2,600 Industry Professionals Attended Göteborg's 2026 Market Before Key Staff Departure
The Nordic festival announced its 50th anniversary theme while its Head of Industry prepares to move to Copenhagen.
By Alessia Romano ·
Two thousand six hundred accredited industry and press participants attended the 2026 Göteborg Film Festival, a figure that represents a 50 percent increase over the 2023 attendance. The event took place in Gothenburg, Sweden, which is the largest film and television event in the Nordic countries. The festival organization announced this growth alongside news of a leadership change in its industry division.
Göteborg Film Festival will mark its 50th anniversary during its 2027 edition, scheduled for January 20 through February 6. The program for that year will include a Focus strand titled Forever Young. This section will examine society’s fixation with youth and the desire for immortality through film screenings and discussions. The festival said the theme suits its milestone because it reflects the organization's own aging process while maintaining a strong curiosity about cinema.
Three films will anchor the Forever Young program. Joshua Oppenheimer’s 23-minute short The Revolution Against Death will screen first. It was acquired by The New York Times’ Op-Docs platform and will release with Mubi in December. The film observes an eccentric annual conference dedicated to achieving immortality. Also selected is The End of It, a sci-fi comedy-drama starring Rebecca Hall, Gael García Bernal, and Beanie Feldstein. The film, which premiered at Cannes, is set in a world where the wealthy can choose to die.
The third selection is Once Upon a Time in Harlem, a documentary by William and David Greaves. The film depicts a 1970 cocktail party at Duke Ellington’s townhouse featuring figures from the 1920s Harlem Renaissance. Guest Bruce Richard Nugent told Variety, “While you’re living it, it is the now.” Past Focus strands have included unique events, such as the introduction of a lie detector at the 2026 festival, which focused on concepts of truth.
Josef Kullengård, who has served as Göteborg’s Head of Industry since 2022, will leave the role to join CPH:DOX in Copenhagen. He will become the head of Industry and Training at that documentary festival. Kullengård said he is ready for a new challenge and wants to move closer to friends and family in southern Scandinavia. He will remain at Göteborg through the end of the 2027 anniversary edition.
Kullengård’s tenure included the 2026 event, which featured projects from directors including Ruben Östlund and Erik Poppe. Two works in progress from that market, Alex Schulman’s Adult Supervision and Eivind Landsvik’s Low Expectations, have since premiered at Fantastic Fest and Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight. Kristina Colliander, CEO of the Göteborg Film Festival, thanked Kullengård for his dedication and creativity.
The 2026 edition saw participation from major broadcasters and production companies, including Banijay, Fremantle, New8, and Scandi Alliance. The festival noted that these participants attended despite a broader downturn in the Nordic market. The event served as a platform for financing new projects and consolidating Göteborg’s position as a premier industry forum.
