Twenty years ago, a collection of film reels was donated to the Hasselblad Foundation by Victor Hasselblad AB. Until recently, the films had remained untouched in the Foundation’s archive, but as part of an ongoing research and collaboration project, the collection has now been surveyed and parts of the material digitised. This screening presents a selection of these unique films, including footage from the 50th anniversary celebrations of Hasselblad Fotografiska in 1937 and previously unknown promotional films for Hasselblad cameras from the 1960s. Together, the films offer new perspectives on the Hasselblad camera and company, as well as their local roots in Gothenburg. In doing so, they draw attention to a form of local film heritage that has rarely been recognised as part of Swedish film history.
The screening concludes with a conversation about the films between Erik Florin Persson, film historian and lead researcher on the project; Andréas Hagström, archivist at the Hasselblad Foundation; and Marie Hellervik, curator at the Museum of Gothenburg. The conversation will be moderated by Karl-Magnus Johanson, Senior Archivist at the National Archives in Gothenburg.
Participants: Erik Florin Persson, film historian; Andréas Hagström, archivist at the Hasselblad Foundation; Marie Hellervik, curator at the Museum of Gothenburg; and Karl-Magnus Johanson, Senior Archivist at the National Archives in Gothenburg.
About the project
The two-year research and collaboration project “Lens-Based Media Convergences: Surveying, Digitising, Analysing and Providing Access to the Hasselblad Foundation’s Film Collection” (2025–2026) is a collaboration between the Hasselblad Foundation, the National Archives, 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).
