At an awards ceremony held in Swedish capital Stockholm last night (Jan 22), The Nile Hilton Incident was the surprise big winner of the 2018 edition of the Guldbagge Awards, Sweden’s primary film awards ceremony.

Awards

Source: Strand Releasing / Curzon

The Nile Hilton Incident / The Square

Kristina Åberg’s crime drama, which premiered at last year’s Sundance Film Festival, triumphed over Ruben Ostlund’s The Square, the 2017 Palme d’Or winner at Cannes.

Ostlund did take home best director from the ceremony, and his film also picked up the best cinematography prize for Fredrik Wenzel.

The Nile Hilton Incident won five prizes overall, scooping best actor for Fares Fares, best costume design for Louize Nissen, best sound design for Fredrik Jonsäter, and best set design for Roger Rosenberg.

Among the other big winners on the night was Amanda Kernell’s 2016 Venice premiere Sami Blood, which took best actress for Lene Cecilia Sparrok, best screenplay for Kernell, and best editing for Anders Skov.

Janus Metz’s 2017 Toronto opener Borg McEnroe won best supporting actor for Stellan Skarsgård and best visual effects for Torbjörn Olsson and Alex Hansson.

Asghar Farhadi’s The Salesman picked up best foreign language film and a lifetime achievement award was presented to director Stig Björkman, whose credits include Ingrid Bergman: In Her Own Words and The White Wall.

Full list of winners:

Best Film

The Nile Hilton Incident producer: Kristina Åberg

Best Director

Ruben Östlund for The Square

Best Actress in a Leading Role

Lene Cecilia Sparrok for the role as Elle Marja in Sámi Blood (Sameblod)

Best Actor in a Leading Role

Fares Fares for the role as Noredin in The Nile Hilton Incident

Best Actress in a Supporting Role

Julia Kijowska for the role as Agnieszka in Strawberry Days

Best Actor in a Supporting Role

Stellan Skarsgård for the role as Lennart Bergelin in Borg/McEnroe

Best Screenplay

Amanda Kernell for the screenplay for Sámi Blood (Sameblod)

Best Cinematography

Fredrik Wenzel for cinematography in The Square

Best Editing

Anders Skov for the editing of Sámi Blood (Sameblod)

Best Costume

Louize Nissen for the costumes in The Nile Hilton Incident

Best Sound/Sound Design

Fredrik Jonsäter for the sound on The Nile Hilton Incident

Best Makeup

Petra Cabbe for mask/make-up in Solsidan (english title TBA)

Best Original Score

Peter von Poehl for Ravens (Korparna)

Best Set Design

Roger Rosenberg for The Nile Hilton Incident

Best Visual Effects

Torbjörn Olsson and Alex Hansson for Borg/McEnroe

Best Foreign Language Film

The Salesman dir. Asghar Farhadi

Best Documentary Film

Silvana, dir Olivia Kastebring, Mika Gustafson and Christina Tsiobanelis

Best Short Film

The Burden dir. Niki Lindroth von Bahr

Best Newcomer

director Rojda Sekersöz for her achievements in Beyond Dreams (Dröm vidare)

Lifetime Achievement Award

The board of the Swedish Film Institute extends the 2018 Lifetime Achievement Award to: director Stig Björkman

Gullspira award

BUFF International Film festival

The Guldbagge Audience Award

Sámi Blood (Sameblod) producer: Lars G. Lindström