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STOCKHOLM 2018 Awards

Female directors win big at the Stockholm International Film Festival

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- Jasmin Mozaffari’s feature debut, Firecrackers, has triumphed at the 29th edition of the Swedish festival, while new films by Eva Trobisch, Crystal Moselle and Nadine Labaki turned heads once again

Female directors win big at the Stockholm International Film Festival
(l-r) Sofie Palage, Lena Endre, Jasmin Mozaffari (whose Firecrackers won the Best Film and Best Actress Awards) and Alexandra Dahlström after the awards ceremony (© Sophia Carrhage)

Canadian filmmaker Jasmin Mozaffari won the hearts of jurors Beatriz SeignerSoheil BeiraghiSofie PalageTomas Hanzon and Ulf Rollof at this year’s edition of the Stockholm International Film Festival thanks to her compelling drama Firecrackers, about young friends Lou (Michaela Kurimsky) and Chantal (Karena Evans) trying to escape their small town.

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The film earned Kurimsky the Best Actress gong and was named Best Film for, as it was argued, “its originality in portraying the love between two friends, for its urge for freedom, autonomy and loyalty in a violent world, and for bringing us to situations in a way that we have never seen before. It’s a perfectly directed film where all elements come together in a unique universe of its own.” Alba August, the breakthrough star of Becoming Astrid [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Alba August
interview: Pernille Fischer Christensen
film profile
]
, was named the Stockholm Rising Star, and Iranian director Asghar Farhadi was given the Stockholm Visionary Award, while Mary Harron and Gunnel Lindblom were celebrated for their entire body of work.

Eva Trobisch was named Best Director for All Good [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
, while Skate Kitchen by Crystal Moselle (who was also on this year’s Stockholm Impact Award jury), about a female skateboarding crew in New York, won Best Debut “for its freshness and innovation in taking risks and challenging stereotypes, and for being authentic in depicting love, friendship and youth, with its honest and complex characters”.

Nadine Labaki’s festival favourite Capernaum [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
, continuing its triumphant march that began with its premiere at Cannes earlier this year, was awarded for its script, which Labaki wrote with Jihad HojeilyMichelle KesrouaniGeorges Kabbaz and Khaled MouzanarVictor Polster was chosen as Best Actor for his transformative performance in Lukas Dhont’s Girl [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Lukas Dhont
film profile
]
, and the coveted Stockholm Impact Award – plus a cash prize of 1 million SEK – went to Beatriz Seigner for Los Silencios [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
, a truly original take on the refugee crisis.

In the documentary competition, Vitaly Mansky proved unbeatable once again with his shocking exposé Putin’s Witnesses [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Vitaly Mansky
film profile
]
, featuring unique footage that he shot back in 2000 as a member of the president’s campaign team. “At a specific moment in time, and through unique and extraordinary access that would seem impossible nowadays, the director shows us how power works in private. Through the ordinary, day-to-day details of rulers of a country – and you cannot come much closer to a president than this – he also tells us a lot about what is happening in the world today,” explained jurors Maud NycanderOgnjen Glavonić and Stina Gardell. “What makes this film really special is the personal story at its core, in which the director speaks very honestly and openly about his own responsibility, and the importance of reflection and acknowledging your own role in the process of shaping reality.”

The festival ran from 7-18 November.

Here is the complete list of winners at the 29th Stockholm Film Festival: 

Best Film
Firecrackers – Jasmin Mozaffari (Canada) 

Best Director
All Good [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
– Eva Trobisch (Germany)

Best Debut
Skate Kitchen – Crystal Moselle (USA)

Best Actress
Michaela Kurimsky – Firecrackers 

Best Actor
Victor Polster - Girl [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Lukas Dhont
film profile
]
 (Belgium/Netherlands) 

Best Cinematography
Hiroshi Okayama - Jesus (Japan)

Best Script
Nadine Labaki, Jihad Hojeily, Michelle Kesrouani, Georges Kabbaz, Khaled Mouzanar - Capernaum [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
 (Lebanon/France) 

Best Documentary
Putin’s Witnesses [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Vitaly Mansky
film profile
]
– Vitaly Mansky (Latvia/Switzerland/Czech Republic/Germany) 

Stockholm Impact Award
Los Silencios [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
– Beatriz Seigner (Brazil/Colombia/France)

Best Short Film
Judgement – Raymund Ribay Gutierrez (Philippines)

Best Short Pitch
Badet – Disa Östrand (Sweden) 

Stockholm Rising Star
Alba August 

1 KM FILM 2018
Julia Thelin

1 KM FILM 2018 Honourable Mention
Ernst De Geer

FIPRESCI Award for Best Film
Cold War [+see also:
film review
trailer
Q&A: Pawel Pawlikowski
film profile
]
 – Paweł Pawlikowski (France/Poland/UK) 

Stockholm Visionary Award
Asghar Farhadi 

Stockholm Lifetime Achievement Award
Mary Harron 

Stockholm Achievement Award
Gunnel Lindblom

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