Swedish Film Institute Archival Film Collections (Filmhistoriska samlingarna)

Overview

The Archival Film Collections of the Swedish Film Institute (Svenska Filminstitutet, SFI) constitute one of the oldest film archives in the world and serve as Sweden's national film archive. Housed at the Filmhuset in Gärdet, Stockholm, the archive preserves, catalogues, and provides access to Swedish film heritage.

History and Founding

The archive traces its origins to the Swedish Film Society (Svenska Filmsamfundet), established in October 1933, which created a film museum to collect archival materials. In 1938, the film collections were moved to the National Museum of Science and Technology (Tekniska museet) in Stockholm. In 1940, the collections gained independent status under the name Filmhistoriska samlingarna (Film Historic Collections) and became a member of the International Federation of Film Archives (FIAF) in 1946. The Swedish Film Institute was founded in 1963, and on 16 March 1964, the Film Historic Collections were donated to the institute, becoming its Film Archive.

Collections and Holdings

The archive holds more than 33,000 Swedish and foreign film titles—virtually all films ever theatrically released in Sweden. It also preserves an extensive non-film collection including more than 50,000 books, over 1,000 film journals, stills and poster archives, and personal archives of notable filmmakers including Ingmar Bergman, Gösta Werner, and others. The archive stores films in climate-controlled vaults to ensure long-term preservation, maintaining prints in their original formats.

Media and Journalism Holdings

The non-film collection includes press clippings, manuscripts, promotional materials, and institutional archives from across Swedish film history, providing a rich resource for research into the intersection of cinema and media culture.

Access and Online Resources

In 2011, filmarkivet.se was established as a joint project with the National Library of Sweden, making digitised films freely available as streaming content. Since 2016, the institute restarted theatrical distribution of digitised archival films to Swedish cinemas. The library at Filmhuset is open to the public.