Head of the unit is Tommie Hildman.
Collage: Conny Franzén, Photo: Olle Johnsson
The Film Archive in Grängesberg is an important and living source of knowledge about the life of people in Sweden in the 20th century. It is a national archive mostly made up of films that document Swedish people's own stories and memories.
The archive collects and preserves cine format films (16 mm, 9.5 and 8 mm) which reflect 20th century history, chiefly the period 1930-1980. These may be films of special occasions, places, environments, everyday life and celebrations, but can also be films about companies, how work was organised and carried out, or films that document events, building projects and the countryside.
Most films of this kind are currently housed with museums, societies, local authorities, companies and private individuals. If nobody takes care of them, there is a risk that they will be lost.
In order to save Swedish cine films, the government tasked the Swedish Film Institute with initiating a nationwide initiative and, as a result, a national film archive was established in Grängesberg in 2003.
The films are stored in climate-controlled conditions to guarantee their durability.
Since 1 July 2005, the following order of priority applies to films for the collection: first and foremost they should be films from societies, folklore societies, companies, museums and archives, and also training and educational films.