The Last Resort won the top prize at the 49th Goteborg Film Festival, taking the Dragon Award for best Nordic film.
Norwegian filmmaker Maria Sødahl’s drama, which world premiered at the festival and follows a Danish family who become embroiled in an accident involving an Afghan refugee while on holiday at a luxury resort, received the €37,800 prize. It is a Danish-Norwegian-Spanish co-production.
The jury, headed up by US-Danish filmmaker Joshua Oppenheimer, said of the film: “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”.
Scroll down for the full list of winners
Swedish filmmaker Marcus Carlsson’s The Quiet Beekeeper won the audience award, while the gender-neutral Dragon award for best acting went to its star Adam Lundgren. The drama follows a father and daughter who carry a shared grief in different ways.
The €23,600 best documentary prize went to Iván Blanco’s Malandro Moon, while the Ingmar Bergman international debut award was given to Meriem Bennani and Orian Barki’s Bouchra.
Goteborg’s awards were given out at a ceremony which took place on Saturday (January 31) evening. As previously announced, honorary awards went to Polish filmmaker Agnieszka Holland and Swedish actress Noomi Rapace.
Nordic Film Market
Earlier in the week the Nordic Film Market industry prizes were given out. Badrudin Ga’ur’s Norwegian thriller Out Of Athens, about a woman hired by a smuggler to help an undocumented man cross Europe, received the €15,000 Film Finances Scandinavia Award, to go towards development support. Vibeke Ringen produces for Nordisk Film. The award recognises a Nordic feature project that demonstrates “artistic excellence and international potential”.
Suha Arraf’s Palestine-German co-production Chentian was given the Tint Post-Production Award, worth €37,000. The award is for an “exceptional” project from the Nordic Gateway section. The film follows two sisters in a Palestinian village grappling with betrayal, survival and power dynamics. Producers are Palestine’s Odeh Films and Germany’s Mayana Films.
Tropical Malaise, the debut feature from Swiss-Colombian director Jorge Cadena, received the Coprocity Development Award, which comes with a €3,500 grant and a €2,800 promotional campaign by Cineuropa. The Colombia-set project follows members of the Indigenous and LGBTIQ+ communities brought together in an unprecedented alliance.
International sales agents and buyers told Screen that one standout project pitched as part of the Nordic Film Market’s work in progress event was Elin Grönblom’s Swedish feature Bloodsuckers, owing to its arthouse-commercial crossover potential. The film follows a mother driven to extreme lengths to find peace and quiet from her family. Charades reps sales.
Attendees also spoke positively about two Danish features, Caroline Sascha Cogez’s Transfer Window, set in a utopian hospice and looking for a sales agent, and May el-Toukhy’s post-Second World War-set Woman, Unknown, sold by TrustNordisk.
Goteborg Film Festival 2026 winners
Best Nordic film – The Last Resort dir. Maria Sødahl
Audience award – The Quiet Beekeeper dir. Marcus Carlsson
Best Acting – Adam Lundgren, The Quiet Beekeeper
Fipresci award – Weightless, dir. Emilie Thalund
Best Nordic documentary – Malandro Moon, dir. Iván Blanco
International debut award – Bouchra, dirs. Meriem Bennani, Orian Bark i
Best international film – Calle Malaga, dir. Maryam Touzani
Cinematography award – Louise McLaughlin, Weightless
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