FV1027: Swedish Film and Television Culture (15 ECTS)

Spring 2024

Course Coordinator

Joel Frykholm
[Link]@[Link]
+4686747612

Course Description

The course provides an overview of the role of moving images in Swedish culture and society
during the last one hundred years, a period when moving image media became increasingly
important. Swedish film and television culture is presented in relation to international trends
and developments. Aspects of film form as well as socio-cultural perspectives are
considered, and entertainment genres as well as avant-garde experiments are explored.
Analysis of industrial practice and individual films are combined with studies of individual
artists/creators. Attention is also paid to questions of criticism and reception.

Learning Outcomes

In order to pass the course, students are expected to have:

- basic knowledge of moving image media in a Swedish context;

Filmhuset: Some Orientation

This course consists of screenings and lectures at Filmhuset (street address Borgvägen 1–5;
subway stop Karlaplan; bus 72 or 76 to Filmhuset; or bus 1 or 4 to Värtavägen).

The film screenings will usually take place in one of the two cinema theaters in Filmhuset,
usually the one called Mauritz (the other one is called Victor). Both theaters are reached
from Filmhuset’s central foyer, which is on the floor numbered as level 4—this is where you
end up when you’ve walked up the ramp in order to enter Filmhuset. Please observe that
screenings in Mauritz may be moved to Victor; look out for notes on the door to the cinema.

Level 4 is also where you’ll find Filmhuset’s library, which is a tremendous repository of
books, journals, and other kinds of material related to the study of film (and television and
digital media as well). They also hold copies of all textbooks we use for courses taught at the
Section for Cinema Studies. (For this course, however, all mandatory course literature is
available in digital form, so you don’t have to buy or borrow physical books if you don’t want
to.)

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Lectures will take place in the lecture hall called F-salen, which is located on level 5. Walk up
the broad marble stairs from the foyer and you’ll find F-salen on your left-hand side.

The Section for Cinema Studies is located on level 6. Here you’ll find the Students Affairs
Office and the Student Counsellor as well as a students’ lunch room equipped with
microwaves etc. if you want to bring a packed lunch (otherwise there is a cafe and a
restaurant on level 4). Use stairs or elevator next to the library on level 4. You will need a
passcode to access the stairs and to enter the Section for Cinema Studies on level 6—the
code will be provided to you on the first day of class.

Teaching

The lectures, which are mandatory, will feature plenty of opportunities for discussion about
the films and readings we engage with during the course. Accordingly, students are always
expected to read the assigned readings before class, and to attend the screenings, in order
to be able to engage actively in the in-class discussions. Although the screenings are
technically not mandatory, they are crucial for achieving the learning outcomes and for
passing the exam, so if you miss a screening, make an effort to access and view the film
online or in some other way (some of them are available on DVD in the Filmhuset library,
and you can view them on site using the library’s DVD player/viewing station).

There will be weekly assignments—a series of logbook entries—related to the readings and
screenings. These assignments will help you engage with the course material and prepare for
the lectures. They are also part of the examination (see below under Examination
Assignments).

Further Details about Screenings, Readings, and the Schedule? See Athena

Details about screenings, lectures, assigned readings for each lecture, etc. is available on the
course site on Athena—Stockholm University’s online learning platform. Make sure that you
have access to the Athena site and spend a few minutes learning how to navigate the site.
When you find your way to the Athena site for this course, the most important section to
pay attention to is called Plans (or Planeringar in Swedish). In this section you will find a large
number of “plans.” For example, there is one “plan” for each lecture, in which you’ll find
information about assigned readings for that particular lecture. Other “plans” may include
documents and information, exam assignment instructions, and other relevant course
material.

The schedule for the course is available via TimeEdit, which you can also access via the
Athena site—go to Plans and click “Link to Schedule.”

Examination Assignments

The examination consists of two mandatory exam assignments: a logbook (50% of the final
grade) and an oral final exam (50% of the final grade). You will work with the logbook
continuously throughout the entire course. The oral final exam will take place on Friday
March 15.

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Detailed instructions about the logbook are provided in a separate document—see Plans on
Athena.

Instructions for the oral final exam will also be posted on Athena in due time. The topic for
the final exam will be presented at an early stage in the course, so that you can devise your
work during the course (including your work with the logbook) with one eye looking ahead
toward the final exam.

Assessment and Grading

Grades are awarded according to a goal-related seven-grade scale: A (excellent), B (very

Assessment criteria are available on Athena (see Plans).

Also see Athena for the Department’s policy on plagiarism and the use of AI chat bots.

The Course at a Glance

Day 1
Lecture 1: Course Intro: The Concept of National Cinema
Day 2
Lecture 2: The Concept of National Cinema (cont.) + Early Cinema in Sweden
Day 3
Screening: Erotikon (Mauritz Stiller, 1920)
Lecture 3: The Golden Age of Swedish Silent Cinema
Day 4
Screening: Walpurgis Night (Valborgsmässoafton; Gustaf Edgren, 1935)
Lecture 4: Swedish Cinema in the 1930s
Day 5
Screening: Torment, aka Frenzy (Hets; Alf Sjöberg, 1944)
Lecture 5: A “Second Great Era”? A “New Wave”?: A Brief Note on Swedish Cinema circa 1944
Day 6
Lecture 6: Television in Sweden—The Public Service Monopoly Era
Day 7
Home viewing in preparation of Lecture 7: Quicksand (Störst av allt, FLX for Netflix, 2019), E01; Kärlek
& Anarki (Love & Anarchy, FLX for Netflix, 2020–2022), S01E03; Snabba Cash (SF Studios for Netflix,
2021–2022), S01E01; and Young Royals (Nexico for Netflix, 2021–2022), S01E01
Lecture 7: Swedish Television in the Streaming Era
Day 8
Screening: One Summer of Happiness (Hon dansade en sommar, Arne Mattsson, 1951)
Lecture 8: Swedish Summers, Swedish Sin

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Day 9
Screening: Wild Strawberries (Smultronstället; Ingmar Bergman, 1957)
Lecture 9: Swedish Auteurs: The Case of Ingmar Bergman
Day 10
Screening: Loving Couples (Älskande par, Mai Zetterling, 1964)
Lecture 10: Film Policy, the Art Cinema Institution, and the Case of Mai Zetterling
Day 11
Screening: A Decent Life (Ett anständigt liv, Stefan Jarl, 1979)
Lecture 11: Contested Film Culture: The Case of Swedish Documentary Cinema in the 1960s and
1970s
Day 12
Screening: Call Girl (Michael Marcimain, 2012)
Lecture 12: Imagining the Swedish Welfare State in "Nordic Noir" and the Paranoid Political Thriller
Special Event
Screening of The Phantom Carriage (Körkarlen; Victor Sjöström, 1921) with live musical
accompaniment.
Day 13
Screening: A Man Called Ove (En man som heter Ove, Hannes Holm, 2015)
Lecture 13: Genre Films and Crowdpleasers
Day 14
Screening: Sámi Blood (Sameblod, Amanda Kernell, 2017)
Lecture 14: Sámi Representation in Swedish Film
Day 15
Screening: Play (Ruben Östlund, 2011)
Lecture 15: Screen Controversies
Day 16
Screening: Amateurs (Amatörer; Gabriella Pichler, 2011)
Lecture 16: Images of Sweden: Model Country, Welfare Prison, or Paradise Lost?
Day 17
Oral Final Exam