Swedish Film Institute
Encyclopedia
Swedish language
Swedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along its coast and on the Åland islands. It is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Danish...
Svenska Filminstitutet) was founded in 1963 to support and develop the Swedish film industry. The institute is housed in the Filmhuset building located in Gärdet
Gärdet
Gärdet is a part of Stockholm east and northeast of Östermalm. Its official name is Ladugårdsgärdet. It is renowned for its large number of modernist apartments...
, Östermalm in Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
. The building, completed in 1970, was designed by architect Peter Celsing
Peter Celsing
Peter Celsing was a Swedish modernist architect.Celsing studied at the architectural school of the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, and at the Royal Swedish Academy of Arts. He later became professor of architecture at the Royal Institute of Technology...
.
The Swedish Film Institute supports Swedish filmmaking and allocates grants for production, distribution and public showing of Swedish films in Sweden. It also promotes Swedish cinema internationally. Furthermore, the Institute organises the annual Guldbagge awards. The Swedish Film Database
Swedish Film Database
The Swedish Film Database is an internet database about Swedish films, published by the Swedish Film Institute. It contains information about all Swedish films from 1897 onwards and foreign films that had cinema premiere in Sweden. It also provides a lot of biographies of actors, directors,...
is published by the institute.
Through the Swedish Film Agreement, between the Swedish state and the film and media industry, the Government of Sweden
Government of Sweden
The Government of the Kingdom of Sweden is the supreme executive authority of Sweden. It consists of the Prime Minister and cabinet ministers appointed by the Prime Minister. The Government is responsible for their actions to the Riksdag, which is the legislative assembly...
, the TV companies which are party to the agreement, and Sweden's cinema owners jointly fund the Film Institute and thus, indirectly, Swedish filmmaking. The current agreement runs from January 1, 2006, until December 31, 2012.
The building also contains a large film archive and two theatres, named after Victor Sjöström
Victor Sjöström
Victor Sjöström was a Swedish actor, screenwriter, and film director.- Biography:Born in Silbodal, in the Värmland region of Sweden, he was only a year old when his father, Olof Adolf Sjöström, moved the family to Brooklyn, New York. His mother died when he was seven years old in 1886...
and Mauritz Stiller
Mauritz Stiller
Mauritz Stiller was a Finnish-Swedish actor, screenwriter and silent film director, who was mostly active in Sweden.-Life:...
, which regularly arrange screenings of classic films.
Managing directors
- 1963–1970 Harry ScheinHarry ScheinHarry Schein was an Austrian born Swedish writer and a major figure in Swedish culture. Schein was a founder of the Swedish Film Institute and acted as its first Managing Director from 1963 to 1978....
(1924–2006) - 1970–1972 Bo Jonsson (b. 1938)
- 1972–1978 Harry ScheinHarry ScheinHarry Schein was an Austrian born Swedish writer and a major figure in Swedish culture. Schein was a founder of the Swedish Film Institute and acted as its first Managing Director from 1963 to 1978....
(1924–2006) - 1978–1982 Jörn DonnerJörn DonnerJörn Johan Donner is a Finnish writer, film director, actor, producer, politician, member of the Donner family and founder of Finnish Film Archive. He has been associated with several different political parties, and has at different times been a member both of the Finnish parliament and the...
(b. 1933) - 1982–1989 Klas Olofsson
- 1989–1994 Ingrid Edström (b. 1931)
- 1994–1998 Lars EngqvistLars EngqvistLars Engqvist is a Swedish politician. He served as chairman of the youth organization of the Swedish Social Democrats from 1972 to 1978, and then worked as a journalist and editor-in-chief...
(b. 1945) - 1998–1999 Hans Ottosson
- 1999–2006 Åse KlevelandÅse KlevelandÅse Maria Kleveland is a Swedish-Norwegian singer and politician.A well-known folk singer and traditional guitarist in Norway, she was appointed Minister of Culture in Norway from 1990 to 1996, representing the Labour Party under the Gro Harlem Brundtland administration...
(b. 1949) - 2006—2010 Cissi Elwin Frenkel (b. 1965)
- 2010— n/a
Chairmen of the Board
- 1963-1967 Krister WickmanKrister WickmanHans Krister Wickman was a Swedish politician. He served as Minister for Foreign Affairs from 1971 to 1973. He was Governor of Sveriges Riksbank from 1973 to 1976. He also served as Minister of Industry from 1969 to 1971.- References :...
(1924–93) - 1967-1970 Roland Pålsson
- 1970-1978 Harry ScheinHarry ScheinHarry Schein was an Austrian born Swedish writer and a major figure in Swedish culture. Schein was a founder of the Swedish Film Institute and acted as its first Managing Director from 1963 to 1978....
(1924–2006) - 1978-1981 Per AhlmarkPer AhlmarkPer Axel Ahlmark is a Swedish writer and former politician. He was the leader of the Liberal People's Party from 1975 to 1978, and Minister for Employment and Deputy Prime Minister in the Swedish government from 1976 to 1978...
(b. 1939) - 1981-1984 Bert Levin
- 1984-1992 Hans Löwbeer (1923–2004)
- 1992-1999 Åke Ahrsjö (b. 1929)
- 1999-2005 Lisa Söderberg
- 2005- Håkan Tidlund