January 25, 2023
Ruben Ostland Career Summary:
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Training: film school, Gothenburg, graduate 2001.
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Ruben Östlund (born 13 April 1974) is a Swedish filmmaker best known for his black comedic and satirical films Force Majeure (2014), The Square (2017) and Triangle of Sadness (2022), all of which received positive reviews and won awards at the Cannes Film Fest, including the Palme d’Or for the latter two.
His 2022 English-language debut Triangle of Sadness received critical acclaim and earned him Oscar nominations for Best Director and Best Original Screenplay, alongside Best Picture nomination.
Östlund was born in Styrsö, Gothenburg Municipality, Sweden.
After high school, he started working in various ski resorts in the Alps during winter seasons. While in the Alps, he began making skiing videos for friends, which helped him obtain job at production company.
He studied at the film school in Gothenburg, graduating in 2001. He was accepted to the school based on his skiing films.
Together with film producer Erik Hemmendorff, he is the co-founder of the company Plattform Produktion, which produces his films.
His first three feature-length fiction films were The Guitar Mongoloid (2004), Involuntary (2008) and Play (2011). The Guitar Mongoloid won the FIPRESCI Award at the 27th Moscow International Film Festival.
Östlund’s short film “Incident by a Bank” won the Golden Bear for Best Short Film at the 60th Berlin Film Fest and the Grand Prix at Tampere Film Fest in 2011.
In 2014, his film Force Majeure was selected to compete in the Un Certain Regard section at the Cannes Film Fest, winning the Jury Prize. Sweden then submitted Force Majeure for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar. After the Academy shortlisted but did not nominate it, Östlund released humorous video of his response to missing the nomination list.
In 2016, he was a member of the of the Un Certain Regard section of Cannes.
In 2017, his film The Square, loosely inspired by some of his own experiences and art installation with Kalle Boman, competed at the Cannes Film Festival, where it won the Palme d’Or.
In 2020, he received the King’s medal in gold for significant efforts in Swedish film.
Afterwards, he pursued the project Triangle of Sadness, a satirical film about the wealthy elite, winning his second Palme d’Or in 2022.
On January 23, 2023, he won Best Director at the Guldbaggens gala for Triangle of Sadness. The film won five other nominations.
In January, only a day after winning The Guldbaggengala, he was the Swedish nomination in Best Picture to the Academy Awards 2023 as well in Original Screenplay.
Östlund has been in a relationship with fashion photographer Sina Görcz since 2014 and has a son, Elias. He was previously married to his director colleague Andrea Östlund. They divorced in 2008 and have twin daughters, Alva and Hilda.
Östlund was 28 when he became a father for the first time and was working on “The Guitar Mongoloid,} his first feature.
Filmography
Year English title Original title Type
1993 Addicted Skiing film
1997 Free Radicals Skiing film
1998 Free Radicals 2 Skiing film
2000 Låt dom andra sköta kärleken Documentary
2002 Family Again Familj igen Documentary
2004 The Guitar Mongoloid Gitarrmongot Fiction feature
2005 Autobiographical Scene Number 6882 Scen nr: 6882 ur mitt liv Fiction short
2008 Involuntary De ofrivilliga Fiction feature
2009 Incident by a Bank Händelse vid bank Fiction short
2011 Play Fiction feature
2014 Force Majeure Turist Fiction feature
2017 The Square Fiction feature
2022 Triangle of Sadness Fiction feature
