A new film showcasing how Sweden celebrates its new citizens with coffee and cinnamon rolls, served in the Golden Hall of the Nobel banquet venue, was launched recently. It features Swedish symbols, like the national anthem and ’fika’, as well as the personal reflections of Mexico-born Diego on his new home and identity.
“We wanted to capture how the country opens one of its most prestigious locations for new Swedes, and salutes them with a ceremony and some classic ‘fika’”, says Johan Sundberg, SI Project Manager who directed the film.
Mr. Sundberg explained that behind the 3 minutes long production is the Swedish Institute (SI), a governmental agency whose mission is to promote the country abroad. Hosted at the Stockholm City Hall – which every December is the venue of the Nobel banquet – the annual ceremony presents yet another opportunity to ’fika’, i.e. to socialise while having coffee and cinnamon buns.
“Never tell a Swede you don’t like cinnamon buns ’cause they’ll go weird”, Diego Planas Rego commented. He moved to Västerås to study before he started working for Spotify and blogs avidly on the Tumblr account ‘An Immigrant in Sweden’
According to Statistics Sweden 9,9 million people live in the country – twice as many than 100 years ago. By the end of 2015, nearly 1,7 million of those residents were born in another country.
