07/01/2025 - Alongside a selection of Nordic treats, Thomas Vinterberg and Julie Delpy will be special honourees, with Mohammad Rasoulof being a highlight of the “Disobedience” focus

Freshly unveiled today, 270 titles from 83 countries are getting ready to grace screens at the 48th edition of the Göteborg Film Festival, taking place from 24 January-2 February. The tenure of new artistic director Pia Lundberg, succeeding Jonas Holmberg’s ten-year stint, bodes well for the maintenance of the festival as a true stronghold of the Nordic region, yet with a universal perspective.

The festival will open with the Norwegian title Safe House, directed by Eirik Svensson and starring Kristine Kujath Thorp (Sick of Myself [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Kristine Kujath Thorp
interview: Kristoffer Borgli
film profile]) as a Doctors Without Borders medic who gives shelter to a Muslim refugee during the Central African Republic civil war in 2013. Alexander Karim (Gladiator II) and Alma Pöisty (Tove [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Zaida Bergroth
film profile]) co-star. Svensson’s film is one of the nine contenders for this years’ Nordic Competition, which also include the first features by Swedes Maria Eriksson-Hecht, the coming-of-age tale Kevlar Soul, and Fanny Ovesen, whose Live a Little follows two female friends couchsurfing through Europe. From Denmark comes Sauna, a queer love story by Mathias Broe, and Sylvia Le Fanu’s debut feature, My Eternal Summer [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Sylvia Le Fanu
film profile]. Also competing in this section for a first prize of 400,000 SEK (roughly €35,000) is Magnus von Horn’s The Girl with the Needle [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Magnus von Horn
film profile], Rúnar Rúnarsson’s When the Light Breaks [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Rúnar Rúnarsson
film profile], Dag Johan Haugerud’s Love [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Dag Johan Haugerud
film profile] and Pirjo Honkasalo’s Orenda.

In all, 26 features will world-premiere, including Ragnhild Ekner’s study of Swedish football supporters, Ultras; Norwegian helmer Trond Kvig Andreassen’s Kyiv Soloists, about a Ukrainian music ensemble that, while touring in Italy, receives news of the war at home and decides to remain on the road; and Swedish filmmaker Susanna Edwards’ account of the special force assigned to act as a buffer zone between activists and police during demonstrations, The Dialogue Police. All three are entered in the Nordic Documentary Competition section. Additional Nordic treats include Tomas Alfredson’s series adaptation of Ingmar Bergman and Liv Ullmann’s Faithless, Jimmy Olsson’s absurdist new miniseries starring Anna Odell and Tuva Novotny At Arm’s Length, and veteran auteur Jan Troell’s ongoing essay project Once Upon a Time, There Was a Now.

Special career honours will be bestowed upon Julie Delpy and Thomas Vinterberg, both in attendance, as will be Mohammad Rasoulof, bringing along his Cannes-awarded The Seed of the Sacred Fig [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Mohammad Rasoulof
film profile], which is also highlighted among the 14 feature-length entries in this year’s special Göteborg focus, dubbed “Disobedience”. Other titles represented here are Havana Marking’s Undercover: Exposing the Far Right, Nishtha Jain’s Farming the Revolution, Dea Kulumbegashvili’s April [+see also:
film review
interview: Dea Kulumbegashvili
film profile] and Alessandra Celesia’s The Flats [+see also:
film review
interview: Alessandra Celesia
film profile].

“We will twist and turn the concept of disobedience. When does it go too far, and is the disregard for laws and rules a reasonable price for change in a democratic society?” ponders the presentation of this theme, continuing: “We hope and believe that the films and conversations in this focus will be able to inspire hope by showing that every individual has the power to exert an influence, and that every courageous ‘no’ can be the beginning of something greater. We are ready for it now.”

The full programme is available to peruse here.