# Guldbagge Award for Best Director

The Guldbagge for Best Director is a Swedish film award presented annually by the Swedish Film Institute (SFI) as part of the Guldbagge Awards (Swedish: "Guldbaggen") to directors working in the Swedish motion picture industry.

## History

Throughout the past 50 years, SFI has presented a total of 50 Best Director awards to 40 different directors. Along with the categories Best Film, Best Actor in a Leading Role and Best Actress in a Leading Role, the award for Best director were one of the four original price categories which was presented at the first award ceremony in 1964. At the 1st Guldbagge Awards (1963/1964), Ingmar Bergman was awarded the first Guldbagge for his film The Silence. Since then, the prize has been awarded every year, except in 1971 where the only prize for best film was awarded, and in 1980 where only the categories Best Film, Best Actor along with the Ingmar Bergman Award. At both the 30th Guldbagge Awards (1994) and the 42nd Guldbagge Awards (2006), Best Director was presented to a co-directing team, rather than to an individual director.
The Guldbagge Awards for Best Director and Best Film have been very closely linked throughout their history. Of the 55 films that have been awarded Best Film, 24 have also been awarded Best Director. The first one to achieve this was Ingmar Bergman, whose film The Silence won the Best Film award at the first 1st Guldbagge Awards. The last one who achieved this was Magnus von Horn through his film, The Here After at the 51st Guldbagge Awards (2015).
The first woman who won the award for Best Director was Marianne Ahrne, for the film Near and Far Away (1976). Besides her, only nine women have ever been awarded for Best Director: Suzanne Osten for The Mozart Brothers (1986), Åsa Faringer for The Daughter of the Puma (1994), Ella Lemhagen for Tsatsiki, morsan och polisen (1999), Catti Edfeldt and Ylva Gustavsson for Kidz in da Hood (2006), Lisa Siwe for Glowing Stars (2009), Pernilla August for Beyond (2010), and Gabriela Pichler for Eat Sleep Die (2012). Since 1991, when the nomination system was introduced with three nominees, the number of female directors has increased significantly, with a total of 22 women. The first woman that got nominated was Susanne Bier for the film Freud's Leaving Home (1991).

