Troell, Nelson and Swanström at Il Cinema Ritrovato

Newly restored 4K versions of Jan Troell’s The Emigrants (Utvandrarna, 1971) and The New Land (Nybyggarna, 1972) will be screened at the 40th edition of Il Cinema Ritrovato, the world’s leading film heritage festival. The festival will also present "True to Life", a retrospective of twelve films by Swedish experimental filmmaker Gunvor Nelson, and celebrate the centenary of Karin Swanström’s The Girl in Tails (Flickan i frack, 1926).

Jan Troell’s epic diptych The Emigrants and The New Land, based on Vilhelm Moberg’s novel cycle, have been selected for the festival’s “Recovered & Restored” section, which showcases significant restorations and reintroduces them to contemporary audiences. The films will be screened in newly restored 4K versions and introduced by Jon Wengström, senior curator at the Swedish Film Institute.

Gunvor Nelson (1931–2025) was one of the most prominent experimental filmmakers of her generation and a leading female voice in the American avant-garde. The retrospective "True to Life" at Il Cinema Ritrovato celebrates her artistic legacy while revisiting both her films and the contexts in which they were made. Since her debut with Schmeerguntz (1966), co-directed with Dorothy Wiley, Nelson inspired generations of filmmakers, not least through her two decades of teaching at the San Francisco Art Institute.

Curated by Julia Mettenleiter, film archivist at the Swedish Film Institute, together with John Sundholm, Professor of Film Studies at Stockholm University, the programme includes twelve of Nelson’s films, among them Schmeerguntz, My Name is Oona (1969) and Take Off (1971). All films will be screened in their original 16mm format, with eleven prints drawn from the Swedish Film Institute’s archival film collections.

The retrospective is part of the “Great Small Gauges” section and runs from 20–23 June.

Karin Swanström’s The Girl in Tails has been selected for the festival section “Cento anni fa: 1926” (“One Hundred Years Ago: 1926"). This cross-dressing comedy has come to be regarded as one of the comic gems of Swedish silent film. The Bologna screening will be introduced by Kajsa Hedström, curator at the Swedish Film Institute.

Under the Promoted Classics label, the Swedish Film Institute now presents approximately 250 titles, all digitally restored with English subtitles and available for international screenings. See the full list here: Promoted Classics.

Il Cinema Ritrovato takes place in Bologna from 20–28 June. Read more about the festival and explore the full programme.