Olof Hedling

‘Why not make films for New York?’ : The interaction between cultural, political and commercial perspectives in Swedish Film Policy 1963-2013

During the last two decades, film support, film policy and the public financing of audiovisual production in Scandinavia and particularly Sweden have undergone extensive change. These transformations may be seen as responses to globalisation, to increased sub-national regional independence as well as to the emergence of ideas related to the nurturing of the ‘creative industries’. They may also be seen to be a consequence of the increasing permeability of the borders of European nation-states. This article traces a history of film policy in a geographically marginal part of Europe that has been characterised by a range of tensions as a result of competing definitions of film as art and commerce. These tensions are traced back to the 1960s when film support were first introduced and the first seeds of conflict – still discernible in the present situation – were planted.

Film Studies anno 2013 : A Bird’s Eye View

This short subject assessing the current state of the academic field of film studies as practiced at sites of higher learning in Sweden is based on experiences and knowledge the co-authors gained a ...

A First of its Kind Production Studies Meeting at Brno : Screen Industries in East-Central Europe, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic, 11–13 November 2011

Discusses and reviews the conference in the alternative title. Based on the Closing Remarks i gave as an Invited Speaker.

“Stop Whining and Get on with the Basic Business of Being British”: Notes on Robin Wood, Canada and the Concept of National Film Culture

After emigrating from England to Canada in the late 1970s, Robin Wood gained wide recognition as a major “Canadian” film critic, but he was criticized by some for his luke-warm response to the cinema of his adopted country. That response can be traced, in part, to the influence of the English literary critic F.R. Levis, but also to intellectual trends and cultural preferences Wood shared with other young film critics who, like Wood, contributed to the London-based periodical Movie in the sixties and seventies. Wood subsequently adapted their critiques of British national cinema and their admiration for Hollywood cinema to the film culture of Canada. Apres avoir emigre de l’Angleterre au Canada a la fin des annees 1970, Robin Wood est devenu un critique « canadien » majeur. On lui a cependant reproche son manque d’enthousiasme pour le cinema canadien. Son attitude face au cinema canadien resultait en partie de l’influence du critique litteraire anglais F.R. Lewis. Mais elle decoulait aussi des tendances intellectuelles et des preferences culturelles que Wood partageait avec d’autres jeunes chroniqueurs qui, comme lui, avaient contribue a la revue londonienne Movie au cours des annees 1960 et 70. Wood a applique a la culture cinematographique canadienne la critique du cinema national britannique et l’admiration pour le cinema hollywoodien qui caracterisaient Movie. (Less)