09/10/2025 - Tarik Saleh will open the 12 days of celluloid celebration with his Eagles of the Republic, while Alexander Skarsgård and Benny Safdie will get special recognitions

The Swedish capital will turn into a 12-day celluloid carnival from 5-16 November, as the Stockholm International Film Festival rolls out the red carpet for its 36th edition. The programme, freshly unveiled, presents 130 films from 60 countries, ranging from the big-league fare from Sundance, Cannes, Venice, Toronto et al to smaller personal discoveries from across the globe. An elaborate industry programme, now expanded with an extra day, takes place from 10-13 November. Master classes, panel discussions and personal appearances by assorted celebrities and dignitaries are all part of the grand plan. As per tradition, the screenings play out in some of the most exquisite classic movie theatres of the city.

Opening the festivities is local lad done good Tarik Saleh, living three subway stops away from one of said lavish movie palaces, Skandia, where Eagles of the Republic [+see also:
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interview: Tarik Saleh
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interview: Tarik Saleh
film profile], also partook. Closing the festival is another Cannes 2025 contestant, Lynne Ramsay’s Die, My Love, with Park Chan-wook’s Venice entry No Other Choice [+see also:
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film profile] playing the half-time gala. Other luminous titles from the grand arenas include Werner Herzog’s Ghost Elephant, François Ozon’s The Stranger [+see also:
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interview: François Ozon
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interview: Christian Petzold
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Peck will be up against the likes of Gianfranco Rosi’s Below the Clouds [+see also:
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interview: Gianfranco Rosi
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interview: Tereza Nvotová
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film profile]. Also entered here is Harry Lighton’s Pillion [+see also:
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interview: Joachim Trier
film profile]. Alexander Skarsgård will additionally be honoured with the special 2025 Stockholm Achievement Award, while the festival’s Visionary Award goes to Benny Safdie, in town to present his latest work, the Venice Best Director winner The Smashing Machine. A special guest of honour is Isabella Rossellini, who will share the stage for a conversation with Stig Björkman, a friend and the director of Ingrid Bergman: In Her Own Words. Rossellini will also be devoting a special tribute to director David Lynch, to whom this year’s edition of the festival is dedicated, and who came along in 1990 to present the very first film at the very first edition, Wild at Heart. A special deep dive into Blue Velvet is promised as well as a Lynch-o-Mania bash at the legendary Spy Bar, running into the very wee hours of the autumnal Northern night.

The full programme can be perused here.