13/11/2023 - Taking place from 14-16 November, the Stockholm Industry Days offers lively panels, spotlight sessions, master classes and 18 works-in-progress presentations

Director Jon Blåhed, who is taking part with Raptures

As the 34th edition of the Stockholm International Film Festival moves into its second week, the time has come to get into industry matters, with three lively days about to be devoted to presentations, panels, projects, case studies and social networking. All this, and more, is on offer in the Stockholm Industry Days programme, running from 14-16 November. As usual, the main headquarters for the events is the Filmhuset building, home to the Swedish Film Institute.

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Eighteen works in progress will be presented, with six of them being part of the New Voices of Swedish Cinema support initiative for first-time feature directors. This year’s selection is mainly Swedish, with a few projects from the Nordic neighbours joining in, like the Norwegian documentary A New Kind of Wilderness [+see also:
film review
film profile] by Silje Evensmo Jacobsen and Gustav Johansson’s dramedy Burn Oslo Burn, featuring a Swedish leading lady falling for a Danish leading man with a Norwegian ex-girlfriend. In the highly topical The Dialogue Police, seasoned documentary director Susanna Edwards has been following officers serving as the links between demonstrators and the police force in riotous surroundings. The fiction field includes the seemingly outrageous Djur (lit. “Animals”), the story of a woman who gets a dog in order to cope with her depression, getting a little too amorous with her new best friend along the way. Acclaimed actress Karin Franz Körlof (A Serious Game [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Karin Franz Körlof
film profile], The Wife [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Björn Runge
film profile]) directs this, her debut feature. Agnes Skonare Karlsson’s Berry Pickers features two Thai brothers going up to the far north of Sweden in order to make some money for their sick mother, only to find out that a heat wave has ruined the crops, leaving them stranded in strange surroundings. The film is based on Karlsson’s award-winning short of the same name. The far north is also explored in Raptures, where Jon Blåhed (Inland [+see also:
film review
interview: Fridtjof Ryder
film profile]) takes us to the 1930s and the Torne River Valley. It will be a pioneering work, as it’s the very first film entirely in the local language of Meänkieli.

Seminars and master classes include in-depth talks with top Danish director Lone Scherfig, presenting her new feature The Movie Teller [+see also:
trailer
interview: Lone Scherfig
film profile], and screenwriter Paul Laverty, who is in town to accept the festival’s Lifetime Achievement Award on behalf of his directing partner Ken Loach (see the news) and present their latest joint venture, The Old Oak [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile]. National talent is represented by Academy Award-winning cinematographer Linus Sandgren and self-taught director David F Sandberg, who in the space of ten years has gone from two-minute YouTube movies to Hollywood comic-book action in the Shazam! franchise. Assorted panel discussions will look at the role of AI in film storytelling, piracy in the streaming world, new visions in Swedish cinema and a case study on the upcoming Stockholm Bloodbath, a highly anticipated historical epic with a multinational cast, a whopping budget and indeed lots of blood. There will also be cocktails and complimentary nuts.

The full programme is available here.

Here is the full selection of the Works in Progress projects:

A New Kind of Wilderness [+see also:
film review
film profile] – Silje Evensmo Jacobsen (Norway)
Producer: Mari Bakke Riise (ASFilm)

Berry Pickers – Agnes Skonare Karlsson (Sweden)
Producers: Andrea Gyllenskiöld, Joel Rostmark, Adam Holmström Meinking, Kalle Boman (Pine)

Djur – Karin Franz Körlof (Sweden)
Producers: Fredrik Heinig, Agnes Parkrud (B-Reel Films)

Raptures – Jon Blåhed (Sweden)
Producers: Andres Emanuelsson, Tony Österholm (Iris Film, Rabbit Films)

Fuckboi – Matti Johansson (Sweden)
Producer: tba (Vagel Studios)

Halva Halva – Alexander Adballah, Mustafa Al-Mashhadani (Sweden)
Producers: Jim Cargil, Adam Lunneborg (Viaplay Studios, Malaika Film)

My Brother Ted – Anna Widerberg, Fredrik Ydhag (Sweden)
Producer: Håkan Hammarén (Fundament Film Gbg)

Nipster – Sunna Eir Tangvik Kveum (Sweden)
Producer: Adam Lunneborg (Carbs Film)

Burn Oslo Burn – Gustav Johansson (Sweden/Denmark/Norway)
Producer: Anna Wallmark (Filmlance International, new-land)

Paradise – Emma Pål Brunzell (Sweden)
Producer: Agnes Parkrud (B-Reel Films)

The Dialogue Police – Susanna Edwards (Sweden)
Producer: Susanna Edwards (Susanna Edwards AB)

Virgo – Jakob Ekvall (Sweden)
Producers: Olivier Guerpillon, Maria Reguera, Jakob Ekvall, Elsa Fanni (Fox in the Snow AB, Lykantrop)

Angels – Åsa Kalmér (Sweden)
Producer: Christian Kielberg (MKD)

Freed from Desire – Alicia Hansen (Sweden)
Producer: Stina Eriksson (Prolaps Produktion)

Hysterika – Amanda Adele Björk (Sweden)
Producer: Siri Horton Wagner ([sic] film)

Kingdom Hall – Lode Kuylenstierna (Sweden)
Producer: Manga Minja (Rio Pictures)

Mecca of Spies – Arvid Unsgaard, Natthan Langenheim
Producer: tba

Stammen – Georg Ivanov Öfverholm (Sweden)
Producer: Sofia Ferguson (Northern Fable)