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Favorite becomes the most seen film

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By Xuefei Chen Axelsson

The 29th edition of Stockholm International Film Festival is now over. During the festival’s 12 days, 159 films from over 60 countries have been screened, more than 130 screenings have been sold out, and 120 directors and filmmakers have visited the festival. The most seen film during the festival was The Favourite by Yorgos Lanthimos.

Rachel Weisz in Yorgos Lanthimos’ The Favourite.

The 29th edition of Stockholm International Film Festival closed 2018-11-18. Among 10 best seen films, I have seen 7 of them. It is a surprise to me why Cold War was not in the list.  Actually Cold War is also a good film.

Favorite was indeed a good film. Even though it was in 17th century, it was very colorful while Cold War turned out to be black and white. Maybe that was the difference. But the actor and actress were very good. 159 films from over 60 countries have been screened in six movie theaters across Stockholm. The Favourite by the two-time Bronze Horse-winning director Yorgos Lanthimos was the festival’s most seen film. Over 1500 people saw the dark comedy, which was this year’s closing film at Stockholm International Film Festival.

This year’s festival made record numbers, both in terms of the number of sold out screenings and the number of visiting directors and filmmakers. One third of all screenings were sold out, and 120 filmmakers visited Stockholm for this year’s festival. Over 50 of these filmmakers met the public in exclusive Face2Face conversations in conjunction with the screenings of their films. One of them was the two-time Oscar-winning director Asghar Farhadi, who was presented with this year’s Stockholm Visionary Award.

— It is an honor to receive the Visionary Award, especially because it provided me with the opportunity to be in Stockholm and to meet and converse with students and cinephiles alike. My best wishes for Stockholm International Film Festival, says Asghar Farhadi about this year’s festival.

Farhadi’s film Everybody Knows is one of the most seen films during this year’s festival.

Below are the festival’s ten most seen films:

  1. The Favourite by Yorgos Lanthimos
  2. Everybody Knows by Asghar Farhadi
  3. X&Y by Anna Odell
  4. Beautiful Boy by Felix van Groeningen
  5. Cold War by Pawel Pawlikowski
  6. Wildlife by Paul Dano
  7. Jesus by Hiroshi Okuyama
  8. Capernaum by Nadine Labaki
  9. Vox Lux by Brady Corbet
  10. Suspiria by Luca Guadagnino
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斯德哥尔摩夏季电影节8月16-20号免费回放老电影

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Stockholm International Film Festival arranges this year’s Summer Cinema the 16th to 20th of August in Rålambshovsparken in Stockholm. This year’s theme is the 80s.

The annual Stockholm Film Festival Summer Cinema attracts thousands of people to Rålambshovsparken every year. Five 80s films will be screened: two american, two european and one Japanese.

– Stockholm Film Festival Summer Cinema is our gift to Stockholm and our lovely audience, says Git Scheynius, Festival Director.

During the Summer Cinema, the Stockholm Consumer Association will throw a food waste and recycling party for visitors. On-site, Coop’s food creator will offer pizza made from leftover raw materials from Coop stores in the area. In addition, Fanta® will host a digital festival for young people, which will end during the Stockholm film festival Sommarbio.

The Summer Cinema is free of charge but membership cards can be purchased by those who wants to support Stockholm Film Festival. The membership card grants access to cheaper tickets during the Stockholm Film Festival in November and free access to ten previews.

This year’s program:

Wednesday the 16th of August: Do the right thing (Spike Lee 1989)

Spike Lee has not only directed, produced and written this revolutionary film, but also participated in front of the camera. The film was nominated for two Oscars and aroused a debate on race-related relationships and has later been upheld as a masterpiece. In 2015 Lee was awarded an honorary Oscar for his efforts as an indie filmmaker.

Thursday the 17th of August: My Neighbor Totoro (Hayao Miyazaki 1988) 

The film about the girl Mei och forest spirit Totoro is Miyazaki’s most famous and beloved production. Miyazaki has won several awards for his animated films, including an Academy Honorary Award, and is often referred to as the premier animation creator in the world.

Friday the 18th of August: Dirty Dancing (Emile Ardolino 1987)

In Emile Ardino’s romantic drama film from 1987, we meet the 17-year-old Baby and the dancer Jhonny who falls in love. The film is strongly associated with the song (I’ve had) The Time of My Life which resulted in an Oscar award for the best song. The film is a world-class love story, just as sweet today as when it had its premiere 20 years ago.

Lördagen den 19 augusti: Det stora blå (Luc Besson 1988)

In Besson’s classic film, based on the famous free diver Jacques Mayolo’s life, we are invited to the beautiful Greek island Amorgos and get to know the rivals Jacques and Enzo. They both have a boundless and lifelong love for the ocean. Besson was awarded the Academy Award; One of France’s most prestigious prices, for ‘The Great Blue’.

