25/01/2022 - Costa Rica’s Oscar submission became the big champion at a truly international edition of the national Swedish film awards on Monday night

The victors of the 2022 Guldbagge Awards, with the Clara Sola winners in the front row (© Pelle T Nilsson/SPA)

“Sweden is damned fantastic,” exclaimed Nima Yousefi, the main producer of Clara Sola [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Nathalie Álvarez Mesén
film profile], during his Guldbagge acceptance speech at the illustrious Cirkus Arena in the Royal Djurgården district of Stockholm on Monday night. “Nathalie and I made a Spanish-language film in a tiny mountain village in Costa Rica, which now gets us the Award for Best Swedish Film. We got to make it without any precondition, straight from the heart. And we hope to depict a liberation from unhealthy norms and a right to decide over your own body, your sexuality and your faith.”

Clara Sola, the debut fiction feature by Swedish-born director Nathalie Álvarez Mesén, of Costa Rican descent, portrays an introverted woman and her reluctant role as a religious healer. This truly international co-production premiered in the Directors’ Fortnight of the 2021 Cannes International Film Festival and has since enjoyed a rich festival run and also been picked as the Costa Rican Oscar submission. At the Swedish Guldbagge Awards on Monday, it garnered five wins – for Best Sound, Best Cinematography, Best Screenplay, Best Direction and Best Film – making it the big champion of the evening.

Also international in scope is Ninja Thyberg’s Californian porn odyssey Pleasure [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ninja Thyberg
film profile], which reaped gongs for Best Leading Actress, Best Make-up and (to some mild amusement) Best Costume Design, while Ronnie Sandahl’s acclaimed, nightmarish tale of the Italian football world, Tigers [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ronnie Sandahl
film profile], went home notably empty-handed, in spite of being Sweden’s submission for the 2022 Oscars.

A more distinctly national affair, Hannes Holm’s A Christmas Tale, bagged two acting prizes and the Award for Best Set Design. Based on a 1975 television cartoon, watched by millions of Swedes every Christmas Eve ever since, it features a Robin Hood-admiring teenager who steals packages from wealthy citizens and hands them out to the poor. While shown on British TV in the 1980s as Christopher’s Christmas Mission (narrated by Bernard Cribbins), this new, live-action feature has yet to see a release outside of the Nordic region.

Here is the full list of award winners:

Best Film
Clara Sola [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Nathalie Álvarez Mesén
film profile] - Nathalie Álvarez Mesén (Sweden/Costa Rica/Belgium/Germany/France)

Best Director
Nathalie Álvarez Mesén - Clara Sola

Best Actress in a Leading Role
Sofia Kappel - Pleasure [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ninja Thyberg
film profile] (Sweden/Netherlands/France)

Best Actor in a Leading Role
Jonas Karlsson - A Christmas Tale (Sweden/Norway)

Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Jennie Silfverhjelm - A Christmas Tale

Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Jonay Pineda Skallak – JJ+E (Sweden)

Best Screenplay
Nathalie Álvarez Mesén, Maria Camila Arias - Clara Sola

Best Cinematography
Sophie Winqvist Loggins - Clara Sola

Best Editing
Hanna Lejonqvist, Dino Jonsäter - The Most Beautiful Boy in the World [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Kristina Lindström and Kris…
film profile] (Sweden)

Best Costume Design
Amanda Wing Yee Lee - Pleasure

Best Sound/Sound Design
Erick Vargas Williams, Valène Leroy, Charles De Ville, Aline Gavroy - Clara Sola

Best Make-up
Erica Spetzig - Pleasure

Best Original Score
Lisa Nordström - Children of the Enemy [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] (Sweden/Denmark/Qatar)

Best Set Design
Michael Higgins – A Christmas Tale

Best Visual Effects
Alex Hansson, Torbjörn Olsson - The Emigrants [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] (Sweden/New Zealand/Denmark/Norway)

Best International Film
Flee [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jonas Poher Rasmussen
film profile] – Jonas Poher Rasmussen (Denmark/Sweden/Norway/France/USA/Spain/Italy/UK)

Best Documentary Film
Sabaya [+see also:
film review
interview: Hogir Hirori
film profile] - Hogir Hirori (Sweden)

Best Short Film
Man with Doves - Lina Maria Mannheimer (Sweden/France)

Lifetime Achievement Award
Director Suzanne Osten

The Gullspira (for achievements in children’s film)
Animator Johan Hagelbäck