Sweden has submitted films for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film since the inaugural award in 1956. Its selection is handed out annually by representatives from the Guldbagge Awards jury. As of 2026, Sweden has been nominated sixteen times, winning in three occasions, for The Virgin Spring (1960), Through a Glass Darkly (1961) and Fanny and Alexander (1983), all of them were directed by Ingmar Bergman.
Submissions The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has invited the film industries of various countries to submit their best film for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film since 1956. The International Feature Film Committee oversees the process and reviews all the submitted films. Following this, they vote via secret ballot to determine the five nominees for the award.
Ingmar Bergman is the most submitted filmmaker with nine films selected. He also was nominated in three occasions, winning in all of them, for: The Virgin Spring (1960), Through a Glass Darkly (1961) and Fanny and Alexander (1983) His Scenes from a Marriage (1974) was ineligible due to previously aired on Swedish television, which led to debate about the eligibility by American filmmakers. According to Robert Osborne, the country did not enter in 1975 as a protest. In 1978, however, the country did not submit his film Autumn Sonata and made no entry, but the film was nominated for Best Actress and Best Writing (Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen).
Nominated films include: Raven's End (1964), Dear John (1965), Ådalen 31 (1969), The Emigrants (1971), The New Land (1972), Flight of the Eagle (1982), The Ox (1991), All Things Fair (1995), Under the Sun (1998), Evil (2003), As It Is in Heaven (2004), A Man Called Ove (2016), and The Square (2017).
Everlasting Moments (2008), Simple Simon (2010), Force Majeure (2014), and Boy from Heaven (2022), advanced to the December shortlists, but were not nominated.
Pelle the Conqueror (1988), was a Swedish-Danish co-production, but won the award representing Denmark. The Best Intentions (1992), directed by Bille August and written by Ingmar Bergman, was the country initial selection. It had won the Palme d'Or at the 1992 Cannes Film Festival, but the Academy deemed the film ineligible because the same material had previously aired as a television miniseries before being re-edited as a theatrical film. Lilya 4-ever (2002) submission was met with controversy for having most of its dialogue in Russian and not Swedish. Eventually it was accepted as eligible, but did not receive a nomination.
Most of the submitted films are primary in Swedish, with the exceptions of Lilya 4-ever (2002), in Russian, Boy from Heaven (2022) and Eagles of the Republic (2025), both in Arabic. Below is a list of the films that have been submitted by Sweden for review by the Academy for the award by year.
Year(Ceremony) Film title used in nomination Original title Director Result 1956(29th) The Staffan Stolle Story Ratataa 1957(30th) The Seventh Seal Det sjunde inseglet 1958(31st) The Magician Ansiktet 1960(33rd) The Virgin Spring Jungfrukällan 1961(34th) Through a Glass Darkly Såsom i en spegel 1962(35th) The Mistress Älskarinnan 1963(36th) The Silence Tystnaden 1964(37th) Raven's End Kvarteret Korpen 1965(38th) Dear John Käre John 1966(39th) Persona 1967(40th) Here's Your Life Här har du ditt liv 1968(41st) Shame Skammen 1969(42nd) Ådalen 31 1970(43rd) A Swedish Love Story En kärlekshistoria 1971(44th) The Emigrants Utvandrarna 1972(45th) The New Land Nybyggarna 1973(46th)Scenes from a Marriage Scener ur ett äktenskap 1976(49th) City of My Dreams Mina drömmars stad 1977(50th) The Man on the Roof Mannen på taket 1979(52nd) A Respectable Life Ett anständigt liv 1980(53rd) Herr Puntila and His Servant Matti Herr Puntila och hans dräng Matti Ralf Långbacka 1981(54th) Children's Island Barnens ö 1982(55th) Flight of the Eagle Ingenjör Andrées luftfärd 1983(56th) Fanny and Alexander Fanny och Alexander 1984(57th) Åke and His World Åke och hans värld 1985(58th) Ronia, the Robber's Daughter Ronja Rövardotter 1986(59th) The Sacrifice Offret 1987(60th) Hip Hip Hurrah! Hip Hip Hurra! 1989(62nd) The Women on the Roof Kvinnorna på taket Carl-Gustav Nykvist 1990(63rd) Good Evening, Mr. Wallenberg God afton, Herr Wallenberg 1991(64th) The Ox Oxen 1992(65h) House of Angels Änglagård 1993(66th) The Slingshot Kådisbellan 1994(67th) The Last Dance Sista dansen 1995(68th) All Things Fair Lust och fägring stor 1996(69th) Jerusalem 1997(70th) Tic Tac 1998(71st) Show Me Love Fucking Åmål 1999(72nd) Under the Sun Under solen 2000(73rd) Songs from the Second Floor Sånger från andra våningen 2001(74th) Jalla! Jalla! 2002(75th) Lilya 4-ever 2003(76th) Evil Ondskan 2004(77th) As It Is in Heaven Så som i himmelen 2005(78th) Zozo 2006(79th) Falkenberg Farewell Farväl Falkenberg Jesper Ganslandt 2007(80th) You, the Living Du levande 2008(81st) Everlasting Moments Maria Larssons eviga ögonblick 2009(82nd) Involuntary De ofrivilliga 2010(83rd) Simple Simon I rymden finns inga känslor Andreas Öhman 2011(84th) Beyond Svinalängorna 2012(85th) The Hypnotist Hypnotisören 2013(86th) Eat Sleep Die Äta sova dö 2014(87th) Force Majeure Turist 2015(88th) A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence En duva satt på en gren och funderade över tillvaron 2016(89th) A Man Called Ove En man som heter Ove 2017(90th) The Square 2018(91st) Border Gräns 2019(92nd) And Then We Danced 2020(93rd) Charter 2021(94th) Tigers Tigrar Ronnie Sandahl 2022(95th) Boy from Heaven صبي من الجنة 2023(96th) Opponent Motståndaren Milad Alami 2024(97th) The Last Journey Den sista resan Filip Hammar and Fredrik Wikingsson 2025(98th) Eagles of the Republic 2026(99th) Adult SupervisionArkipelag Alex Schulman
Shortlisted films Each year since 2019, the Swedish Oscar selection committee has announced a three-film shortlist prior to announcing the official Swedish Oscar candidate. The following films were shortlisted by Sweden but not selected as the final candidate: YearFilm2019Aniara · The Perfect Patient2020About Endlessness · I Am Greta2021Clara Sola · The Emigrants2022I Am Zlatan · 2023Paradise Is Burning · Together 992024Crossing · Shame on Dry Land2025The Dance Club · Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958-19892026Brace Your Heart ·
See also List of Academy Award winners and nominees for Best International Feature Film List of Academy Award-winning foreign language films Cinema of Sweden
Notes
References
External links The Official Academy Awards Database The Motion Picture Credits Database IMDb Academy Awards Page