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 award of SEK 400,000 (€37,000) makes it one of the world's largest film prizes. Presenting partners for the competition are 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: Joshua Oppenheimer (Head of Jury), Director, USA/Denmark; Fabrice Aragno, Cinematographer and Director, Switzerland; Lia Boysen, Actor, Sweden; Sanna Lenken, Director and Screenwriter, Sweden; Gergely Pálos, Cinematographer, Hungary.
The prize was received by Thomas Robsahm (Producer), Sigurd Mikal Karoliussen (Producer), Maria Sødahl (Director), Esben Smed (Actor) and Helena Danielsson (Producer).
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. The prize consists of SEK 50,000 (€4,700) and is presented in cooperation with Fujifilm Nordic.
The jury for the Sven Nykvist Cinematography Award is the same as for Dragon Award Best Nordic Film.
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 goes to one of the movies in the Nordic Competition.
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.
The prize was received by Clara Jantzen Kreinøe (Producer), Anna Dammegaard Søllested (Producer), Emilie Thalund (Director) and Louise McLaughlin (Cinematographer).
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 SEK 250,000 (€23,000) provided by presenting partner The Chimney Pot.
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, depicting 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.”
Members of the jury: Ragnhild Ekner (Head of Jury), Director, Sweden; Kaveh Akaber, Editor, Sweden; Ketevan Kipiani, Producer, Georgia.
The prize was received by director Ivan Blanco, Douglas “Dogge Doggelito” Leon, editor Svante Loden, producer Mónica Hernández Rejón, Bianca Isabel Leon, Dogge’s daughter and producer Elin Kamlert.
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 Bergman Foundations: The Ingmar Bergman Foundation, The Bergman Estate, and Bergman Center on Fårö.
The prize consists of a stay at The Bergman Estate on Fårö.
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 aimated documentary that tackles fraught themes of identity, family and desire with humor, love, and boldly experimental aesthetic choices.”
Members of the jury: James Schamus (Head of Jury), Producer, USA; Lea Glob, Director, Denmark; Jannike Åhlund, Chairman, Bergmancenter, Sweden.
The prize was received by Jannike Åhlund, Chair of the Bergman Center Board.
Dragon Award Best International Film: Calle Malaga
For the ninth consecutive year, the Dragon Award for Best International Film was presented. The audience-voted award goes to Calle Malaga, directed by Maryam Touzani.
The presenting partner of the SEK 50,000 (€4,700) prize is Göteborgs-Posten.
The prize was received by Gunnar Bergdahl of Folkets Bio.
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 Youth Jury Dragon Award goes to My Father’s Shadow by Akinola Davies Jr.
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
The prize was received by three members of the Youth Jury. From left to right: Markus Robertsson, Valeria Hammar Fuentes and Gustav Holst.
Draken Film Award: Uncle Ali and I
For the fifth consecutive year, the Draken Film Award is presented to a Swedish short film in the festival’s program that stands out through its storytelling, artistic excellence, or by challenging and expanding the boundaries of short-format filmmaking.
The winner of the Draken Film Award 2026 is Uncle Ali and I by Shahab Mehrabi.
Motivation of the jury:
“Through a precise combination of cinematic expressions, the filmmaker transforms an inaccessible place into something deeply human and tangible. The intimate yet unsentimental storytelling places us directly within the protagonist’s experience and creates an immediate sense of presence. The winning film is deeply moving and lingers long after the final image.”
Members of the jury: Alecio Araci, Director, Sweden; Nellie Lexfors, Director, Sweden; Hanna Ullerstam, Actor, Sweden
Awards Already Announced During the Festival
The Honorary Dragon Award was presented to Agnieszka Holland who received her award on January 30 in connection with the screening of Franz K at Stora Teatern.
The Nordic Honorary Dragon Award was awarded to Noomi Rapace who received her award on January 28 in connection with the screening of Mother at Stora Teatern.
Startsladden – Best Swedish short, was presented to Christer Wahlberg on January 25 for his film All That Remains of Me. The prize is valued at SEK 425,000 (€40,000).
The Startsladden Cinematography Award was presented to Without Kelly and Director of Photography Christine Leuhusen on January 25. The prize is valued at SEK 150,000 (€14,000) .
Startsladden – Audience Award was awarded to Christer Wahlberg for All That Remains of Me.
The Church of Sweden's Angelos Film Award, was awarded to The Patron, directed by Julia Thelin. The prize, worth SEK 50,000 (€4,700), was presented in connection with the film’s World Premiere at Göteborg Film Festival on January 24.
The Nordic Series Script Award was presented by Nordisk Film & TV Fond as part of the Nordic Series Awards on January 27th. The winner was Ingeborg Topsøe, writer of Secrets We Keep, and includes a prize sum of NOK 200,000 (€17,000).
The Creative Courage Award, also part of Nordic Series Awards, went to the Swedish series Blood Cruise, produced by Alexander Rönnberg from Northern Fableand and Will Tennant from Imaginarium Productions and commissioned by Johanna Gårdare and Sonja Nilsson Hermele from SVT.
On January 29 Göteborg Film Festival’s 27th Nordic Film Market announced the winners of the market awards: Out of Athens, directed and written by Badrudin Ga’ur, received the €15,000 Film Finances Scandinavia Award, and Chentian, directed and written by Suha Arraf, was honored with the Tint Post-Production Award worth SEK 400,000 (approx. € 35,000).