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Stockholm Film Festival is full of Swedes. Is that odd?

15 comments

The very prestige bronze horse. Only a few get to go home with this little pony. Photo: Daniel Rohlin

The Stockholm Film Festival is now up and running, and is looking better than ever. This year Sweden’s biggest film festival is graced with the presence of no other than Holly Hunter. She’ll be the head of the jury this year.

When she arrived at Norrmalmstorg square in Stockholm the other day the street was lined with people holding torches. This greeting of fire was very much appreciated as you can see in the Youtube clip below. If you are in Stockholm now on Saturday and want to see Holly Hunter you can buy a ticket to her Face2Face here. I highly recommend it to everybody that loves cinema.

This year’s festival is packed with fantastic film. Some of the highlights are Shanghai, by the Swedish filmmaker Mikael Håfström, and Shelter by the Swedish duo Måns Mårlind and Björn Stein. They debuted 2005 in Sweden with Storm. A film that really showed that Swedish cinema is on a new wave of filmmaking. That they then ran to Hollywood is kind of funny but who can blame them? The boys in Hollywood have bigger and more expensive toys.

The festival will also hold the world premiere of the film Four More Years (Fyra år till) by Tova Magnusson-Norling, who did the critically acclaimed film The Girl (Flickan) last year. The much beloved actor Björn Kjellman plays the lead. IMDB had a great description of what the film is about:

Political party leader David Holst, one of Sweden’s most popular politicians, is handsome, funny, popular and predicted as the country’s next prime minister. But what at first appears to be an easy victory turns into a grueling defeat as another party wins the elections and four years of leading the country, When David suddenly falls in love, the problem is not that he’s already married or that he’s fallen in love with another man. The problem is that the man he’s fallen head over heels in love with, Martin, is the only man on earth he can’t love. He is the Secretary of State for the rivaling country that won the elections.

Trailer to Four More Years (no subtitles sadly enough)

Tickets and all the films that will be screening at the festival can be found here.

P.S. Did I mention that Gus Van Sant will be present at this year’s festival? No? Well now I have.

Chris Gardner - Film

November 18, 2010

  • Munkeyallen

    You are either Swedish or American depending where you were bought up and educated. Don’t fall into the trap of Americanistic bullshit

  • Monica-USA

    Cool and good luck.

  • http://www.transatlanticsketches.com Kate

    I totally agree! Especially #7. You may never *need* Swedish in Sweden if you can speak English, but it makes life so much better. More than anything, I get a huge sense of pride and ownership from being able to interact with all the Swedes in their own language. It’s not just that I moved there to live off the fat of the land, you know? I’m actually trying and occasionally succeeding.

  • Kristin Follis

    Good luck with the Swedish and I think it will be worth it!

  • Kristin Follis

    Thanks Monica!

  • Kristin Follis

    Yes, exactly! I love it when I can speak a little Swedish with someone. Makes me feel like all that hard work pays off!

  • http://twitter.com/LolaAkinmade Lola A. Åkerström

    Solid piece (and points) Kristin! There really is a feeling of self pride & satisfaction when one holds their first full conversation in Swedish. I think the key is not being shy or afraid to make mistakes (and there will be many!)

  • Kristin Follis

    Thanks lola! I have to admit I am one of those shy people when it comes to speaking Swedish. I am working on it though!

  • Student23

    Hi I need someone to help me
    I need help please help me

  • http://twitter.com/boris_eu boris meggiorin

    Hej, I will be in Växjö from June 6th to July 9th for a business issue. I’d like to learn some Swedish, a couple of hours each afternoon, with somebody experienced in teaching, but not through a school, since they do not offer much time flexibility. Who can I address? Any student interested in  giving me private classes? Boris

  • Kristin Follis

    If you are looking for something more informal you can post an add on a site like http://www.blocket.se searching for a tutor. The site is in Swedish but with google translate it’s pretty easy to figure out! Of course there are schools as well but they tend to have strict schedules for classes.

  • Sabrina Shim

    Awww, thanks honeybunch!

  • Sabrina Shim

    Thanks very much!

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