With its most equal programme to date and the participation of female directors raised to 40%, the Stockholm International Film Festival – founded in 1990 – has announced the programme of its celebratory 30^th edition. The event, scheduled to begin on 6 November with Noah Baumbach administering a punch to the heart with his latest effort, Marriage Story, as well as accommodating the Swedish premiere of Roy Andersson’s About Endlessness [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Roy Andersson
scheda film], will screen 150 films from over 60 different countries – including France, chosen as this year’s spotlight. Francophiles will get to see over 25 titles, from the recent Oscar submission Les Misérables [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Ladj Ly
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Q&A: François Ozon
scheda film] by François Ozon or Atlantics [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Mati Diop
scheda film] by Mati Diop. “It felt like it was a matter of course to pay tribute to French cinema,” festival director Git Scheynius told Cineuropa. “For us, celebrating France is the same thing as celebrating quality cinema.”

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But things are also bound to get somewhat darker with this year’s Spotlight on “Mafia – Organised Crime”, with Sea of Shadows [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Roberto Saviano
scheda film] by Claudio Giovannesi, based on a novel by Roberto Saviano, bound to provoke discussion about violence and crime both on and off screen, as well as the world we live in. “Each year, our Spotlight highlights contemporary social issues, and consists of creatively strong documentaries and feature films that bring new perspectives to ongoing world debates,” said Scheynius. “We could not think of a more current issue than organised crime, which has, in different ways, taken over our world and the big screen. We will highlight the issue by showing films that explore new perspectives and look beyond the crime genre’s general conventions.”

These include Just 6.5, already a hit in its native Iran, starring 2019 Stockholm Achievement Award recipient Payman Maadi – the first actor outside of Europe and the USA to receive the prize. “The Stockholm Lifetime Achievement Award is presented to an individual in honour and acknowledgement of their contribution to the world of film. Payman Maadi was an obvious choice,” argued Scheynius. “He is one of the biggest and most popular film stars in Iran, and is an actor with universal appeal and world-class role performances that have enriched great cinema. We are delighted to be awarding him for his unique quality of reaching through the screen, past prejudices and over borders.” Other Bronze Horse honourees include Max von Sydow, about to collect his well-earned Stockholm Lifetime Achievement Award, and Céline Sciamma. The French director will also present her period hit Portrait of a Lady on Fire [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Céline Sciamma
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With the festival acknowledging past achievements, some attention will also be paid to the future, with five nominees vying for Stockholm Rising Star. They include Albin Grenholm, Emelie Garbers fd Jonsson, Arvin Kananian, Celie Sparre and Freddy Åsblom. Meanwhile, the 1 Km Film scholarship, one of Sweden’s biggest short-film competitions, allowing filmmakers to make a short to be screened at next year’s festival, will crown one of the projects from a selection including Psychic by Tova Mozard, Jamila by Sophie Vukovic, Harald Kvists Slag För Frihet by Melina Maraki, Alltid Oavsett by Kim Sundbeck and Majaq Julen, Pinnen by Jonatan Etzler and Robert Melo, Huset by Fanny Rosell, Ingen Lyssnar by Elin Övergaard, Iranian Kiss by Bahador Shahidi, A Legacy of Horses by Annika Karlsson and Jessica Karlsson, and finally, Lost in Kyiv by Yana Martsynkevych.

With anniversaries always encouraging one to look back, it seems as though, over the years, some core ideas have remained exactly the same. “We have always strived to deliver quality cinema to the Scandinavian audience. Now, we are proud to present some of the best films of the year and shed some light on our time, where organised crime has become a part of our everyday life. This year, we are showing more than 150 films. For me, as a festival director, it just feels amazing.”

The 30^th edition of the Stockholm International Film Festival will wrap on 17 November.