Sweden offers easily-accessible modern cityscapes as well as a strong sense of history with pastoral scenery and medieval villages. The country’s international profile has been raised by the likes of Wallander, which has since been remade by the BBC, and The Bridge, which also now has UK and US versions.
Wallander was first adapted for the screen in 2005 and both the Swedish and English versions filmed on location in Ystad in southern Sweden. Film tourism has increased in the town since Wallander made its debut.
Ystad City Council has since become a EuroScreen partner, striving to boost regional film tourism efforts.
Sweden’s international appeal extends to the Indian production industry and films are facilitated through Connecting Bollywood in Malmo.
Filmmakers coming to Sweden can access sleek and modern cityscapes, as well as medieval villages and pastoral scenery. It is easily accessible from transport hubs across Europe and moves are being made to capitalise on regional film tourism as television drama exports continue.
The latest addition to our ‘criminal region’ is The Bridge, which has French-British and Mexican-US remakes being produced as we speak. The show’s second season just wrapped here in southern Sweden and this is truly a 50/50 co-production between Sweden and Denmark.
Mikael Svensson, Oresund Film Commission
Most of Sweden has a continental climate with a moderate-to-high temperature range between summer and winter. Winter temperatures are milder in the south-west from Gothenburg to Malmö. Winter in the east is much colder because of the frozen Baltic Sea. In the far north you enter an arctic climate.
There are very long daylight hours in the summer and very long nights in the winter. In the far north you will get 24 hours of daylight in mid-summer and days of arctic twilight in mid-winter.
Above the Arctic Circle you can view the Northern Lights between September and March.
