On the same day that last year's best films were honored at the Guldbagge Awards, news broke that cinema attendance in Sweden was plummeting. The total cinema audience in 2025 decreased by over 5.5 percent compared to the previous year, and the share of visits to Swedish films out of the total fell from 20 percent to 11.8 percent, reports Kulturnytt on Sveriges Radio.
So how will Swedish film attract audiences back?
Actor Christian Fandango stars in two of the year's most anticipated Swedish films - the new version of "Doktor Glas" coming this spring and Netflix's blockbuster about Axel von Fersen later this year.
Social media
He says they tried to make a film “that you want to watch with your friends.” It had to engage and get people talking.
We need to create this feeling that when you walk out of the theater, you're going to think a little differently about this movie. About who you like, who you root for, who you thought was evil, who you thought was good, and so on. And that's best done in the theater, Fandango says of "Doktor Glas."
Ahead of the release of the film, which premieres on February 27, the filmmakers have worked extensively with social media to generate interest.
I've been doing a lot of fun things on TikTok and stuff that I'm not used to. So we're working hard and it seems to be working.
Viral movies
Director Josef Fares, who left the film industry to pursue a career as a successful game developer, looks at how the gaming world has managed to make games go viral through social media.
The gaming world has a tendency to go viral, and then films could eventually go viral too. You can use today's social media to do that, he says.
Screenwriter and actor Amy Deasismont doesn't believe there is a universal solution to attracting moviegoers back.
I just think we have to keep making films. And hopefully the audience will come back. There are blockbusters here and there, even with Swedish films, so the audience is there in some way.
