As of 29 September, Sweden has lifted most of its COVID-19 restrictions, allowing full indoor gatherings again. At this handy time to be bouncing back from a dampened 2020 edition, marred by audience limitations and other restrictions, the Stockholm International Film Festival presented the programme for its 32^nd edition this Tuesday. “Back to normal” was the key message, and not without a feeling of euphoria, festival director Git Scheynius confessed as she and programme coordinator Beatrice Karlsson unveiled the different sections and events that will play out between 10 and 21 November. Exactly 100 films from 48 nations will be screened for full, physical audiences while also being available as streaming options for the whole country to enjoy. “Times have been strange, but there have been some creative ideas to pick up and hang onto along the way,” Scheynius duly noted.

Brimming with A-list festival favourites, the gathering will host the Swedish premieres of Paolo Sorrentino’s The Hand of God [+lire aussi :
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interview : Paolo Sorrentino
fiche film], Pablo Larraín’s Spencer [+lire aussi :
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fiche film], Jacques Audiard’s Paris, 13th District [+lire aussi :
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fiche film], Nadav Lapid’s Ahed's Knee [+lire aussi :
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interview : Nadav Lapid
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interview : Maria Schrader
fiche film], among other recent Berlin, Cannes and Venice luminaries. Opening the festival is Parallel Mothers [+lire aussi :
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interview : Joachim Trier
fiche film]. The other main laureates are Robin Wright and Kenneth Branagh, both being given the Stockholm Achievement Award and showing their latest directorial works – respectively, Land and Belfast [+lire aussi :
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fiche film]. The Lifetime Achievement Award of 2021 will go to Jane Campion, whose The Power of the Dog [+lire aussi :
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Among the contenders bringing their first- to third-time directorial efforts to the official Bronze Horse Competition, the programme presenters highlighted Maryam Moghadam and Behtash Sanaeeha’s Tribeca entry and Zurich winner Ballad of a White Cow [+lire aussi :
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fiche film], Rachel Lang’s Foreign Legion story Our Men [+lire aussi :
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interview : Rachel Lang
fiche film] and Jonas Carpignano’s mafia drama A Chiara [+lire aussi :
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interview : Jonas Carpignano
fiche film], both of the latter having played in the latest Cannes Directors’ Fortnight. Also entered in the same Cannes section was former Stockholm Film Festival volunteer Nathalie Álvarez Mesén, now a competing director at this very same festival with her acclaimed feature debut, Clara Sola [+lire aussi :
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interview : Nathalie Álvarez Mesén
fiche film].

The moniker of this year’s special spotlight theme (in keeping with the Almodóvar logo as well as his new film) is “motherhood”. Thirteen titles will be showcased, including Charlotte Gainsbourg’s Jane by Charlotte [+lire aussi :
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fiche film] and Blerta Basholli’s Sundance winner Hive [+lire aussi :
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interview : Blerta Basholli
fiche film]. A smaller number of guests will be in town, with a sizeable array checking in digitally, while the festival’s Industry Days will take place from 16-18 November, once again promising to get back to normal with a full slate of activities. “After a year of what-ifs, maybes and possiblys, we really couldn’t have had a better outcome,” Sheynius mused contentedly. “And there’s hand sanitiser available for each of the 250 screenings – just so you know,” Karlsson assured those watching.