THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO Wins Swedish Oscar

At a meeting held Monday, the 2009 Guldbagge (Golden Beetle) jury comprised of Katinka Faragó, Nils Petter Sundgren, Pia Johansson, Jannike Åhlund, Johan Renck, Mikael Marcimain and Guldbagge jury chairman Eva Swartz Grimaldi (not voting) picked Niels Arden Oplev’s box-office smash The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo as the best Swedish picture of the year.

Adapted by Nikolaj Arcel and Rasmus Heisterberg (from Stieg Larsson’s novel), and starring Michael Nyqvist and best actress winner Noomi Rapace, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo has been compared to both The Silence of the Lambs and S7ven. The film follows a journalist trying to uncover a disappearance that took place in the mid-60s — a serial killer still on the loose may have been involved in it.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo has grossed more than US$100 million at the international box office. It opens in the US in March.

Among the other winners of Sweden’s top film award were Michael Haneke’s drama The White Ribbon, one of the semi-finalists for this year’s best foreign language film Oscar; best director Lisa Siwe for Glowing Stars; and best actor Claes Ljungmark for A Rational Solution.

Photo: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Nordisk Films)

Full list of Guldbagge winners:

Best Picture
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo / Män som hatar kvinnor
Producer: Søren Stærmose

Best Foreign Language Film
The White Ribbon/Das weiße Band
Director: Michael Haneke

Best Documentary Film
Ebbe -The Movie
Directors: Jane Magnusson and Karin af Klintberg

Best Director

Lisa Siwe
for Glowing Stars / I taket lyser stjärnorna

Best Actress in a Leading Role
Noomi Rapace
for her role as Lisbeth Salander in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo / Män som hatar kvinnor

Best Actor in a Leading Role
Claes Ljungmark
for his role as Sven-Erik in A Rational Solution / Det enda rationella

Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Anki Lidén
for her role as grandma Ingrid in Glowing Stars / I taket lyser stjärnorna

Best Actor in a Supporting Role

Kjell Bergqvist
For his role as Jonny in The Wedding Photographer / Bröllopsfotografen

Best Screenplay

Ulf Malmros
for his script for The Wedding Photographer / Bröllopsfotografen

Best Cinematography
Hoyte van Hoytema
for his cinematography in Flickan / The Girl

Best Short Film
Scratches / Skrapsår
Director: Gabriela Pichler

Best Achievement
Lead animator Isak Gjertsen
The jury’s motivation:
For providing the technical conditions to create a magical experience in Metropia.

Line Producer Malte Forssell
The jury’s motivation:
For using tremendous skill to coordinate the shooting in three continents in Mammoth

Editor and composer Johan Söderberg
The jury’s motivation:
For a rhythmic merge of music and image in Videocracy

The Board of the Swedish Film Institute has also made the following awards:

Lifetime Achievement Award
Producer Waldemar Bergendahl

The Gullspira Award 2010 (for extraordinary contributions in films for children)
Maggie Widstrand
Unweary and always faithful to the children in her casting

The Audience Award
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo/Män som hatar kvinnor
Director: Nils Arden Oplev