21/10/2015 - Jonas Carpignano’s Mediterranea and Todd Haynes’ Carol will bookend the 11-22 November showcase

The 26^th Stockholm International Film Festival will open on 11 November with Italian director Jonas Carpignano’s feature debut, Mediterranea [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jonas Carpignano
film profile] – also part of the festival’s Spotlight section on migration (see the news) – and 190 films (from 70 countries) later, Todd Haynes’ Carol [+see also:
trailer
film profile] will conclude the event on 22 November.

“For the first time, we have more women than men competing for the Bronze Horse – the 7.5 kg top prize – in our Stockholm XXVI feature competition,” said festival director Git Scheynius as she announced the full programme yesterday (20 October) at a press conference in Stockholm.

Also scripted by Carpignano, Mediterranea tells the story of two young men leaving their home country of Burkina Faso to make the dangerous trip across the Mediterranean to Italy. “The film was five years in the making, and there were moments when we didn’t know if we would ever finish it. That it will now open Stockholm is surreal and humbling, and we are very proud,” the director said of his Swedish premiere.

The midway film will be Norwegian director Joachim Trier’s Louder than Bombs [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Joachim Trier
film profile], the Isabelle Huppert starrer that was Norway’s first contender for the Cannes Palme d’Or in 36 years, and the programme will be rounded off by Carol, which has also been chosen for the festival poster.

Also for the first time, the festival will present the Stockholm Impact Award “to a filmmaker challenging and reflecting on contemporary issues”. The chair of the jury is Chinese artist Ai Weiwei, on his first visit to Stockholm; two years ago, he sent the artwork The Chair for Non-Attendance as a way of visualising his non-presence, and last year he created two ice sculptures of the lions guarding the Forbidden City in Beijing.

US actress Ellen Burstyn – “an icon of contemporary American cinema, a bold actress with great integrity, who has breathed life into groundbreaking characters” – will receive the Stockholm Achievement Award, while Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos, who will be at the festival with The Lobster [+see also:
film review
trailer
Q&A: Yorgos Lanthimos
film profile], will be presented with the Stockholm Visionary Award.

As previously announced, UK director Stephen Frears will go home with the Stockholm Lifetime Achievement Award, and as usual, besides the feature films, shorts, and the new Impact and documentary competitions, the programme will also include the Open Zone, American Independents, Asian Images, Twilight Zone (billed as “the most adrenaline-filled and nerve-wracking cinema experiences”), Special Presentations, iFestival and 1 Km Film selections.