Sweden's Oscar History

by Nathaniel R

Charter, a child custody and abduction drama, will represent Sweden this season at the Oscars. It previously played at the Göteborg, Sundance, and Zurich film festivals. It's the second feature from Amanda Kernell who won several festival awards with her debut Sami Blood (2016). Familiar face and acclaimed Norwegian star Ane Dahl Torp (1001 Grams, Pioneer, Dead Snow, The Wave) headlines. 

Though Denmark is currently more popular with Oscar voters than Sweden, Sweden is the all-time leader among Scandinavian countries. That's due in large part to three auteurs: Ingmar Bergman, Jan Troell, and Bo Widerberg who were contemporaries in mid 20th century cinema. An investigation of Sweden's Oscar history after the jump...

SWEDEN'S OSCAR STATS
Submitting since 1956 (the first year of the competition)
58 Total Submissions 
16 Nominations (and 3 Additional Finalists)
3 Wins (all the wins are Ingmar Bergman films)

The Virgin Spring (later remade with an explotation horror slant as Last House on the Left)was the first of Ingmar Bergman's three winning films in this category

KEY SUBMISSIONS 

• The Seventh Seal (1957) The first time they submitted Ingmar Bergman. Unsuccessful. 
• The Magician (1958) The second time they tried with Ingmar Bergman. Oscar also passed.
• The Virgin Spring (1960) Winner (...third time was the charm)
• Through a Glass Darkly (1961) Winner
• Raven's End (1964) Nominee
• Dear John (1965) Nominee
• Persona (1966) It seems incredible now but despite two Oscars for Bergman films that very decade they ignored this masterpiece!
• Adalen 31 (1969) Nominee
• A Swedish Love Story (1970) - Their first of FOUR attempts to send the inimitable Roy Andersson who continues to make bizarre movies with a besotted cult following. Oscar hasn't yet bit; their loss!
• The Emigrants (1971) Nominee -The first Swedish picture to get a Best Picture nomination at the Oscars. The second was Cries and Whispers by Ingmar Bergman which very curiously was not submitted by Sweden for this category  --they sent nothing that year! 
• The New Land (1972) Nominee
• Flight of the Eagle (1982) Nominee
• Fanny & Alexander (1983) Winner
• The Sacrifice (1986) - Sweden sent the great Russian director Andrei Tarkovsky's final film (who had emigrated to Sweden) but Oscar passed. 
• The Ox (1991) Nominee
• All Things Fair (1995) Nominee
• Show Me Love (1998) - This charming teen lesbian coming of age drama (also known as Fucking Âmal) was the directorial debut of Lukas Moodyson who has gone on to have a significant international profile. But still no Oscar attention. Oscar doesn't usually go for the gay dramas, sadly.
• Under the Sun (1999) Nominee
• Lilja 4ever (2002) - Lukas Moodyson's second and only other submission, also excellent. There was some controversy because the dialogue was in Russian but Oscar has since loosened up about the language requirements. It no longer has to be an indigenous language to the country sending it. The film about sex child trafficking was ahead of its time as that horrific topic hadn't permeated the popular culture yet. 
• Evil (2003) Nominee
• As It Is in Heaven (2004) Nominee
• Everlasting Moments (2008) Finalist
• Simple Simon (2010) Finalist
• Force Majeure (2014) Finalist
• A Man Called Ove (2016) Nominee
• The Square (2017) Nominee
• Border (2018) Though this unforgettable oddity didn't score in this category it did get a well deserved Best Makeup nomination at the Oscars
• And Then We Danced (2019) Arguably better than the bulk of Oscar's lineup last year and it didn't even make their finals. Grrrr. They never go for the gay stuff. 

Most Frequently Submitted Directors for Best International Feature Film

1. Ingmar Bergman (8 submissions, 3 nominated films, all of which won)
2. Jan Troell (5 submissions, 3 nominated films)
3. Bo Widerberg (4 submissions, 3 nominated films)
4. Roy Andersson (4 submissions, none nominated)
5. Ruben Östlund (3 submissions, 1 nominated film, 1 finalist)
6. Colin Nutley (3 submissions, 1 nominated film)
7. Kay Pollak (2 submissions, 1 nominated film)
8. [TIE] 2 submissions, neither nominated: Lukas Moodyson, Josef Fares, and Kjell Grede

