The Future of Film

Foto: Niklas Palmklint

"The future of cinema may well be spelled 3-D," says Rasmus Ramstad, CEO of Svensk Filmindustri. During the next two years, various Hollywood companies plan to release some 30 films in 3-D. Recent and upcoming releases include Journey to the Center of the Earth with Brendan Fraser, U2's concert film, Dreamworks' Monsters vs. Aliens, Ice Age 3 and, in the autumn, James Cameron's big film Avatar.

"The starting point for everything we do is to make films that people want to see," says Rasmus Ramstad. "But it doesn't always have to be blockbusters; we work with smaller films, too."

Rasmus Ramstad has a strong sense of helping to shape his portion of SF's long history.  SF is headquartered in Greta Garbo Way, and portraits of legends from Swedish film history look out from the building windows.

When SF moved its offices to the classic Filmstaden ("the Film City") in Råsunda outside Stockholm, it was really a homecoming. SF, one of the world's oldest film companies (founded 1919), had produced most of its work out of "Sweden's Hollywood" in Filmstaden. During the silent film era, SF was one of the most important film companies in the world.  Gösta Berlings Saga, based on the Nobel Prize-winning Selma Lagerlöf novel and featuring Greta Garbo in her debut role, is considered one of the last great silent films.

In 1946, Ingmar Bergman made his debut, and over the next three decades, he made more than 20 films for SF, including the Oscar-winning The Virgin Spring and Through a Glass Darkly.  It was said that SF stood on two legs: Bergman and children movies. Today, the range is broader than that, although children movies continue to be an important part of the business.

There is no picture of Ingmar Bergman hanging on the wall of Rasmus Ramstad. Instead, another magician, Lord of the Rings' Gandalf, watches over visitors, a reminder of the largest earner in SF history. Today, SF is a company that both produces and distributes film to the cinema, DVD and TV stations. Of the distribution, DVD stands for 65% of sales.

SF is involved in the production of some 40 new films each year. Through the acquisition of Sonet in 2008, the company hopes to create produce large commercial films and become the Swedish equivalent of Working Title in England.

"We also have a good relationship with the BBC and Granada, and have launched two film concepts series: Children's Favorites with cartoons like Bob the Builder and Postman Pat, and Crime Time, including Murder in Midsomer, The Inspector Lynley Mysteries and A Touch of Frost. In addition, we work with many Nordic producers, who, among other things, gave us the crime series Wallander and Varg Veum."

But when it comes to cinemas, it is 3-D that will attract visitors in the coming years. In addition to the already mentioned films, SF will also be distributing such goodies as Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland and Steven Spielberg's and Peter Jackson's Tintin-trilogy.