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Sweden’s Göteborg Film Festival to Debate the Fascination With Youth in a ‘Forever Young’ Focus
Göteborg Film Festival has announced a “Forever Young” focus for its 2027 edition, exploring society’s fixation on youth, ageing and the pursuit of immortality through films and discussions. The theme coincides with the festival’s 50th anniversary, framing a milestone for the event around questions of what it means to grow older.
The announced films are Joshua Oppenheimer’s 23-minute short about a conference seeking to overcome ageing and death; Maria Martínez Bayona’s science-fiction comedy-drama, in which a 250-year-old artist chooses to die; and a documentary capturing a 1970 gathering of Harlem Renaissance figures. The festival runs from 20 January to 6 February 2027. Separately, its Head of Industry Josef Kullengård is leaving after this year’s edition to take up a role at Copenhagen’s CPH:DOX.
In short
- Göteborg’s 2027 focus will examine society’s obsession with youth.
- The programme includes three films about ageing, death and cultural memory.
- The festival’s 50th anniversary runs from 20 January to 6 February.
Explained simply
Göteborg Film Festival is an annual film event held in Sweden and one of the Nordic region’s major festivals. Its programme includes films from different countries, alongside talks and events for audiences and people working in the film industry.
Ideas about youth and ageing connect to debates about health, identity and how people think about the end of life. Films can explore these questions through imagined futures, personal stories or records of past events, giving audiences different ways to consider what growing older means.
A 50th anniversary also marks the festival’s place in Sweden’s cultural life since it began in 1977. The festival’s industry programme brings together film professionals, so changes in its leadership can matter to that part of the event as well.