"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... 

Ruben Östlund on the set of "Triangle of Sadness".© Heretic

The runner up in terms of nominations (though it only won one Guildbagge) was Boy From Heaven, Sweden's Oscar finalist this season, which was retitled Cairo Conspiracy for its US release last month.

The nominees (which are decided by a large jury) and winners are listed below.

BEST FILM

• Boy from Heaven 
• Comedy Queen 
• Historjá – Stitches for Sápmi 
• I Am Zlatan
• ★ Triangle of Sadness

BEST DIRECTOR 

• Sanna Lenken  for Comedy Queen
• Tarik Saleh  for Boy from Heaven
• Jens Sjögren  for I Am Zlatan 
• ★  Ruben Östlund  for Triangle of Sadness

BEST ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE

• ★  Sigrid Johnson  for Sasha in Comedy Queen
• Bahar Pars  for Nilo in Maya Nilo (Laura)
• Vera Vitali  for Lisa in Long Live the Bonus Family
• Katia Winter  for Hanna in The Year I Started Masturbating

BEST ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE

• Tawfeek Barhom  for Adam in Boy from Heaven
• ★  Granit Rushiti  for Zlatan in I Am Zlatan
• Oscar Töringe  for Abbe in Comedy Queen
• Sven Wollter (posthumously) for Malte in Day by Day

Both lead acting prizes went to very young actors. Comedy Queen is about a 13 year old who wants to be a comedian and I Am Zlatan is about a future football champ at age 17. The latter is also a reminder that awards shows in every country love their biopics.  

BEST ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE 

• ★  Dolly de Leon  for Abigail in Triangle of Sadness
• Marika Lindström  for Karin Stolpe in Burn All My Letters
• Liv Mjönes  for Ullis in R.S.V.P.
• Carla Sehn  for Stella in Locals 

BEST ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

• Håkan Bengtsson  for Nils-Åke in I Am Zlatan
• ★  Zlatko Burić for Dimitry in Triangle of Sadness
• Fares Fares  for Ibrahim in Boy from Heaven
• Sten Ljunggren  for Sven Stolpe in Burn All My Letters

Both supporting prizes in Sweden went to international actors who were the MVPs of Triangle of Sadness. Dolly de Leon is from the Philippines and Zlatko Buric is from Croatia. This win for our beloved Dolly de Leon reminds us that her Oscar snub is the year's most egregious. She shoulda won!

BEST SCREENPLAY 

• ★  Tarik Saleh  for Boy from Heaven
• David Lagercrantz and Jakob Beckman  for I Am Zlatan
• Lovisa Sirén and Peter Modestij  for Maya Nilo (Laura) 
• Ruben Östlund for Triangle of Sadness

Saleh also won this prize at Cannes last May. 

BEST EDITING

• Theis Schmidt for Boy from Heaven
• ★  Åsa Mossberg and Line Schou for Daughters
• Fredrik Morheden and Crazy Pictures for UFO Sweden

The winner here was a documentary about three girls growing up in southern Sweden whose mother took her own life. Åsa Mossberg's credits include the previous Swedish Oscar submission Tigers and Lars von Trier's Antichrist. Unlike at the Oscars, documentaries compete with narrative features in many of the categories.

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

• Simon Pramsten  for Comedy Queen
• Stellan Runge for Burn All My Letters
• ★  Jonas Alarik  for Black Crab

Black Crab is a post-apocalyptic action film starring Noomi Rapace. It's currently streaming on Netflix. 

BEST SOUND DESIGN

• ★ Ted Krotkiewski  for All of Our Heartbeats Are Connected Through Exploding Stars
• Johan Johnson  for Historjá – Stitches for Sápmi 
• Fredrik Jonsäter and Jan Kasskawo  for I Am Zlatan

The winner here is a documentary about how people rebuild after catastrophes, using the 2011 Japanese tsunami as a backdrop.

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

• Irya Gmeyner and Martin Hederos for Comedy Queen
• ★  Eirik Havnes  for Historjá – Stitches for Sápmi 
• Lisa Montan  for JerryMaya’s Detective Agency – The Riddle of the Scorpion

The winner here is a documentary about a Samí artist who has been depicting indigenous mythology for decades and is now a climate change activist

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

• ★  Simon Sandin  for Black Crab
• Peter Hjorth, Peter Toggeth Karlsson, Ludwig Källén and Vincent Larsson  for Triangle of Sadness
• Jacob Danell and Crazy Pictures for UFO Sweden

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

• Denise Östholm  for Boy from Heaven
• Ingrid Sjögren  for Burn All My Letters
• ★ Sofie Krunegård for Triangle of Sadness

BEST SET DESIGN

• Josefin Åsberg  for Burn All My Letters 
• ★  Linda Janson  for Black Crab
• Josefin Åsberg  for Triangle of Sadness

BÄSTA MAKEUP

• Eva von Bahr  for Burn All My Letters
• Eglė Mikalauskaitė-Gricienė for Hilma
• ★  Stefanie Gredig  for Triangle of Sadness

Documentary and short films are decided by separate juries from the rest of the awards above.

 BEST SHORT FILM

• Dance My Doll Director: Jasmijn Kooijman
• The Story of Bodri Director: Stina Wirsén
• ★  Little to Big Directors: Ellen Fiske and Ellinor Hallin

BEST DOCUMENTARY FILM

• Daughters Director: Jenifer Malmqvist
• ★  Historjá – Stitches for Sápmi  Director: Thomas Jackson
• Nelly & Nadine Director: Magnus Gertten
• The Scars of Ali Boulala Director: Max Eriksson