Sweden's culture quiz IFS returns after contributors walked away

IFS is built on a simple joke: famous Swedes do not always understand the country they live in.

The television quiz returns to SVT Play on 16 September with a new host and seven episodes. Assia Dahir, who previously sat on the panel, will now lead the programme.

IFS is short for “Invandrare för svenskar” [“Immigrants for Swedes”]. Three well-known contestants try to answer questions about food, music, words and customs from the many cultures found in Sweden. A panel helps, jokes and sometimes watches the contestants get everything wrong.

The first episode features presenter Malou von Sivers, journalist Carl Tuleus and adventurer Aron Andersson. SVT says they will face questions about davul and zurna, two instruments often played together, and whether von Sivers can rap to music by Greekazo.

The name of the show begins with a familiar idea: immigrants are the people who need help understanding Sweden. The quiz turns that idea upside down. On IFS, people from immigrant families hold the answers. Famous members of the Swedish majority have to admit what they do not know.

That can be funny. It can also say something kind about life in Sweden. Nobody understands every family, celebration, word or song around them. Being curious is more useful than pretending otherwise.

The new season, however, arrives after a painful argument behind the scenes. In June, several contributors left the programme or asked SVT not to show their episodes. They objected after right-wing activist Nick Alinia was invited to take part.

Former panel member Elaf Ali said the booking went against the purpose of IFS. She pointed to comments in which Alinia had said that other people should leave Sweden. For contributors who felt targeted by such views, sharing a comedy programme with him was not a harmless debate.

The programme's executive producer defended the decision to include people with different political opinions. Helena Olsson, the SVT executive responsible for the broadcast, said she had not known about the booking and would have advised against it.

The argument matters because producers choose more than quiz questions. They choose who enters the room, who is expected to laugh and whose discomfort becomes part of the show. A guest who looks provocative on a planning sheet may feel threatening to somebody sitting beside them.

SVT says comedy is important if it wants to reach younger viewers. IFS has something many panel shows lack: it treats knowledge from immigrant homes as part of Sweden, not as a strange subject outside it.

That is the idea the programme is trying to protect. When IFS returns, the funniest moments may come when a confident celebrity gives a wonderfully wrong answer. The harder task will be making sure the people with the right answers still feel that the programme belongs to them too.

DailySweden Lifestyle Desk

DailySweden Lifestyle Desk writes for DailySweden.

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