## Winners and nominees

Each Guldbagge Awards ceremony is listed chronologically below along with the winner of the Guldbagge Award for Directing and the film associated with the award. Before 1991 the awards did not announce nominees, only winners. In the columns under the winner of each award are the other nominees for best director, which are listed from 1991 and forward.
For the first nineteen ceremonies, the eligibility period spanned two calendar years. For example, the 2nd Guldbagge Awards presented on October 15, 1965, recognized films that were released between July, 1964 and June, 1965. Starting with the 20th Guldbagge Awards, held in 1985, the period of eligibility became the full previous calendar year from January 1 to December 31. The Awards presented at that ceremony were in respect of 18 months of film production owing to the changeover from the broken calendar year to the standard calendar year during 1984. Due to a mediocre film year, no awards ceremony was held in 1971.
| Year | Director(s) | Film |
| 1963/64 (1st) | Ingmar Bergman‡ | The Silence |
| 1964/65 (2nd) | Arne Sucksdorff‡ | My Home Is Copacabana |
| 1965/66 (3rd) | Alf Sjöberg‡ | Ön |
| 1966/67 (4th) | Jan Troell‡ | Here's Your Life |
| 1967/68 (5th) | Kjell Grede‡ | Hugo and Josephine |
| 1968/69 (6th) | Bo Widerberg‡ | Ådalen 31 |
| 1969/70 (7th) | Lars Lennart Forsberg‡ | Mistreatment |
| 1970/71 | — (no award given) | — (no award given) |
| 1971/72 (8th) | Tage Danielsson‡ | The Apple War |
| 1972/73 (9th) | Johan Bergenstråhle‡ | Foreigners |
| 1973/74 (10th) | Vilgot Sjöman‡ | A Handful of Love |
| 1974/75 (11th) | Hans Alfredson‡ | Egg! Egg! A Hardboiled Story |
| 1975/76 (12th) | Jan Halldoff‡ | Buddies |
| 1976/77 (13th) | Marianne Ahrne‡ | Near and Far Away |
| 1977/78 (14th) | Olle Hellbom‡ | The Brothers Lionheart |
| 1978/79 (15th) | Stefan Jarl‡ | A Respectable Life |
| 1979/80 (16th) | — (no award given) | — (no award given) |
| 1980/81 (17th) | Kay Pollak‡ | Children's Island |
| 1981/82 (18th) | Hans Alfredson‡ | The Simple-Minded Murderer |
| 1982/83 (19th) | Ingmar Bergman‡ | Fanny and Alexander |
| 1984 (20th) | Hrafn Gunnlaugsson‡ | When the Raven Flies |
| 1985 (21st) | Hans Alfredson | False as Water |
| 1986 (22nd) | Suzanne Osten‡ | The Mozart Brothers |
| 1987 (23rd) | Kjell Grede‡ | Hip hip hurra! |
| 1988 (24th) | Max von Sydow‡ | Katinka |
| 1989 (25th) | Åke Sandgren‡ | The Miracle in Valby |
| 1990 (26th) | Kjell Grede‡ | Good Evening, Mr. Wallenberg |
| 1991 (27th) | Anders Grönros‡ | Agnes Cecilia – en sällsam historia |
| 1991 (27th) | Susanne Bier | Freud's Leaving Home |
| 1991 (27th) | Clas Lindberg | Underground Secrets |
| 1992 (28th) | Colin Nutley‡ | House of Angels |
| 1992 (28th) | Kjell-Åke Andersson | Night of the Orangutan |
| 1992 (28th) | Bille August | The Best Intentions |
| 1993 (29th) | Clas Lindberg‡ | The Ferris Wheel |
| 1993 (29th) | Daniel Alfredson | The Man on the Balcony |
| 1993 (29th) | Åke Sandgren | The Slingshot |
| 1994 (30th) | Ulf Hultberg‡ Åsa Faringer‡ | The Daughter of the Puma |
| 1994 (30th) | Catti Edfeldt | Sixten |
| 1994 (30th) | Rainer Hartleb | A Pizza in Jordbro |
| 1995 (31st) | Bo Widerberg‡ | All Things Fair |
| 1995 (31st) | Kristian Petri | Between Summers |
| 1995 (31st) | Tomas Alfredson | Bert: The Last Virgin |
| 1996 (32nd) | Kjell Sundvall‡ | The Hunters |
| 1996 (32nd) | Kjell-Åke Andersson | Christmas Oratorio |
| 1996 (32nd) | Ella Lemhagen | The Dream Prince |
| 1997 (33rd) | Daniel Alfredson‡ | Tic Tac |
| 1997 (33rd) | Måns Herngren Hannes Holm | Adam & Eva |
| 1997 (33rd) | Christina Olofson | Sanning eller konsekvens |
| 1998 (34th) | Lukas Moodysson‡ | Show Me Love |
| 1998 (34th) | Solveig Nordlund | Nelio's Story |
| 1998 (34th) | Lisa Ohlin | Waiting for the Tenor |
| 1999 (35th) | Ella Lemhagen‡ | Tsatsiki, morsan och polisen |
| 1999 (35th) | Anders Nilsson | Zero Tolerance |
| 1999 (35th) | Kjell Sundvall | In Bed with Santa |
| 2000 (36th) | Roy Andersson‡ | Songs from the Second Floor |
| 2000 (36th) | Geir Hansteen Jörgensen | The New Country |
| 2000 (36th) | Lukas Moodysson | Together |
