Goteborg Film Festival honorary president Ruben Östlund has criticised the “embarrassingly uneducated” cultural policy of Sweden, following a speech by cultural minister Parisa Liljestrand at the festival’s opening night on January 24.
In a video and text post to his social media channels on Saturday, January 25, Östlund said, “Parisa talks about artistic freedom and freedom of expression and uses several nice words, but what is it that makes freedoms really exist?
“I think that nuanced reality takes time, unlike provocative statements, hashtag Elon Musk and Parisa Liljestrand.”
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“One can discuss whether the film institute should deal with art or industry support or both,” continued Östlund, who recorded his video message from the interior of the aeroplane set of his feature The Entertainment System Is Down in Budapest, Hungary. “But Sweden’s cultural policy and cultural politicians, or at least the PR department, need to grow up and become less embarrassingly uneducated. Otherwise, they cannot present the motives that actually exist for why the area is important.”
He added that he “would have preferred to film” The Entertainment System Is Down in Sweden. Production on the film began this week; it takes place on a long-haul flight where the entertainment system fails and forces passengers to interact with each other.
Östlund also criticised Liljestrand for leaving before the opening film played, which he said she also did two years ago at the festival.
“Absurd” speech
Östlund’s remarks are in response to Liljestrand’s speech in Goteborg on Friday 24 which received several boos from attendees. The following morning Östlund posted “this is the most absurd speech I’ve heard a minister of culture give.”
According to local news publication Goteborgs-Posten, Liljestrand criticised the closeness of previous cultural ministers to the industry, saying “It is not my job to be the industry’s best friend. That is not the job of politics. Nor is it the job of politics to demand more and more tax money from citizens because they cannot stand up for their priorities.”
Mirja Wester, CEO of Goteborg Film Festival, backed Östlund’s response. “The festival’s honorary chair, Ruben Östlund, exemplifies why public funding for film is vital,” said Wester in an email to Screen. “As he himself pointed out, none of his films would have been made without it. Just yesterday, we hosted the Nordic premiere of the Oscar-nominated The Girl With The Needle, directed by Sweden’s Magnus von Horn but produced in Denmark.
“Swedish cinema is already at the very bottom of the EU’s public funding spectrum, so the minister’s remarks have sparked widespread attention. Many of our international guests arriving at the festival are now asking what exactly is happening in Sweden.”
A document published by the Swedish Film Institute said the country receives the lowest government grants of any Nordic country, with 52 SEK ($4.73) per capita in 2023, compared to $15.54 in Denmark and $12.63 in Norway.
Goteborg Film Festival continues until February 2.
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