by FilmInk Staff
The Last Resort wins Dragon Award Best Nordic Film
The Last Resort, directed by Maria Sødahl, won the Dragon Award Best Nordic Film at the Göteborg Film Festival 2026 on Saturday evening.
The prize was received by Thomas Robsahm (producer), Sigurd Mikal Karoliussen (producer), Maria Sødahl (director), Esben Smed (actor) and Helena Danielsson (producer). [pictured]
The award has a prize sum of SEK 400 000 and is presented together with presenting partners Region Västra Götaland and the City of Gothenburg.
Motivation of the jury:
Today, as our world tips toward fascism and the power-hungry use storytelling to divide humanity into us and them – those worthy of our compassion and those not – cruelty toward the outsider is repeated until we come to see it as normal, then, to our shame, as legitimate – and finally we stop seeing it at all.
One film dared to examine, with unblinking honesty, this most important moral and political problem of our times, and to show how the callousness bred by habitual cruelty diminishes us all, hollowing out our relationships – even with our partners and children.
With pitch-perfect performances, a razor-sharp yet nuanced script, and not a trace of sentimentality, the film is a mirror in which we see ourselves with devastating clarity: if we refuse to confront our own complicity in the cruelty unfolding around us right now, the love we claim to live by cannot save us – because the compassion that underpins it is conditional.
Members of the jury: Jury Head Joshua Oppenheimer, director, USA/Denmark; Fabrice Aragno, cinematographer and director, Switzerland; Lia Boysen, actor, Sweden; Sanna Lenken, director and screenwriter, Sweden; Gergely Pálos, cinematographer, Hungary.
Dragon Award Best Acting: Adam Lundgren
For the eighth year, Göteborg Film Festival presents its acting award. The prize is gender-neutral, and all actors in the films included in the Nordic Competition are nominated.
Dragon Award Best Acting goes to Adam Lundgren for his role in The Quiet Beekeeper, directed by Marcus Carlsson.
Motivation of the jury:
For a courageous, melancholic portrait of a life illuminated by longing and shadowed by loss – in which the unspoken carries more weight than words. When vulnerability finally dissolves the quiet façade, we are offered a delicate yet profound catharsis: love, and grief.
The jury selecting the winner of the Dragon Award Best Acting is the same as for the Dragon Award Best Nordic Film.
Sven Nykvist Cinematography Award
The Sven Nykvist Cinematography Award goes to Louise McLaughlin for Weightless.
Motivation of the jury:
With minimalist, intimate, delicate precision, the cinematography immerses us in the characters’ secret longing, illuminating their hidden grace – and making visible what would otherwise remain unseen.
All cinematographers in the Nordic Competition are nominated for the award and the prize consists of SEK 50 000. The award is presented together with presenting partner Fujifilm Nordic.
The jury consists of the festival’s jury for the Dragon Award Best Nordic Film and always includes at least one cinematographer.
FIPRESCI Award: Weightless
The prize from the international federation of film critics, FIPRESCI, goes to Weightless by Emilie Thalund. The prize is awarded by The International Federation of Film Critics and is awarded to one of the movies in the Nordic Competition.
The prize was received by Clara Jantzen Kreinøe (producer), Anna Dammegaard Søllested (producer), Emilie Thalund (director) and Louise McLaughlin (cinematographer).
Motivation of the jury:
At a health summer camp, 15-year-old Lea develops feelings for an adult coach, blurring the line between infatuation and exploitation. This empathetic debut feature tells a touching story of female body politics, friendship, and abuse. The Jury was particularly impressed by the lead actress’s performance and the authenticity of the narrative.
Members of the jury: Jenni Zylka, Germany; Janet Baris, Turkey; Jean-Max Méjean, France.
Audience Dragon Award Best Nordic Film: The Quiet Beekeeper
This year’s Audience Dragon Award Best Nordic Film goes to The Quiet Beekeeper by Marcus Carlsson.
