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See young Alicia Vikander’s very first acting performance

An adorable video of Sweden's Oscar nominee Alicia Vikander lip-syncing to a famous tune by Abba legends Björn and Benny at the young age of eight has emerged in Sweden.

Published: 25 February 2016 15:23 CET
Updated: 25 February 2016 17:31 CET
See young Alicia Vikander's very first acting performance
Swedish Oscar nominee Alicia Vikander. Photo: Björn Lindgren/TT

Sweden's Hollywood sweetheart could become the Nordic country's first actor to take home an Academy Award in more than four decades at the annual gala on Sunday.

But a forgotten clip of her first televised appearance emerged on Thursday, showing an eight-year-old Vikander demonstrating her acting talent as early as back in 1997.

In the video by broadcaster TV4, she performs on a Swedish talent show where children imitate famous artists by lip-syncing to their most popular hits, competing against each other in front of a jury.

When asked by the host what she wants to be when she grows up, she quickly answers: “Actor”.

And revelling in the spotlight, young Vikander brings to life a song from the musical 'Kristina from Duvemåla' by fellow Swedes Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson, about a group of Swedes emigrating to the United States in the 19th century.

It's pretty serious stuff for an eight-year-old, and she is clearly not afraid of tackling the rather serious subject matter of the song, called 'Du måste finnas', ('You Have to Be There'), and is about a woman questioning the existence of God after her child dies.

She totally wins the talent show, by the way. Watch the rest of the video here.

More recently, the Swedish starlet, now 27 years old, has received plenty of attention for her roles in Hollywood movies including 'Anna Karenina', 'Ex Machina' and Julian Assange biopic 'The Fifth Estate'.

On Sunday she could pick up an Oscar for best actress in a supporting role for her performance in Scandinavian trans-gender movie 'The Danish Girl'. In the acclaimed film she stars opposite Eddie Redmayne, who is nominated in the best actor category.

Vikander is competing against US actress Rooney Mara, nominated for her role in 'Carol' and well known in Sweden for her depiction of Lisbeth Salander in the American adaptations of the Swedish Millennium series, penned by Stieg Larsson.

Rachel McAdams and Jennifer Jason Leigh have also made the shortlist as well as the UK's Kate Winslet.

The last Swedish actor to win an Oscar was Ingrid Bergman in 1974 for her role in The Orient Express.

The team behind the Swedish movie 'The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared' has additionally been nominated in the 'Best Makeup and Hairstyling' category. The film, produced in 2013 but released globally last year, saw 51-year-old Robert Gustafsson play retirement home escapee Allan Karlsson.

UTØYA

Utøya film makes shortlist for Norway’s Oscar entry

U – July 22, this year’s film about Anders Breivik’s 2011 massacre, is one of three contenders to be put forward for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

Published: 29 August 2018 15:07 CEST
Utøya film makes shortlist for Norway's Oscar entry
A still from the film U – July 22. Photo: U – July 22
The Norwegian Oscar Committee on Wednesday announced a shortlist of three films, ahead of picking its final candidate next Tuesday. 
 
U – July 22, directed by Erik Poppe, is vying against What Will People Say, by the Norwegian-Pakistani director Iram Haq, and Blind Spot, a film directed by the Swedish-Czech actress Tuva Novotny. 
 
In its announcement, the committee said that Poppe's film had brought the tragedy to life. 
 
“A large number of facts from AUF’s summer camp on July 22 2011 have already been published,” it said. “But few of us know a lot about the unimaginable panic and confusion that occurred or the impossible choices the victims were faced with.” 
 
But the film faces stiff competition from What Will People Say, with Haq’s previous film I Am Yours put forward as Norway’s entry in 2013. 
 
Her new film follows a Norwegian-Pakistani girl precariously balancing her life as a normal teenager with a traditional Pakistani family existence at home. When her father catches her in bed with her Norwegian boyfriend, he has her kidnapped and sent home to Pakistan, where she discovers her parents’ culture in a new way. 
 
Finally, Blind Spot is the directoral debut for Novotny, who played Mariana Simionescu, the Wimbledon tennis champion who married Björn Borg, in the film Borg vs McEnroe.  The film is a story about the grey zones in mental illness. 
 
From October 1, the  Foreign Language Committee at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), will begin assessing countries' submissions, reducing them to a shortlist of six. Three other films will then be added by an executive committee. 
 
Two further committees, one of the US East Coast and one on the US West Coast, will then select the five best to be nominated for the Oscar. 
 
The nominations will be announced on Tuesday 22 January, and the 2019 winner will be announced on Sunday, February 24.