The Arts

Jan Troell is a Swedish film director and cinematographer who also made a number of internationally successful films, such as 'The Flight of an Eagle' (Ingenjör Andrées luftfärd) in 1982.

The Swedish documentary filmmaker Arne Sucksdorff was born in Stockholm in 1917. Sucksdorff is the most important documentarist in Swedish film, and has been a source of inspiration for younger filmmakers such as Stefan Jarl.

Scandinavian goddesses, gods, and supernatural deities: nowadays it is common to encounter the Norse myths being popularized in the mass media, in electronic games, in cinema and art in general. But in past contexts, they also had a different status, used as elements in the history of nations, in public monuments, in political speeches and in other spheres of society. Adam Fabricius' "Illustreret Danmarkshistorie for folket" (Illustrated History of Denmark for the People) from 1854 was an exhaustive work intended to cover all of Denmark’s history in two volumes. It reflects the concern over the unification of the Kingdom of Denmark and the return of the Duchy of Schleswig to the ‘Fatherland’, which was the main political and national concern of Danish intellectuals and artists at the time; ancestors and myths were used to evoke national romanticism and to underline Denmark’s claim to the Duchy of Schleswig as legitimate. The use of stereotypes, heroes, gods and goddesses as well as mythical events provide a variety of images that readers at the time could identify with – and unashamedly blurred the boundary between ‘myth’ and ‘history’ at a time when evoking nationalism was key.

The Swedish novelist and film director Vilgot Sjöman was born in Stockholm in 1924. Sjöman’s output was extensive and included novels and essays as well as political statements and contributions to debates on moral topics; but first and foremost he was a film director.

The Swedish actress and film director Mai Zetterling was born in Västerås in 1925. Having established herself as a popular actress in Swedish film, Zetterling moved to England where she acted in several films, among them 'Only Two Can Play' (1962) with Peter Sellers.

The Swedish film director, drama director and novelist Bo Widerberg was born in Malmö in 1930. After several novels and collections of short stories, Widerberg published a collection of critical essays, 'Visionen i svensk film' (1962) (The Vision of Swedish film), in which he attacked Sweden’s insular film culture and promoted a new wave of realism in the cinema.

Listen to a short story by Sally Salminen in either English or Danish!

Introduction:

I 1944 udgav den berømte finsk-svenske romanforfatter Sally Salminen ’Kommer far hjem til jul?’ som en novelle i magasinet Juleroser.…

Introduction:

In 1944, 'Juleroser' ('Christmas Roses') magazine published  the renowned Finland-Swedish novelist Sally Salminen's short story 'Kommer…

Stefan Jarl is one of the most important and influential documentarists in contemporary Swedish cinema. Stefan Jarl was born in 1941 in Skara. From a left-wing perspective, he has highlighted social and environmental problems. Jarl has promoted the documentary as an art form, and from 1995 to 2005 he was curator of the ‘Little film festival’ in Båstad, Sweden.