The prize was received by director Marcus Carlsson, producer Lovisa Charlier, actor Adam Lundgren and cinematographer Antonio Ikovic.
Dragon Award Best Nordic Documentary: Malandro Moon
This year’s Dragon Award Best Nordic Documentary is awarded to Malandro Moon by Iván Blanco. The prize consists of services worth 250,000 SEK, provided by presenting partner The Chimney Pot.
The prize was received by director Ivan Blanco; Douglas “Dogge Doggelito” Leon; Svante Loden (editor); producer Mónica Hernández Rejón; Bianca Isabel Leon, Dogge’s daughter; and producer Elin Kamlert.
Motivation of the jury:
One of the most important qualities of a documentary director is to earn the trust of their protagonists and their audience. In this film they certainly did. We instantly got drawn into and felt safe in the human and filmic universe that we were invited to.
The film holds both humor and gravity, just like life itself, in the way it depicts an icon who refused to fade when the spotlight moved on. An intimate, unsentimental portrait of life after loss, marked by ethical attentiveness and a rare space where masculinity and vulnerability coexist.
Through genuine and sensitive film making we meet a genuine and sensitive man who once gave a voice to the lives and dreams of a marginalized generation, and who lived an extraordinary life we could somehow all relate to.
Members of the jury: Jury Head Ragnhild Ekner, director, Sweden; Kaveh Akaber, editor, Sweden; Ketevan Kipiani, producer, Georgia.
The Ingmar Bergman Debut Award: Bouchra
The Ingmar Bergman Debut Award goes to Bouchra, by Meriem Bennani and Orian Barki. The Award is presented together with the The Bergman Foundations, i.e. The Ingmar Bergman Foundation, The Bergman Estate and Bergman Center on Fårö.
The prize consists of a stay at The Bergman Estate on Fårö.
The prize was received by Jannike Åhlund, Chair of the Bergman Center Board.
Motivation of the jury:
The jury is pleased to award a film that perfectly fulfills the mandate of the Ingmar Bergman Award for a debut feature that “treats an existential theme with a dynamic or experimental approach to the cinematic means of expression.” It is a wonderfully generous hybrid work of animated documentary that tackles fraught themes of identity, family and desire with humor, love, and boldly experimental aesthetic choices.
Members of the jury: James Schamus (Jury Head), Producer, USA; Lea Glob, Director, Denmark; Jannike Åhlund, Chairman, Bergmancenter, Sweden.
Dragon Award Best International Film: Calle Malaga
For the ninth consecutive year, the Dragon Award Best International Film was presented on Saturday evening.
The award, voted for by the audience, goes to Calle Malaga by Maryam Touzani.
The prize was received by Gunnar Bergdahl, Folkets Bio.
The presenting partner for the 50,000 SEK prize is Göteborgs-Posten.
Youth Jury Dragon Award: My Father’s Shadow
For the third time, the Youth Jury Dragon Award was presented on Saturday. The award was established to highlight young people’s perspectives on what makes a great film. The jury consisted of film-dedicated young people between the ages of 18 and 25, and a selection of ten films from the Voyage section were nominated for the award.
The winner of the Youth Jury Dragon Award goes to My Father’s Shadow by Akinola Davies Jr.
The prize was received by three members of the Youth Jury. From left to right: Markus Robertsson, Valeria Hammar Fuentes and Gustav Holst.
Motivation of the jury:
In times of political instability, it is important to be reminded of those without a voice. In this film, we get to step into a childhood memory that feels vaguely familiar; experiencing the complexities of the adult world through the lens of innocence. As young adults, nostalgia has spoken to us throughout the festival and one film stood out. With a love for details and an authentic direction, this film manages to paint a vivid picture of the relationship within a family.
Members of the jury: Zehra Fatma Ardal, Minda Ranerås, Elliot Walgren, Markús Róbertsson, Małgorzata Kułakowska, Kevin Lahti, Gustav Holst and Valeria Hammar.
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