Twenty years ago, a collection of film reels was donated to the Hasselblad Foundation by the company Victor Hasselblad AB. Until recently, these films remained untouched in the Foundation’s archive. As part of an ongoing research and collaborative project, the collection has now been inventoried, and parts of the material have been digitised.

This screening presents a selection of these unique films, including footage from the celebration of the company Hasselblad Fotografiska’s 50th anniversary in 1937, as well as previously unknown promotional films for the Hasselblad camera from the 1960s. Together, the films offer new perspectives on the camera and the Hasselblad company, as well as their strong local roots in Gothenburg. They also highlight a form of local film heritage that is rarely acknowledged as part of Swedish film history.

The screening will be followed by a conversation about the films with Erik Florin Persson, film historian and lead researcher of the project; Andréas Hagström, Archivist at the Hasselblad Foundation; and Marie Hellervik, Curator at the Gothenburg City Museum. The conversation is moderated by Karl-Magnus Johanson, Chief Archivist at the National Archives in Gothenburg.

Date: Wednesday 22 April, 6:00–8:00 PM
Venue: Bio Roy
Participants: Erik Florin Persson (film historian), Andréas Hagström (Archivist, Hasselblad Foundation), Marie Hellervik (Curator, Gothenburg City Museum), and Karl-Magnus Johanson (Chief Archivist, National Archives in Gothenburg)
Free admission
The event is held in Swedish

About the Project

The two-year research and collaboration project Lens-Mediated Convergences: Inventory, Digitisation, Analysis, and Accessibility of the Hasselblad Foundation’s Film Collection (2025–2026) is a collaboration between the Hasselblad Foundation, the National Archives of Sweden, GPS400: Centre for Collaborative Visual Research at the University of Gothenburg, and film historian Erik Florin Persson. The project is funded by the Hasselblad Foundation.

Image: Still from the promotional film Reflections of Life (1970).