Linda Hambäck

​Linda Hambäck awarded 2024 Honorary Prize

Linda Hambäck’s impact on Swedish children’s and youth cinema is unparalleled. Her acclaimed films, such as Gordon & Paddy and The Ape Star (Apstjärnan), have been shown at some of the world’s leading film festivals and have enriched the lives of both children and adults.

“It feels incredibly exciting that Linda Hambäck will be attending the festival to receive our honorary prize. With her fun, tender, and thrilling stories about everything from toads, gorillas, and poop to friendship and being different, Hambäck has created a delicate and entirely unique universe for young audiences,” says Pia Lundberg, Artistic Director of Göteborg Film Festival.

“It feels fantastic and deeply honouring to receive this prize—creating feature films for children’s audiences is the best thing you can imagine. Film should be experienced in cinemas, and sometimes when you succeed, the experience can move mountains, offer laughter, excitement, or simply take us to places we never knew existed. A huge thank you to Göteborg Film Festival Prisma for this honorary award, which warms my heart!” says Linda Hambäck.

During Göteborg Film Festival Prisma, Hambäck's films Gordon & Paddy, The Ape Star, and What if... (Tänk om…) will be shown. The festival will also build an animation studio where children and young people can try out the craft and be inspired by Hambäck’s film The Poop Movie – Dolores and Gunellen’s World (Bajsfilmen – Dolores och Gunellens värld).