Swedish broadcaster SVT, regional station Göteborg, has won this year's Prix CIRCOM Grand Prix with "Absolut Svensk" (Absolute Swedish) with Soran Ismail.
Absolute Swedish is a documentary series in three episodes about everyday racism in "one of the world's most tolerant countries", as presented by the author.

The jury particularly liked the way this idea was presented to the audience. The programme is a first person story told by the successful comedian Soran Ismail, a Swede of Kurd origin whose family settled in Sweden when he was a toddler. Soran was raised in Sweden and thinks of himself as a Swede, as well as a Kurd and doesn't feel the need to choose in between his two cultures.

With this background, he explores common, everyday and sometimes uncounscious racism in Sweden, going back to visit his childhood friends to remind them that they sometimes had racist attitudes, even to their dear playmate. Soran looked at his fellow Swedes to see if they react differently in a set-up where a white man, then a coloured man were acting suspiciously. But the series shines when the author tries his best to have a respectful, polite and civilized conversation with an openly racist political activist.

Overall, the series explored the sources of racism in Swedish society and the way the country has been facing it in a subtle, clever yet very personnal manner.

The judges felt that "Absolute Swedish" is a very interesting format. The mixture between facts, strong visuals and playful storytelling makes this programme a winner. A distinction well earned also thanks to very good technical quality.

Göteborg