Why The Swedish Film Market Is A Dying Business

If you ask Swedes, they prefer streaming before going to cinema. That’s might be a problem for the future.

Nordisk Film, a century-old production company. One of the world oldest companies producing films. It’s one of the biggest companies in Scandinavia and has been home to so many films. SF Studios, home to Vilgot Sjöström and Ingmar Bergman. SF has the monopoly of cinemas in Sweden and the rest of the Nordics.

The Swedish Film Institute has pressured to cash in a lot of money to produce movies that they think the audience would like but the number contradict their wishes. This institution, sponsored by tax money and support from the state. Production companies are happy when a film has had 200.000 visitors for a film. If it reaches 800.000 visitor’s, it’s a grandeur success. The Film Institute in Sweden tries each year, to modernize their program of movies.

• Target population: All permanent cinema theatres.
• Object definition: A cinema is a motion-picture theatre with one or more halls open to the public. In every cinema hall there is a motion picture screen (3D screen, 2K screen, IMAX or similar) and a number of seats. Tickets sold include tickets that have been paid for, and only tickets to general screenings in cinema theatres are included.
• Object: Cinema
  • Source: NordicStatistics.com

The trend of swedish film industry losing the interest of cinema has been going on for a while. This is mostly because of the peak-ambitious of invest in reality-streaming programs. The independent film companies in Swedish spends a lot of millions on reality shows. Few of this shows up on national channels. These are though TV-programs that many youngsters doens’t share an interest in. This also affected by the streaming frenzi that has happened the last couple of years. With both C More, DiscoveryPlus and ViaPlay establishing an market in Sweden and the Scandinavia, the option to choose a cinematic experience has lost it’s momentum. The market of reality-series that a lot of the audience doens’t want, seems to has peaked over the years. For some reason, this has not been enough established in netiher Norway, Denmark or Finland.

Denmark

2019

23,7

2020

49,7

2021

37

Finland 

2019 15,5

2020

39,1

2021

25,5

Norway

2019

16,1

2020

35,7

2021

28,1

Sweden

2019

13,3

2020

25,5

2021

11

According to Statista; Between 2019, 2020, 2021, these was the cinema attendees in nordic countries. Sweden is the twice the large as it’s number but has for year fluctuated in cinema. In 2016 feature-film productions in Sweden reached 35 films and in 2021 there was 25 movies produced.

Sure, 17,8 million visits has been done in the Scandinavia in 2016. In 2020, Sweden had roughly 5.7 million visitors to cinema. It was low due to the pandemic, but Sweden was the most opened countries in the whole nordic region.

It’s not just that the quantitiee in film that has sunked in the industry for Sweden. Few films from Sweden has reached international success. Ruben östlund is one of the few that has gained stardom with Force Majure, The Square and The Triangle of Sadness with his provocotive and eccentric storytelling. It was in 1992, when Sweden won for Best International Film in Hollywood. Östlund was nominated three times for Triangle of Sadness and didn’t win. Iceland has not achieved this, Finland has been nominated once for The Otehr Side of Hope in 2017. Norway has been nominated twice in the last ten years for both Kon-Tiki and The Cave. Denmark, on the other hand, has achieved a succesful formula. Mostly becuase they have a recepeit for this. They have been nominated four times for A Royal Afffair, The Hunt, A War and Another Round. This is mostly thank to Thomas Vinterberg who has reached stardom with Mads Mikkelsen.

No, a film is not better just becuase it got nominated but it’s a recept from hollywood and acceptance from other companies that this particular movie has a concept that worth following. After the win for Parasite a trend has been launced with more asian-directed film which has taken grand slam during Award Season in Hollywood.

Sweden Film Industry influenced the world of Cinema for a long time with Ingmar Bergman, who together with Lukas Moodysson and Ruben Östlund has achived swedish cultural definition. Sweden conquered the market for so long and then it just stopped. Not just because of Bergman didn’t make films anymore in the beginning of 2000 but also because the interest to produce movies seems to lose its momentum. Norway has recently produced a WWII-movie called Battle of Narvik and so has Denmark called The Shadow in My Eye. With their history of World War II it’s an understandable direction to produce. Although, Sweden has a rich history that could be great films but there’s always obstacle in the way. Mostly it’s politicial or financial reason behind it. The last time it was achieved here in sweden, was with Stieg Larsson The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo which was first directed by danish Niels Arden Oplev.

What’s odd is that the Swedens culture are exploiting it’s film market by increasing the ticket price, not allowing outside food in the cinema. It also seems like companies doesn’t want their movies to reach cinema. It’s few times domestic films has reached out well in both Sweden and International. If Swedish filmmakers succeds it’s often the same middle-age directors and few times new filmmakers. Denmark has a variety of competent directors that makes both beautiful and intelligent films, somehting Sweden as a film market seems to lose interest in.

In Sweden, it’s mostly independent American, European films that exhibits for an expensive ticket that has doubled in price over ten years. It’s also often American films that has been on the market in North America. The joy of filmmaking in Sweden seems to become a dying craftmanship, with expensive filmschools, tough work climate and horrible working conditions. Sweden would need to earn the publics interest by investing in films and genres that would essential become a market. In recent year, this has been a new trend but what both Danish and Norweigan market has done, Sweden is not even close. The imaginative, vibrant filmmaking Sweden once was celebrated seems long gone. At least for now.