Sunday the 20th of August: Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (Pedro Almodóvar 1988) 

This black comedy, with Carmen Maura and Antonio Banderas in the leading roles, gave Almodóvar extensive international attention and a number of prizes. The story is inspired by Jean Cocteau’s play ’The Human Voice’ and revolves around a love affair where a woman desperately tries to find out why she has been dumped.

Where: Rålambshovsparken.

When: August 16-20, we will open all activities at 6 PM and the films will start at 9PM.

How: Bring friends and family, a picnic and a blanket to sit on.

Price: Free entrance.

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Zhao Liang’s Behemoth wins best documentary at Stockholm Film Festival

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By Xuefei Chen Axelsson

Stockholm, Nov. 22(Greenpost)–Zhao Liang’s documentary Behemoth  from China has won the best documentary award at 26th Stockholm International Film Festival.

The citation is ” This filmmaker digs deep inside the bowels of its subject, showing us the monster of greed hiding in our destructive civilization. This film unveils hell right here on earth in a beautiful, emotive and poetic way. Through the power of great imagery, storytelling and empathy we are given a chance to perceive and finally end this abuse of the earth than of each other. Pure and utterly necessary.”

Zhao Liang was born in Liaoning and studied at Luxun Art Academy and Beijing Film Institute. He is an independent documentary film maker and director.

Meanwhile, Stockholm Impact Award  won by Leena Yadav, with her film Parched.
The citation is “Through superb acting giving a unique insight into the minds and hearts of women in rural India told with colourful, sensual cinematography. This film is a paradoxical celebration of life in tough circumstances, creating both anger and joy, giving fuel for debate as well as hope for change when addressing a burning question that affects, not half, but the whole of our society.”

The Stockholm Film Festival has just ended today after 11days of screening about 190 films from 70 countries. This year’s theme focuses on migration a lot.

 

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The 26th Stockholm Film Festival focuses on migration

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Stockholm, Oct. 22(Greenpost)–The 26th Stockholm Film Festival will focus on migration, said Git Scheynius, Director of the Stockholm Film Festival.

Git Scheynius, director of Stockholm Film Festival was interviewed by Xuefei Chen Axelsson on Oct. 20, 2015. Filmed by Anneli Larsson.

In an interview with Green Post, Scheynius said that this year attracts 190 films from 70 countries and regions in the world.

“We have a section called spotlight, this section focuses on migration. The reason for that is a question that is touching us all in the society.” said Scheynius.

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Stockholm Lifetime Achievement Award 2015 goes to director Stephen Frears

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Stockholm, Sept. 16(Greenpost)– 2015 Stockholm Lifetime Achievement Award will go to director Stephen Frears.

During the premiere of his latest film The Program, Frears will visits Stockholm International Film Festival to receive the Bronze Horse.

Justification:  British director Stephen Frears never shies away from taking on people’s dark and tragic sides, doing so with warmth, passion and a sense of humor.

This year’s receiver of the Lifetime Achievement Award is a filmmaker who is not afraid to take a stand for those who exist at the margins of society. His filmmaking ranges from political films with social pathos to grand epics with the biggest stars. Regardless of what form the story takes, Stephen Frears shows us that he is a director with a genuine curiosity for people’s life stories.

Stephen Frears has since his breakthrough with My Beautiful Laundrette (1984) mesmerized the audience with a series of acclaimed films. The director has been nominated for two Oscars with The Grifters (1990) and The Queen (2006), and awarded with the Silver Berlin Bear for The Hi-Lo Country (1998) at the Berlin International Film Festival. His latest film Philomena (2013) was shown during the Stockholm International Film Festival two years ago and was praised by both audiences and critics.

In the exhilarating thriller The Program (2015), Frears narrates the dramatic story of Lace Armstrong. The undefeated Tour de France champion was discovered to be involved in the most sophisticated doping program in the history of cycling. Starring Ben Foster as Armstrong and Chris O’Dowd as David Walsh, the journalist who devoted years to reveal the scandalous fraud, The Program is a gripping story with a deeply psychological portrait of its main characters.

Cast: Ben Foster, Lee Pace, Dustin Hoffman, Chris O ‘Dowd, Elaine Cassidy, Jesse Plemons, Laura Donnelly.
The Program has premiere in Swedish cinema December 4. Distributor: AB Svensk Filmindustri.

The Stockholm Lifetime Achievement Award is presented annually to honor and acknowledge a longstanding career and an outstanding achievement in cinema. The prestigious award, in the shape of a 7,3kg (16 lb) Bronze Horse is the heaviest film award in the world. It is also a paraphrase on a national design icon, the Swedish Dala horse, and was created by artist Fredrik Swärd. The prize has previously been awarded to directors such as Jean-Luc Godard, Quentin Tarantino, David Cronenberg, David Lynch, Oliver Stone and Mike Leigh.