20/11/2023 - The revisionist western has won the top prize at the 34th edition of the Swedish gathering, with the UK’s Molly Manning Walker grabbing two awards for How to Have Sex

l-r: Bronze Horse winner Felipe Gálvez Haberle, Rising Star winner Hanna Ardéhn and 1 KM FILM Scholarship recipient Ville Gobi with their awards (© Thomas Persson)

A strong year for Chilean cinema proved to be a more-than-fair assessment as the 34th edition of the Stockholm International Film Festival came to an end on Sunday night after the awards had been handed out to worthy recipients on Friday.

The winner of the heaviest award, the 7.3 kg Bronze Horse, was Felipe Gálvez Haberle’s debut feature, The Settlers [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Felipe Gálvez
film profile], captivating the jury through its “intense statement on colonialism and the corrupting mechanism of power that is as uncomfortable and mesmerising as it is intellectually stimulating”, as part of their highly appreciative statement read. The Settlers, Chile’s 2024 Oscars submission, is a revisionist western set in the southernmost part of Chile in the late 19th century and deals with the brutal treatment of the indigenous Ona natives.

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Also from Chile are the winners of Stockholm’s Best Documentary and Best Short Awards – respectively, Maite Alberdi’s previous Sundance winner The Eternal Memory and Nemo Arancibia’s Cuarto de Hora. Another very well received title was Lone Scherfig’s Chilean-set The Movie Teller [+see also:
trailer
interview: Lone Scherfig
film profile], playing out of competition.

Another successful winner was the UK’s Molly Manning Walker, who grabbed both the Best Director Award and the Best First Feature gong for How to Have Sex [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Molly Manning Walker
film profile], whose winning streak seems quite unstoppable, with multiple nominations for the upcoming British Independent Film Awards and the European Film Awards. A double win was also a feat achieved by the leads in the Brazilian-Portuguese picture Toll [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], directed by Carolina Markowicz, with the Best Actress Award going to Maeve Jinkins and the male equivalent given to Kauan Alvarenga. Best Screenplay went to Morocco’s Kamal Lazraq, the writer and director of Hounds [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Kamal Lazraq
film profile].

Earlier on during the festival, special, career-orientated awards were given to Ethan Hawke, Catherine Breillat and Ken Loach, whose latest features Wildcat, Last Summer [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Catherine Breillat
film profile] and The Old Oak [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] were also screened at the festival. The official 2023 jury consisted of producer Jesper Kurlandsky, actress Asta Kamma August and director Ernst de Geer.

Here is the full list of award winners:

Best Film
The Settlers [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Felipe Gálvez
film profile] - Felipe Gálvez Haberle (Chile/Argentina/UK/Taiwan/Germany/Sweden/France/ Denmark)

Best Director
Molly Manning Walker - How to Have Sex [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Molly Manning Walker
film profile] (UK/Greece)

Best First Feature
How to Have Sex – Molly Manning Walker

Best Screenplay
Kamal Lazraq - Hounds [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Kamal Lazraq
film profile] (Morocco/France/Belgium/Qatar/Saudi Arabia)

Best Actress
Maeve Jinkins – Toll [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] (Brazil/Portugal)

Best Actor
Kauan Alvarenga - Toll

Best Cinematography
Nikolai Zheludovich – Grace [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] (Russia)

Best Documentary
The Eternal Memory – Maite Alberdi (Chile)
Honourable Mention
Reality – Tina Satter (USA)

Best Short
Cuarto de Hora – Nemo Arancibia (Chile/France)

Nikon Short Film Competition (60sek)
Final Countdown – Noah Ragert (Sweden – short film)

1 KM FILM Award

1 KM FILM Scholarship Recipient
Ville Gobi
1 KM FILM Honorary Mention
Laerke Herthoni

Rising Star Award
Hanna Ardéhn

Stockholm Achievement Award
Ethan Hawke

Visionary Award
Catherine Breillat

Lifetime Achievement Award
Ken Loach