Guldbagge Awards

The Guldbagge Awards (Swedish: Guldbaggen, English: Gold scarab) is an official and annual Swedish film awards ceremony honoring achievements in the Swedish film industry. Winners are awarded a statuette depicting a rose chafer, better known by the name Guldbaggen. The awards, first presented in 1964 at the Grand Hôtel in Stockholm, are overseen by the Swedish Film Institute. It is described as the Swedish equivalent of the Academy Awards.

The awards ceremony was first televised in 1981 on SVT2, and has since then been broadcast, almost every year, on SVT1, SVT2 or TV4.

History

The first Guldbagge Awards were presented on September 25, 1964, at a private party at Grand Hôtel in Stockholm. Four "guldbaggar" were awarded, honoring directors, actors, actresses and other personalities of the film-making industry of the time for their works during the 1963–64 period. The original categories were: Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor and Best Actress.

The first Best Actor awarded was Keve Hjelm, for his performance in Raven's End. The first Best Actress was awarded to Ingrid Thulin, for her performance in The Silence. The first Best Director were awarded to Ingmar Bergman, for his work on the film The Silence, which also won the first Best Film award. For a long time, the Guldbagge Awards were an exquisite exclusivity, and it was supposed to be so, and it took fifteen years before someone managed to win a second time, which was Keve Hjelm, receiving a special price for his performance in the television series God natt, jord.