20/01/2026 - The final part of Tarek Saleh’s “Cairo Trilogy” has bowed out with an impressive track record; other victors included Kevlar Soul and Raptures

The winners of the 2026 Guldbagge Awards (© Annika Berglund/Swedish Film Institute)

Since its May 2025 Cannes competition premiere, Eagles of the Republic [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Tarik Saleh
film profile] has steadily cruised forward as the flagship of this past year in Swedish film. Submitted for the Oscars, it ultimately didn’t make the shortlist, but it eventually landed a whopping 11 nominations – an all-time high – for the national Guldbagge (lit. “Golden Beetle”) awards, festively celebrated at Stockholm’s legendary Cirkus on Monday night.

The final part of Tarek Saleh’s ambitious and politically charged “Cairo Trilogy” bowed out with an impressive track record, bagging six wins, including Best Film (also awarded to “Part 1”, The Nile Hilton Incident [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Tarik Saleh
film profile]) and Best Screenplay (also awarded to “Part 2”, Boy from Heaven [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Tarik Saleh
film profile]). Appearing in all three entries, thesp Fares Fares, previously rewarded for The Nile Hilton Incident, got lucky again, scoring the Best Actor Award for his portrayal of a troubled Egyptian movie star coerced into playing the main protagonist in an outrageously glorifying biopic about the country’s president. Additional gongs for Eagles went to the costume, make-up and visual creators behind the film.

The Best Director Award, for which Saleh was arguably the favourite, went to first-time feature maker Maria Eriksson-Hecht for the social-realist youth drama Kevlar Soul [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Maria Eriksson-Hecht
film profile], which also won acting accolades for the seasoned Torkel Petersson and for fresh-faced newcomer Rio Svensson. Jon Blåhed’s Raptures [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], shot mainly in the Finnish-Ugrian Meänkieli language, got the Awards for Best Actress for Jessica Grabowsky and for Best Musical Score for Rebekka Karijord. Blåhed’s atmospheric tale, playing out during the 1930s evangelical revival movement in the Torne River Valley in northernmost Sweden, has had a busy festival journey after winning the Big Screen Award at last year’s IFFR. Several worthy works – Pella Kågerman and Hugo Lilja’s sci-fi fantasy Egghead Republic [+see also:
film review
film profile], the young-adult drama Live a Little [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Fanny Ovesen
film profile] by Fanny Ovesen and the sprightly romcom 7 Steps by Andreas Öhman – received, at best, one single award.

A refreshing contrast to the Machiavellian male autocrats of Tarik Saleh’s universe was the omnipresence of dynamic dames of feisty femininity at the gala, not least via this year’s Lifetime Achievement Award laureate, PR doyenne of five decades and counting Ylva Swedenborg, and 1960s pop icon Siw Malmkvist, the main subject of Stina Gardell’s Audience Award-winning documentary My Life as Siw, whose life spans eight decades and counting. Shima Niavarani hosted the ceremony with flying colours, as expected, while Minister of Culture Parisa Liljestrand, currently somewhat estranged from the Swedish film industry, seemingly preferred to engage in other activities on the night.

Here is the full list of award winners:

Best Film
Eagles of the Republic [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Tarik Saleh
film profile] – Tarik Saleh (Sweden/France/Denmark)

Best Director
Maria Eriksson-Hecht – Kevlar Soul [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Maria Eriksson-Hecht
film profile] (Sweden/Finland)

Best Actress in a Leading Role
Jessica Grabowsky – Raptures [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] (Sweden/Finland)

Best Actor in a Leading Role
Fares Fares – Eagles of the Republic

Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Anki Lidén – The Home [+see also:
film review
interview: Mattias J Skoglund
film profile] (Sweden/Estonia/Iceland)

Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Torkel Petersson – Kevlar Soul

Best Screenplay
Tarik Saleh – Eagles of the Republic

Best Cinematography
Josephine Owe – 7 Steps

Best Editing
Stefan Sundlöf, Magnus Svensson – The Dialogue Police

Best Costumes
Virginie Montel – Eagles of the Republic

Best Sound/Sound Design
Ulrika Akander, Tove Lidman, Therese Gylfe Jensen – The Dog (Sweden/Kenya)

Best Make-up
Saara Räisänen – Eagles of the Republic

Best Original Score
Rebekka Karijord – Raptures

Best Set Design
Petra Kågerman – Egghead Republic [+see also:
film review
film profile]

Best Visual Effects
Peter Hjorth, Anders Nyman, Per Nyman, Mikael Windelin – Eagles of the Republic

Best Documentary Film
Trans Memoria [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Victoria Verseau
film profile] – Victoria Verseau (Sweden/France)

Best Short Film
Dancing Pigeons – Christofer Nilsson (Sweden/France)

Lifetime Achievement Award
Ylva Swedenborg (PR agent)

The Gullspira (for achievements in children’s film)
Jessika Jankert (scriptwriter)

The Guldpiga (for emerging talents)
Rio Svensson (actor, Kevlar Soul)

The Guldbagge Audience Award
My Life as Siw – Stina Gardell