Swedish Film Institute

(Redirected from Svenska Filminstitutet) Swedish foundation Not to be confused with Swedish Film Academy.

The Swedish Film Institute (Swedish: Svenska Filminstitutet) (SFI) is a statutory body located in Stockholm, Sweden that supports the Swedish film industry. Founded in 1963, the institute is responsible for administering the annual Guldbagge Awards, and for managing the Swedish Film Database. Notable CEOs of the institute include founder-director Harry Schein (1963–1970 and 1972–1978) and Anna Serner (2011–2021). Serner is known for creating an initiative which aimed for gender parity in the film industry. Since mid-April 2024 the CEO is Anna Croneman.

History

The Swedish Film Institute (Svenska Filminstitutet, or SFI), like the Swedish Film Academy, has its origins in the Swedish Film Society (Svenska Filmsamfundet), which was established in October 1933. The society created a film museum, which would contain archival material of all kinds. In 1938 the film archives were given a home at the National Museum of Science and Technology (Tekniska museet) in Stockholm.

In 1940, the society's collections gained independent status, and were renamed the Film Historic Collections (Filmhistoriska samlingarna), but continued to be held at the museum, and became a member of the International Federation of Film Archives in 1946.

The Swedish Film Institute was founded in 1963 to support and develop the Swedish film industry, founded by film critic and businessman Harry Schein (1924-2006), who also became its first CEO. Schein and the Minister of Finance, Gunnar Sträng, were the architects of the Film Reform at this time. The government and film industry signed an agreement that exempted cinemas from entertainment tax, in return for a ten percent levy on ticket sales, which would be paid to the SFI. The SFI could then use that for further funding of new films, as well as for maintaining the archives.

On 16 March 1964, the Film Historic Collections were donated to the institute, becoming the Film Archive of the Swedish Film Institute. Also in 1964, the Film School (Filmskolan) was opened.

In 1967, the Swedish Film Academy (Svenska Filmakademin), with Gösta Werner as first president, grew out of the Film Society.

From the late 1960s until 1993, the institute produced films, and there was a film school run by the institute. In 1970, the film school became an independent body, the University College of Film, Radio, Television and Theatre (Dramatiska institutet). The institute stopped producing films in 1993, and a film commissioner system was introduced.

In 2016, the institute restarted theatrical distribution, enabling cinemas in Sweden to screen digitised films from the archive.

Funding and roles

From the beginning, the activities and funding of the institute were regulated by the Film Agreement with the Government of Sweden. This was renegotiated at approximately 5-year intervals until 2016. In 1973 the government gave direct grants to the institute. In 1982 the video industry joined the agreement, followed by Sveriges Television and Nordisk Television (now TV4) in 1992. In 1998, the video industry left the agreement; in 2006 the remaining Swedish television companies joined. From 1 January 2017 the Swedish Film Institute has been solely financed by state funding. Prior to 2017, SFI was co-financed by the government as well as others in the film industry, per the Film Agreement. New legislation was introduced from 1 January 2017 determining film policy and putting the government in charge of all regulation and financing of the film industry. The aims, goals and financing however remained "more or less the same".

In 2024, the government commissioned a new inquiry into the film industry.

Description

The institute is a statutory body governed by the Film Bill, and fully funded by the Swedish Government through the Ministry of Culture.

Filmhuset

The institute is housed in the Filmhuset ("House of Film") located in Gärdet, Östermalm, in Stockholm. The building, completed in 1970, was designed in Brutalist style by architect Peter Celsing, and built between 1968 and 1971. It was designed to resemble a camera, with an exposed concrete façade resembling filmstrips. It underwent a major renovation in 2008, creating open-plan offices. The building is listed as "code blue", the highest ranking in terms of cultural and historical value of buildings by the Stockholm City Museum (Stadsmuseet Stockholm).

Filmhuset houses a large archive, containing books and magazines on film.

It also contains two theatres, Bio Victor and Bio Mauritz, named after Victor Sjöström and Mauritz Stiller, which are available for hire. The movie club Cinemateket uses the theatres to screen a wide program of masterpieces, cult rarities, world cinema, and classics of cinema.

Filmhuset is also the main venue for the Stockholm Industry Days of the annual Stockholm International Film Festival. Here, works-in-progress are presented, and master classes and seminars are held.

Functions

The Swedish Film Institute supports Swedish filmmaking, and allocates grants for production, distribution, and screening of Swedish films in Sweden. It also promotes Swedish cinema internationally, and preserve's Sweden's film heritage. Its official functions since the 2017 have been described thus: to "support the development and production of valuable quality films; contribute to the international distribution of Swedish quality films; support the Swedish film heritage; the pedagogical film education of young people; and an open, democratic society with freedom of expression".

The Institute publishes the Swedish Film Database, an Internet database about Swedish films and filmmakers.

Awards

The Swedish Film Institute has organised the annual Guldbagge Awards since 1964.

The Ingmar Bergman Award, initiated by legendary Swedish film director Ingmar Bergman, was awarded by the SFI between 1978 and 2007 as a complement to the Guldbagge Awards. The jury consisted of Bergman and the CEO of the SFI, and recipients were awarded a bronze plaque depicting Bergman's face as well as a cash prize. The award was first presented at the 14th Guldbagge Awards, and continued until Bergman's death in 2007.