A record number of quality Nordic TV series and feature films will premiere on the Swedish pubcaster until June.

SVT has just emphasised its game plan to be a premium choice for Swedish viewers and partner for local producers, through a presentation of its eclectic spring line-up, where local and Nordic content stand at a peak level.

On the TV drama side, SVT said they will bet on Nordic drama, with seven new premium dramas programmed on their SVT1 prime-time slot and on their streamer SVT Play.

Most shows are part of the Nordic 12 public broadcasters’ alliance, set up two years ago, which has opened up Swedish viewers appetite for Nordic quality content, as underlined by SVT CEO Hanne Stjärne: “The response we get from the audience is that they want to see even more Nordic drama. The co-operation between the Nordic public service companies has made this possible, and the result is fantastic: we’ve got brave, innovative series, that also have the ability to bind the Nordic countries together across different languages and generations,” she said.

For Head of Drama Anna Croneman, series such as the Nordisk Film & TV Fond prize winners July 22, Cry Wolf and nominated shows Caliphate and The Thin Blue Line are “all based on the Nordic region’s reality", and “the audience has received them with great engagement,” she pointed out. “Then there is hardly anything better than bringing together talents from different countries and seeing the results reach TV viewers, as we will see with Snow Angels”, added Croneman.

Series on SVT’s spring slate are the following:

  • Walk Like a Queen (Stolthet og forfall, NRK)- all 8 episodes premiered Feb 18, SVT Play.
  • Exit season 2 (NRK), premiere SVT Play March 6
  • The Garden (Gullregn, RÚV). All 3 episodes to premiere March 7, SVT Play
  • Lovest ( R )uck (Kærestetur, DR). All 5 episodes to premiere SVT play March 11
  • Piece of My Heart (Pala sydämestäni, Yle). All 5 episodes to premiere March 11
  • Snow Angels (Snöänglar, SVT). Premiere SVT Play and SVT1 March 28.
  • Love Me (Älska mig, SVT). All 6 episodes to premiere March 29.

Meanwhile on the feature film side, Denmark’s Queen of Hearts, Norway’s Out Stealing Horses, Blind Spot and Iceland’s Virgin Mountain are among 140 international features set to premiere, on top of a record eight new Swedish quality features co-financed by SVT.

Charlotta Denward who joined SVT last August as Head of Feature Film said: “SVT is very important to the Swedish film sector as major financier, active co-producer and not least, as an unrivalled window, where films can reach their largest audience.”

Indeed in 2020, Swedish films captured 10 million viewers on SVT’s channels and SVT Play, and in terms of financial commitment, the public broadcaster invests SEK 100 million a year into feature films, documentaries, shorts and cultural documentaries. Around SEK 55 million is allocated to feature film production alone, which represents approximately 10% of the total budget for feature film production in Sweden, according to SVT.

The eight Swedish films set to premiere this spring are the following:

  • Aniara by Pella Kågerman and Hugo Lilja
  • The Other Side (Andra sidan) by Tord Danielsson and Oskar Mellander
  • Run Uje Run (Spring Uje spring) by Henrik Schyffert
  • Most Wanted (Snälla kriminella) by Sara Young
  • Inland by Jon Blåhed
  • Breaking Surface by Joachim Hedén
  • Charter by Amanda Kernell.