and I was so happy when Ruben accepted to do a case study on his anticipated feature “The Entertainment is Down.” He will talk for some 45 minutes about the production, the story, and not least the huge cast. He will spend a few days at the festival. I’d like to stress that the session on Jan. 29 will be open to the industry and the general audience, as a proof of our festival and industry strands’ harmonious collaboration. 

As for Alicia, she inaugurated the Alicia Vikander Film Lab in 2021 which allows middle school kids in Göteborg to watch, create and discuss film for a whole year and present their final film on the opening day of the festival. Our cinema Stora Teatern will be full of young people and Alicia will be there to meet them and watch their works. She will also be visible during the festival for the screening of “The Wizard of the Kremlin,” and then she will also appear elsewhere, but it’s still secret!

Festivals depend on A-list names to boost ticket sales and media buzz. Could you cite other star guests attending?

Renate Reinsve for “Butterfly,” Trine Dyrholm, David Dencik for “Beginnings,” Denis Lavant for “Redoubt” Maryam Touzani and Nabil Ayouch for “Calle Malaga,” Mark Jenkin for “Rose of Nevada,” Mario Martone for “Fuori,” James Schamus, jury president of the Ingmar Bergman Competition and Joshua Oppenheimer, jury president, Nordic Competition, are some of the big names attending. 

Many festivals are struggling financially with cuts from public bodies. How do you surf today’s harsh economic reality

More than 50% of our budget comes from private funding from ticket sales (around 270,000 visits at cinemas and online) and partners. Next to this, our main public financiers are Västra Götaland region and the Swedish Film Institute. We are extremely pleased to have recently received their renewed confidence and stable funding for the coming year. It’s a great relief, especially after our Culture Minister’s emphasis on private financing.

Göteborg’s industry confab which attracts more than 2,000 delegates must be crucial to secure funding…

Yes, our industry sidebar is essential, and I’ve been following its impact – both nationally and internationally for many years, first as a journalist and then when I was head of international at the Swedish Film Institute. It means so much to the Nordic film industry and for international players taking the pulse of what’s happening in the Nordic region. That’s definitely a very big reason for the festival’s sustainability and attractiveness.

Can you comment on Draken Film, the festival’s streaming service, its reach, how it enhances the festival’s programming and dissemination of film as a cultural vehicle?

 We’ve been running it for nearly a decade and when COVID hit, Göteborg was one of the first festivals to roll out a real big online festival, without having to build up the whole infrastructure. Our CEO Mirja Wester who will step down after this edition, has played a key role in helping the festival transition to a digital format during that challenging period. With approximately 10,000 subscriptions, Draken Film has broadened the film offer during the film festival and throughout the year for audiences anywhere in Sweden. That’s part of our main mandates.