The wind of creativity has been blowing in the blue and yellow flag with a power of a force 9 gale over the last two to three years. Festival selection - and awards - are often the best evidence and easiest way to measure artistic success. 2008 was already a record year with 92 international wins. 2009 exceeded this number by far not only in terms of volume but also in terms of depth and variety of films awarded. On the feature film side, the most awarded films were Patrik Age 1.5 by Ella Lemhagen - supported by Nordisk Film & TV Fond - and Flickan (The Girl) by Fredrik Edfeldt with 12 and 10 international wins each. Other festival hits were Let the Right One In (five awards) and Everlasting Moments. In the documentary genre, the short animation film Slavar (Slaves) by Hanna Heilborn and David Aronowitsch had 13 international recognitions. The most successful Swedish short filmmaker was Patrik Eklund with his two films Instead of Abracadabra (shortlisted for an Oscar nomination 2010) and Seeds of the Fall.
Pia Lundberg, (photo) head of the SFI International department stressed that 2009 was a record year for Swedish film abroad because "several artistically challenging films attracted lots of attention at world film festivals while the ‘Millennium' films ruled the box office in several countries. " She also underlined the controversy that surrounded Swedish documentary films such as Videocracy and Bananas! and their ability to take global debate to an upper level.
For the full list of 2009 international awards to Swedish films, see: http://www.sfi.se/