| 2001 (37th) | Jan Troell‡ | As White as in Snow |
| 2001 (37th) | Mikael Håfström | Days Like This |
| 2001 (37th) | Bille August | A Song for Martin |
| 2002 (38th) | Lukas Moodysson‡ | Lilya 4-ever |
| 2002 (38th) | Ulf Malmros | We Can Be Heroes! |
| 2002 (38th) | Kjell Sundvall | Grabben i graven bredvid |
| 2003 (39th) | Björn Runge‡ | Daybreak |
| 2003 (39th) | Mikael Håfström | Evil |
| 2003 (39th) | Kristian Petri | Details |
| 2004 (40th) | Tomas Alfredson‡ | Four Shades of Brown |
| 2004 (40th) | Maria Blom | Dalecarlians |
| 2004 (40th) | Kay Pollak | As It Is in Heaven |
| 2005 (41st) | Ulf Malmros‡ | Tjenare kungen |
| 2005 (41st) | Josef Fares | Zozo |
| 2005 (41st) | Björn Runge | Mouth to Mouth |
| 2006 (42nd) | Catti Edfeldt‡ Ylva Gustavsson‡ | Kidz in da Hood |
| 2006 (42nd) | Jesper Ganslandt | Falkenberg Farewell |
| 2006 (42nd) | Anders Nilsson | When Darkness Falls |
| 2007 (43rd) | Roy Andersson‡ | You, the Living |
| 2007 (43rd) | Josef Fares | Leo |
| 2007 (43rd) | Johan Kling | Darling |
| 2008 (44th) | Tomas Alfredson‡ | Let the Right One In |
| 2008 (44th) | Jan Troell | Everlasting Moments |
| 2008 (44th) | Ruben Östlund | Involuntary |
| 2009 (45th) | Lisa Siwe‡ | Glowing Stars |
| 2009 (45th) | Teresa Fabik | Starring Maja |
| 2009 (45th) | Fredrik Edfeldt | The Girl |
| 2010 (46th) | Pernilla August‡ | Beyond |
| 2010 (46th) | Lisa Langseth | Pure |
| 2010 (46th) | Babak Najafi | Sebbe |
| 2011 (47th) | Ruben Östlund‡ | Play |
| 2011 (47th) | Lisa Aschan | She Monkeys |
| 2011 (47th) | Lisa Ohlin | Simon and the Oaks |
| 2012 (48th) | Gabriela Pichler‡ | Eat Sleep Die |
| 2012 (48th) | Mikael Marcimain | Call Girl |
| 2012 (48th) | Jan Troell | The Last Sentence |
| 2013 (49th) | Per Fly‡ | Waltz for Monica |
| 2013 (49th) | Anna Odell | The Reunion |
| 2013 (49th) | Måns Mårlind Björn Stein | Shed No Tears |
| 2014 (50th) | Ruben Östlund‡ | Force Majeure |
| 2014 (50th) | Mikael Marcimain | Gentlemen |
| 2014 (50th) | Roy Andersson | A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence |
| 2015 (51st) | Magnus von Horn‡ | The Here After |
| 2015 (51st) | Sanna Lenken | My Skinny Sister |
| 2015 (51st) | Peter Grönlund | Drifters |
| 2016 (52nd) | Goran Kapetanović‡ | My Aunt in Sarajevo |
| 2016 (52nd) | Felix Herngren Måns Herngren | The 101-Year Old Man Who Skipped Out on the Bill and Disappeared |
| 2016 (52nd) | Hanna Sköld | Granny´s Dancing on the Table |
| 2016 (52nd) | Alexandra-Therese Keining | Girls Lost |
| 2017 (53rd) | Ruben Östlund‡ | The Square |
| 2017 (53rd) | Amanda Kernell | Sami Blood |
| 2017 (53rd) | Janus Metz Pedersen | Borg McEnroe |
| 2017 (53rd) | Tarik Saleh | The Nile Hilton Incident |
| 2018 (54th) | Carl Javér | Reconstructing Utøya |
| 2018 (54th) | Ali Abbasi | Border |
| 2018 (54th) | Måns Månsson and Axel Petersén | The Real Estate |
| 2018 (54th) | Gabriela Pichler | Amateurs |
| 2019 (55th) | Hugo Lilja and Pella Kågerman ‡ | Aniara |
| 2019 (55th) | Levan Akin | And Then We Danced |
| 2019 (55th) | Roy Andersson | About Endlessness |
| 2019 (55th) | Jon Holmberg | Sune – Best Man [sv] |
| 2020 (56th) | Amanda Kernell ‡ | Charter |
| 2020 (56th) | Nathan Grossman | Greta |
| 2020 (56th) | Maria Bäck | Psychosis in Stockholm |
| 2020 (56th) | Henrik Schyffert | Spring Uje spring |
| 2021 (57th) | Nathalie Álvarez Mesén ‡ | Clara Sola |
| 2021 (57th) | Gorki Glaser-Müller | Children of the Enemy |
| 2021 (57th) | Ninja Thyberg | Pleasure |
| 2021 (57th) | Ronnie Sandahl | Tigers |

## International presence

As the Guldbagge Awards are based in Sweden and are centered on the Swedish film industry, the majority of Guldbagge Award winners have been Swedish. Nonetheless, there is significant international presence at the awards, as evidenced by the following list of winners of the Guldbagge Award for Best Director.
* Denmark: Per Fly
* Iceland: Hrafn Gunnlaugsson
* United Kingdom: Colin Nutley
However, no director has won for a film that is entirely in a foreign language.
Several international nominees include:
* Denmark: Susanne Bier and Bille August (nominated for 2 films)
* Germany: Rainer Hartleb