Most Oscar Honored Swedish Artists

Ingmar Bergman with his Norwegian collaborator/muse/partner Liv Ullmann

1. Ingmar Bergman (9 nominations via Directing, Writing, Producing) plus 3 nominations/wins in Best International Film* plus an Honorary Oscar
2. Ingrid Bergman (6 nominations and 3 wins for acting)
3. Jan Troell (2 nominations 1 each for directing/writing) plus 3 nominations in Best International Film*
4. Per Hallberg (4 nominations and 3 wins for sound editing)
5. Paul N.J. Otteson (3 nominations and 3 wins for sound categories)
6. Sven Nykvist (3 nominations and 2 wins for cinematography)
7. Greta Garbo (3 nominations for acting plus an Honorary Oscar)
8. Marik Vos-Lundh (3 nominations and 1 win for costume design)
9. Lasse Hallstrom (3 nominations via directing/writing)
10. Bo Widerberg (3 nominations in Best International Film*)
11. [TIE] 2 nominations each: Max von Sydow and Ann-Margret (acting), Love Larson and Eva Von Bahr (makeup), Bent Forgslund (writing/producing)

*We're aware that this isn't "officially" a stat since Directors don't win but countries, but since the director actually receives it and gives the speech (and had more to do with making the movie than the country did) we consider it their honor, too.

Comments

[Peggy Sue]

This recaps are so interesting. I could have sworn that Sweden had more wins than Spain.

[Dan Humphrey]

Sweden has always been a major film country, certainly tops in Scandinavia. Two of it's silent-era directors, Victor Sjöström and the more-or-less-openly-gay Mauritz Stiller, were absolute titans, and the 1916 VINGARNE is widely accepted as the first LGBTQ feature film. Even without Bergman you've had great Swedish filmmakers all along including Mai Zetterling (a feminist titan) and Vilgot Sjöman, whose I AM CURIOUS (YELLOW) brought down the walls of censorship around the world (after Bergman's THE SILENCE caused the first cracks.) They actually, across the board, have a good history of LGBTQ representation. Look for Eva Beling's PREJUDICE AND PRIDE, a documentary about the history of LGBTQ representation in Swedish film next year. It has lots of great interivews: Liv Ullmann, Harriet Andersson, Levan Akin, Bruce LaBruce, and, ahem, me.

[Jesus Alonso]

"La Trinchera Infinita" has been finally selected by Spain for the Oscars... It could be nominated.

[Jonathan]

Wasn't SISTER a finalist in 2012? Totally snubbed, though. Ursula Meier is so great. I wish she would make more movies!

[Jonathan]

D'oh! That was Swiss, not Swedish. Still not fully awake apparently. ;)

[Working stiff]

Shouldn't Liv Ullmann also be sharing that #11 spot with her two Best Actress nominations?

[Jake]

Wouldn’t Cries and Whispers have been eligible for International Film in 1972, when The New Land was submitted instead?

[Dan Humphrey]

@Working stiff: Liv Ullmann is Norwegian

[Working stiff]

@ Dan Humphrey

Well, that explains that. ;-)

[Dan Humphrey]

@Jake CRIES AND WHISPERS opened in the US in 72 (surely with awards consideration and top ten lists in mind) but it's official Swedish premiere was in March of 73, so they could have sent it that year. It probably wasn't finished in time to be submitted in 72, anyway. Films have to go through a long vetting process to be submitted by their home countries, as I understand it, and that starts in the fall. It makes sense that Sweden didn't send it, there was a backlash in the country against Bergman about that time, one caused, in part, by the fact that he received a government grant to help pay for CRIES AND WHISPERS, which kept more struggling Swedish filmmakers from being funded, they thought it was outrageous that someone as big as Bergman would be going hat in hand to the government for an arts grant to make his film.

[Evan]

Charter was the right choice for Sweden, given that the other options were a documentary and the latest Roy Andersson. It's pretty thrilling and the lead actress is wonderful. I could see it making the shortlist.

[Luis]

"The square" was robbed. Badly.

[kermit_the_frog]

The Seventh Seal, Persona, Fucking Amal, Lilja 4ever, Force Majeure and And Then We Danced are all sitting on my box, waiting to be seen - I need to make an effort!

I have seen The Square and Claes Bang deserved all the Leading Actor awards in 2017...

[leon]

Ingrid Bergman had 7 Oscar noms not 6