Sweden at the Oscars

Swedish Alicia Vikander wins Best Supporting Actress at the 88th Academy Awards - congrats from 'alla oss darhemma.' Neither Denmark's selection for Best Foreign Language Film, 'A War,' nor the Swedish 'The 100-year-old...' nominated for Best Hair and Makeup, won. 

  • Swedish actress Alicia Vicander after winning the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. Her dress and appearance at the gala have made many compare her with Belle in Disney's Beauty and the Beast. Photo: Tinseltown/Shutterstock.com
  • Danish film "A War" was competing for Best Foreign Film and two "Swedes" were favored nominees for this year’s Oscars. Alicia Vikander was nominated for her part in “The Danish Girl,” and won (Official trailer: The Danish Girl) and the Swedish hit comedy The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared (”Hundraåringen som klev ut genom fönstret och försvann”) was nominated but didn't win for best makeup and hair. Robert Gustafsson, who plays the 100-year-old has said he had to sit many hours in make-up every day to be able to play everything from 20 to 100. Eva von Bahr and Love Larson, the film’s makeup artists, were previously nominated in the same category at Guldbaggegalan 2014.
    Alicia Vikander, who some call the next Ingrid Bergman, has two Golden Globe nominations and British Bafta awards, and now the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. The last time a Swedish actress was nominated was 1990 when Lena Olin was in “Enemies: A Love Story.” And the last time a Swedish actress won an Oscar for best supporting actress was in 1974, when Ingrid Bergman starred in Murder on the Orient Express. We started paying attention to Vikander in 2009 and even more so after Lisa Langseth's “Till det som är vackert” (“Pure”) Alicia Vikander – Shooting Star
    “100-year-old,” starring Robert Gustafsson in the main role, is one of three films nominated for Best Hair and Makeup, praising Swedes Love Larson and Eva von Bahr for their work. Official trailer: www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjiJ1cL3Uss

  • Alicia Vikander photographed by Kerstin Alm, summer 2015.
  • Best Foreign Language Film
    Sweden’s selection, Roy Andersson’s artsy “A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence” (Original title: “En duva satt på en gren och funderade på tillvaron”) was not nominated for Best Foreign Language Film this year. Our earlier review: Swedes Make Waves at Toronto Film Festival The film, about Sam and Jonathan, a pair of hapless novelty salesmen that embark on a tour of the human condition, concludes writer-director Roy Andersson’s Living trilogy in style. Well received by critics and considered “indelibly original and expertly assembled” the sales men’s tour is depicted both in reality and in a fantasy that unfolds into a series of absurd episodes. The film won the prestigious Golden Lion award at the Venice International Film Festival.
    Among Scandinavian countries, the Danish movie “A War” (Official trailer: A WAR Official Trailer (2016) became nominated in the category, together with films from Colombia, France, Hungary and Jordan.