Who Saw Him Die?
For the 2025 edition of FIKA(S), the festival and the Cinémathèque québécoise present a program dedicated to the Swedish New Wave. It highlights young filmmakers who emerged in the 1960s and, inspired by the French New Wave, sought to revitalize Swedish cinema, which was then dominated by Ingmar Bergman. Themes of transmission, self-affirmation, social struggle, and sexual liberation run through these award-winning films, many of which were praised at international festivals.
Winner of the Golden Bear, 1968 Berlin International Film Festival
The tragic life of a teacher totally powerless to maintain any form of discipline in his classroom.
Jan Troell
Jan Troell is a Swedish filmmaker. He worked as an elementary school teacher for several years before starting to make short films in the 1960s. In 1968, his film Who Saw Him Die? (Ole dole doff) won the Golden Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival. His major work was The Emigrants (Utvandrarna, 1971), nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture, and its sequel The New Land (Nybyggarna, 1972), two epic films about Swedish peasants emigrating from the barren countryside to America in the 19th century. Following this success, Troell attempted to establish himself in Hollywood but was unsuccessful. In 1992, he won the Silver Bear for Best Director for Il Capitano, a controversial film based on the brutal murder of a Swedish family that had taken place just a few years earlier. In 1997, he received the Grand Prize at the Rouen Nordic Film Festival for his film Hamsun, a biographical drame about the life of Norwegian author Knut Hamsun. Throughout his career, Troell also directed numerous documentaries. His most reent film, released in 2012, premiered at the Stockholm International Film Festival, where he was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award.
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