"Triangle of Sadness" wins big at the Guldbagge Awards

by Nathaniel R

Sweden's Guldbagge Award, designed by Karl Axel Pehrson, looks like something out of a Cronenberg movie and we respect that. It doesn't look much like any other golden film award. It's chased in copper and enameled before the gold enters the picture. The Guidbagges were first handed out in 1964 when the late Ingmar Bergman, still Sweden's most famous auteur, took home Best Film and Best Director for The Silence. Other Swedish classics that have won the top prize include other Bergman masterpieces like Persona, Fanny & Alexander, and Cries and Whispers, arthouse auteur pics like You the Living and Border, Oscar darlings like The Emigrants, Pelle the Conquerer, and My Life as a Dog, and LGBTQ favourites like the teen lesbian drama Show Me Love and gay dance drama And Then We Danced.

This year's big winner was Oscar-nominated satire Triangle of Sadness which took home six prizes... 

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"Holy Spider" and other interesting updates to Best International Feature Film

by Nathaniel R

"Holy Spider" will be released in the US, dates TBA

Lots to tell you about today in the Best International Feature Film race. We are just six days away from the deadline for countries to submit their representative film for consideration at the upcoming Oscars but we know one country that won't be submitting and that's Russia since they're boycotting us given which side we fall on in their war on Ukraine.

We generally know most of the list before that deadline due to press releases from all around the world. But not all. There are usually about 90ish entries and we have 70 announced thus far. You might remember that last year the Academy chucked their (very good and transparent) tradition of releasing the full official list of submissions in early October. If they continue that this year we won't have exact counts for awhile which is quite sad since those films need all the attention they can get and they only have a short window to get that since the all but 10 of them will be culled on December 21st when the shortlist is announced. What's more we thrive on statistics and factoids when getting obsessed with this niche window into global cinema and you cant do that without the exact list. ANYWAY, sorry about all the minutae. There are quite a few interesting new submissions / factoids to share with you after the jump...

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Denmark's 3 Oscar finalists and their strong awards history

by Nathaniel R

If you've been reading the Film Experience for some time you know that your host here is fond of Scandinavian cinema. I'm of partial Danish descent and once lived in Norway and the two combined prompted the interest around the time the Oscars took over my life. When it comes to Oscars' Best International Feature Film category the common wisdom is that France, Italy, an Spain reign but that's only because they have the most in terms of "all time" stats. If you look at more recent history, it's a much different story. For instance, in the 22 years of the 21st century to date, Norway has doubled its meager nomination count and Denmark has more than doubled its previous nomination count. In fact, Denmark is currently tied for #1 in terms of Oscar's favourite foreign country of the 21st century thus far (8 nominations and 2 wins... which Germany also has. Only Sweden, once Oscar's favourite scandinavian country, has been losing momentum.

To make a long story short, Denmark should always be watched closely in the Oscar race. After the jump their three finalists for their 2022 Oscar submission plus their rich Oscar history overall...

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Sweden's three Oscar submission finalists

by Nathaniel R

BOY FROM HEAVEN

In something of a surprise Sweden's shortlist for their Oscar submissions does not include the adolescent grief drama Comedy Queen or the Tehran-set serial killer film Holy Spider, which won awards at Berlinale and Cannes, respectively. Instead they'll be choosing between the following three movies...

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The Nordic Council Film Prize Nominees

by Nathaniel R

The news just keeps coming for prestigious cinematic honors outside the US. Swiftly on the heels of the EFA longlist and Norway's Amanda Awards, the Nordic Council Film Prize has announced its five nominees for 2022...

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