‘Clara Sola’ Tops Swedish “Guldbagge” Film Awards

Nathalie Álvarez Mesén’s Clara Sola was the big winner at the 2022 Swedish Film Awards, known as the Guldbagges, scooping Best Film and Best Director. Scroll down for the full list of winners.

Mesén also picked up Best Screenplay, shared with co-writer Maria Camila Arias, for the Spanish-language movie set in Costa Rica, which follow a 36-year-old woman who takes off on a journey to break free from social and religious conventions and become the master of her sexuality.

Below the line, Clara Sola also picked up Cinematography and Sound Design, taking its total wins on the night to five.

Further winners included A Christmas Tale, Hannes Holm’s live-action adaptation of the popular Swedish novel, which was previously made into an animated pic that has become a holiday classic in Sweden. Holm’s version won Best Actor for Jonas Karlsson and Best Supporting Actress for Jennie Silfverhjelm.

The Best Actress prize was picked up by Sofia Kappel for Bella In Pleasure, while Best Editing went to Hanna Lejonqvist and Dino Jonsäter for The Most Beautiful Boy In The World.

Elsewhere, Hogir Hirori won Best Documentary for Sabaya, while a documentary also took Best International Film, Jonas Poher Rasmussen’s Flee, the hybrid animated project that made the International Oscar shortlist this year.

Honorary awards included director and screenwriter Suzanne Osten, who picked up the special Hedersguldbaggen prize, while director, animator and screenwriter Johan Hagelbäck took the Gullspira, which recognizes contributions in films for children.

The Guldbagge trophy, named after the Swedish word for the rose chafer beetle, is perhaps the most distinctive looking award in the world of film (see pic at the top).