Lars Diurlin

I work as a researcher within the framework of my project “Cultural workers as opinion leaders in the service of the state” funded by the Swedish Research Council (2026–2029) where I study how Swedish authorities have historically used cultural policy tools to achieve information policy goals, for example to change citizens’ attitudes and behaviors.

In my research, I am primarily interested in the production conditions of different media forms, especially related to issues that concern cultural and information policy support forms in the post-war Swedish welfare state. During my doctoral studies, I focused on so-called “minor film cultures” such as experimental and avant-garde film. In my post-doc-years I have primarily conducted cultural historical media research on different forms of publicly funded cultural production in the borderland between art, governmental information and propaganda.

I received my Ph. D. in 2018 at Lund University in the subject of film studies with the thesis “Filmreformens förste avantgardist”: Experimentfilmaren Peter Kylberg. The book, published by Mediehistoriskt Arkiv, spans four decades and is as much an artist study as it is an investigation of the prerequisites of experimental film and the role of the film artist within the framework of the Swedish welfare state's cultural policies.

During the years 2018–2025, I worked as a university lecturer in film studies at Linnaeus University and at Stockholm University. Previously, I have also worked in the film distribution industry and as a director and programmer for film festivals.

Researcher's publications in DiVA (Digitala Vetenskapliga Arkivet)