Novelties abound for Stockholm’s 20th anniversary

by Annika Pham

18/11/2009 - To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Stockholm International Film Festival (November 18-29) and Sweden’s EU presidency this autumn, festival director Git Scheynius has put together the most extensive programme ever of films and events, to be attended by hundreds of stars and talent from around the world.

Some 180 films from 50 countries will be split among the 14 different sections of the festival. Fresh on this year’s programme is the unique Jubilee screenings, on a ten-ton cinema screen made of ice. The ice screening of cult movie The Rocky Horror Picture Show will be presented by US actress Susan Sarandon, who will receive a Lifetime Achievement Award.

Also new this year: 10 selected films will be broadcast directly into the living rooms of 350,000 Swedish homes with Telia’s digital TV. The “Festival on Demand – a festival for all Swedes” is intended to reach “as many people as possible and to encourage the distribution of quality films in Sweden,” said Scheynius. The selected films – including Swedish title Miss Kicki by Håkon Liu and Happy End by France’s Larrieu brothers – will also compete for the new €9,500 Telia Film Award that will support the winning film’s future theatrical release in Sweden.

The main competition section sees 20 films vying for the Bronze Horse awards. Titles include Yorgos Lanthimos’ Dogtooth [trailer, film focus], Andrea Arnold’s Fish Tank [trailer, film focus] and Matias Armand Jordal’s Together [trailer].

The popular Works-in-Progress sessions will give a taste of 11 Nordic projects in post-production – a mix of mainstream movies and promising debuts – such as the directorial debut of Iranian born Babak Najafi, Johan Brisinger’s second feature Among Us, Per Fly’s The Woman who Dreamed of a Man and Daniel Espinosa’s Easy Money.

The Face2Face interviews will give centre stage to 36 filmmakers, producers and other talent, including Sweden’s Tarik Saleh (Metropia), Denmark’s Lone Scherfig (An Education [trailer]) and French mogul Luc Besson, recipient of a Visionary Award.