Here is a twisted version of the “Truth or Dare” game: to promote this year’s theme, “Focus: Truth,” the Göteborg Film Festival dares festivalgoers to tell the truth if they want to secure their spot at the 2026 event. Running from January 23–February 1, the 49th edition encourages the audience to explore the power of truth by attending the festival that, according to the organizers, can be paid for using an uncommon currency: Truth. To introduce the upcoming edition, the Göteborg Film Festival teamed up with BBDO Nordics agency, launching a rather odd experiment that gives a tangible value to honesty.
Dubbed “Truth Tickets,” the campaign dares the public to be sincere in exchange for a cinema ticket or festival pass. Visitors willing to pay with honesty are invited into a specially designed interrogation room, built to mimic the interior of typical investigative environments. Participants who sign up will be questioned while connected to a polygraph, with the tests conducted by professional polygraph specialist, Ørjan Hesjedal. According to the festival, the “test itself is relatively short, about 10 minutes,” and if the answers are judged to be truthful, the subjects walk away with festival tickets, which they bought with sincerity and not money.
“Truth has become strangely negotiable in our time. By turning truth into a currency, we assign it a tangible value that is rarely emphasized. We want to create an experiment where lying has consequences,” explained Göteborg Artistic Director Pia Lundberg. “By turning truth into something you can earn – and spend – the festival assigns it a tangible value rarely acknowledged in the real world. In a time when personal narratives often overshadow factual truth, Truth Tickets reframes honesty as something with substance, consequence and worth,” the festival stated.
Complementing the initiative is a two-minute-long video starring renowned Scandinavian actors Alexander Karim and David Dencik, and directed by Mats Udd. The film showcases Karim as an interrogator, questioning the value of truth, while his assistant, played by Dencik, subjects himself to a series of elaborate torture techniques presented as methods for measuring one’s honesty.
“I would be lying if I said it wasn’t a childhood dream to make David Dencik rip off his own fingernail with a pair of pliers while Alexander Karim watches on excitedly, smacking on a lollipop. But what do I know about other people’s dreams. At the very least, I can now check this one off my bucket list. And then check it off once more. Getting to make this year’s promo film for the Göteborg Film Festival is, of course, one of the most honorable assignments there is, and I am incredibly proud to present this year’s film,” Udd shared via LinkedIn.
Commenting on the initiative, Mikael Andersson, Copywriter at BBDO Nordics, said: “Perhaps the concept of truth has never been more relevant than it is now. And highlighting its value has probably never been more timely either, at a time when the line between opinions and facts is often blurred.”
Visitors who wish to undertake the test can book a time slot in advance on the festival’s webpage. The interrogations will take place at Nordstan, 16 to 18 January, and at Olof Palme’s Plats, 24 to 26 January.
CREDITS
Brand: Göteborg Film Festival
Agency: BBDO Nordics
