Middagstal på SERN-nätverkets generalförsamling

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Middagstal på SERN-nätverkets generalförsamling
24 april 2012 22:17

Middagstal som jag höll på SERN-nätverkets generalförsamling. Middagen hölls på Ronnums herrgård där bland andra Italiens ambassadör i Sverige närvarade.

Your Excellency. Prominent guests.

When I say that you are our prominent guests I mean it.
The SERN-cooperation is very important to us.

But you are not the first prominent guests at Ronnum Herrgård:

Lauren Bacall, Willem Defoe, Björk, Catherine Deneuve and Nicole Kidman.

They have also been here. They have lived here.
Not just for one night, but for quite a long time.

You probably wonder why.

It is because this area – with our neighbour town Trollhättan - is a centre for film production. And Ronnum is one of the best place to stay in the area.

In the USA, there is Hollywood
In India, there is “Bollywood”
In Sweden, there is “Trollywood”

Our tradition of film-making is not as long as that in Hollywood.

But we have produced award-winning films like:
“Dogville”, “Antichrist” and “Dancer in the Dark”. I think you have heard and maybe even have seen the film The girl with the dragon tattoo.

The movies from “Trollywood” are produced by “Film i Väst”

“Film i Väst” is owned by – and to a great extent financed by - Region Västra Götaland. Film I Väst has directly contributed to the growth of the industry, to the education of filmworkers and the development of new talent in the region. Film i Väst is one of the most significant regional film funds in Europe and the most significant source of funding for films in Sweden, after the Swedish Film Institute.

Why do we spend so much money on film? We think that film is one way to create new jobs but film is also culture?

We believe that culture is a bridge.
It is a bridge that makes it easier for us to communicate across borders.

Across national borders.
But also across other borders:
Ethnic borders and borders of gender inequality, for example

The SERN-collaboration is also an example of building bridges.

So, let us now enjoy the Swedish food culture!

I hope that you will have a wonderful evening with us. Welcome – and cheers!