10/11/2011

With a Red Carpet screening of Swedish director Tomas Alfredsson’s international box office hit Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] – the Gary Oldman starrer, from John Le Carré’s novel – the Stockholm International Film Festival yesterday launched its 22nd edition at Stockholm’s Skandia Theatre, with a programme of 173 films from 44 countries.

Festival director Git Scheynius has scheduled another 15 Red Carpets, most of them with filmmakers attending, such as Finnish director Aki Kaurismäki’s Le Havre [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Aki Kaurismäki
film profile] (with French actor Jean-Pierre Darroussain); French director Luc Besson’s The Lady [+see also:
trailer
film profile], Andrea Arnold’s Wuthering Heights [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Andrea Arnold
film profile] and US director Miranda July’s The Future [+see also:
trailer
film profile], in the presence of the directors. French actress Isabelle Huppert will show up for her new film - French director Anne Fontaine’s My Worst Nightmare [+see also:
trailer
film profile] - to receive the Stockholm Life Achievement Bronze Horse.

22 features will compete for another copy of the seven-kilo statuette in the international competition, which will be judged by a jury headed by US writer-director Whit Stillman, with Danish actress Iben Hjejle, Swedish director Lise Langseth, cinematographer Jens Assur and producer Sandra Harms.

On the business side the festival’s Industry Office has organised a programme of master classes and seminars on current topics of Swedish cinema, from the new wave of Swedish crime after Millennium, to the strong representation of women filmmakers, to the renewal of the Swedish Film Agreement, the contract between the government, the Swedish Film Institute and the industry outlining the financing of Swedish film. Nordic distributors and international sales agents can benefit from a two-day showcase of 10 Swedish works-in-progress.

Three master classes will be conducted by Australia-born cinematographer Christopher Doyle, Danish producer and Zentropa Entertainments founder Peter Aalbæk Jensen, and Mexican director Alejandro Gonzäles Iñárritu who will receive this year’s Stockholm Visionary Award.

Works-in-progress include Swedish Hollywood-director Lasse Hallström’s return to Swedish filmmaking after 24 years,The Hypnotist (Hypnotisören), from Lars Kepler’s bestseller, with Mikael Persbrandt in the lead; Norwegian director Petter Næss’ World War 2 epic, Comrade, with UK’s Rupert Grint, Lachlan Nieboer, Germany’s Florian Lukas, David Kross and Norway’s Stig Henrik Hoff; Swedish director Frederik Edfeldt’s yet untitled follow-up on his award-winning The Girl (2009).

Also Swedish director Babar Najafi’s Easy Money II, the first of two sequels, the local crowdpleaser (600,000 tickets) from Swedish author Jens Lapidus’ Stockholm Noir novels; Swedish director Andreas Öhmann’s Bitchkram, starring Linda Molin; and Swedish director Jesper Ganslandt’s Blondie.