Welcome to the Largest Film Festival of the Nordics
About
The Göteborg Film Festival is the largest film festival in the Nordics and a premier meeting place for the Nordic film industry. Held annually over eleven days at the turn of January and February, the festival takes place as a hybrid event, combining in-person and digital screenings.
Founded in 1979, the Göteborg Film Festival attracts around 270,000 visits each year, both in cinemas and online. The festival presents approximately 250 films from 80 countries. But the festival is more than just screenings—it also features talks, workshops, parties, concerts, and a wide range of other events.
Festival Dates
50th Göteborg Film Festival
January 29–February 7, 2027
A carefully curated selection of films is shown simultaneously at our festival cinemas and in our digital theatre, Göteborg Film Festival Online, allowing the anticipation and excitement of a festival premiere to be experienced in living rooms across Sweden.
Göteborg Film Festival is also the leading market for films and series in the Nordics, annually attracting over 2,200 industry delegates and journalists from more than 50 countries. Nordic Film Market showcases new and upcoming Nordic films and talents, TV Drama Vision conference, dedicated to drama series, brings together international business trends, creative talent, and key professionals, and the Nostradamus project presents foresight on the near future of the audiovisual sector.
Vision
”To serve as the hub of film culture in the Nordic region.”
Mission
”To create opportunities for meaningful films from around the world to reach audiences and to challenge people's perspectives on society and one another.”
Programming committee
Each year, the festival’s programming committee travels the world to select films for Göteborg. As part of this work, they attend many of the major international festivals and markets, including Cannes Film Festival, Venice Film Festival and Berlin International Film Festival. The range of festivals where the committee scouts for films is extensive. In addition, around a thousand films are submitted annually, each of which is carefully reviewed by the committee.
The films are selected based on the following artistic guidelines:
- Quality
- Relevance
- Diversity
- Appeal
- Exclusivity
- Contextualisation
Honorary Award Recipients throughout the years
Our other activities
The Göteborg Film Festival is more than a film festival at the beginning of the year —it is a year-round organisation with a range of initiatives and focus areas, all rooted in a passion for great cinema.
Göteborg Film Festival Prisma
In October, the festival organises the children’s and youth film festival Göteborg Film Festival Prisma. Through its film programme and accompanying activities—such as workshops, talks, and other experiences—Göteborg Film Festival Prisma aims to develop young people’s visual literacy and encourage them to express themselves through the medium of film.
Göteborg Film Festival Open Air
Göteborg Film Festival Open Air is an annual outdoor cinema and pop-up extension of the Göteborg Film Festival. Its aim is to reach new audiences across the city and spark greater interest in the festival experience. The evening offers a free screenings under the open sky, making the festival’s film programme accessible to more people.
Educational activities
In a time when moving images have become a dominant form of communication—especially among young people—Göteborg Film Festival Campus works to address the gap between their widespread use and the limited focus on visual literacy in schools. The festival’s film education initiatives inspire children and young people to express themselves artistically through film, combining hands-on filmmaking with viewing and discussion to develop artistic development, critical thinking, and visual literacy. The programs aim to help young people find their own voice while also promoting greater diversity and encourage democratic participation, opening doors to more people.
Among its educational initiatives, Alicia Vikander and Göteborg Film Festival proudly launched the Alicia Vikander Filmlabb to equip young people with the tools to express themselves through film, inspire future ambitions, and help increase diversity within the industry.
Draken Film – The Festival's own Streaming Service
Draken Film , launched in 2014 by the Göteborg Film Festival, is a curated streaming platform dedicated to high-quality international cinema and serves as the festival’s digital venue during its annual event. Designed as a knowledgeable and bold guide to both classic and contemporary film, it aims to strengthen diversity in a global market increasingly dominated by a few major players and homogenised content. In response to shifting viewing habits and reduced access to diverse films—especially from smaller linguistic regions—Draken Film promotes broader cultural representation and ongoing engagement with film as an art form.
Today, the platform offers around 1,000 films from 90 countries and reaches audiences year-round, with approximately 200,000 annual streams both directly and through collaborations with festivals and screening organisations.
