he festival is brimming with excitement, presenting 130 films from 50 countries, 13 of which are international Academy Award submissions. The program also features a selection of films for digital screenings via Festival on Demand, which you can enjoy from the comfort of your own living groom wherever you may be.

The festival will take place between the 9th and 20th of November, and the inaugural film will be Sweden’s own Academy Award submission, and winner of Best Screenplay and The François Chalais Prize at Cannes; Boy from Heaven by Tarik Saleh.

“This year’s filmfest is characterised by a large selection of exciting films from all over the world. It will be an unforgettable festival with a perfect mix of fascinating debutants and legendary masters,” says Beatrice Karlsson, Program Director.

In the cover of this year’s festival program, also the cover of this article, is the poster of the film Nightsiren by Tereza Nvotová, a visually striking Czech/Slovak witch-thriller in modern vintage. Nightsiren is one of the big surprises of the year and a must for fans of cinematic folktales. You will find it as part of the Twilight Zone section of the festival, the section for the fans of thrillers and horror films.

The festival’s halfway point will be marked by Bones and All, a story of first love, which features Taylor Russell and Timothée Chalamet, the former of whom received the Marcello Mastroianni award for Best Young Actor or Actress at Venice Film Festival; Luca Guadagnino, the film’s director also won the Silver Lion for Best Director at Venice.

Other big titles screening at this year’s festival are films like The Woman King by Gina Prince-Bythewood, Living by Oliver Hermanus, Call Jane by Phyllis Nagy, The Banshees of Inisherin by Martin McDonagh, Decision to Leave by Park Chan-Wook, and Master Gardener by Paul Schrader.

Stockholm Film Festival presents as always, new talents, and more than a third of the program consists of debuting filmmakers. The program features, among others, Lullaby by Spanish director Alauda Ruiz de Azúa, who is primed to be Spain’s new star filmmaker as forecasted by auteur legend Pedro Almodóvar; British-Australian Frances O’Connor with costume drama Emily, depicting Wuthering Heights author Emily Brontë; and Mexican-Bolivian director Natalia López, who was awarded a Silver Bear for Robe of Gems at Berlin Film Festival.

In collaboration with Nikon, the festival is launching a short film competition; Nikon Short Award. The award was established to encourage aspiring filmmakers to create the best possible short film with a maximum runtime of only 60 seconds.

The winning submission will be screened at the festival and the filmmaker will be awarded with an exclusive camera kit. In collaboration with Kosta Boda, the winner will also receive a festival figurine exclusively designed by artist Markus Åkesson.

The Focus Country of the year is Ukraine.The program features a strong set of Ukrainian titles, to highlight Ukraine as a country with a flourishing film industry – but more importantly to support the Ukrainian film workers who are in the midst of war. Six Ukrainian films will be screened and the program will feature digital interviews with Ukrainian filmmakers, Works in Progress, and panel discussions.

The Ukrainian films which the festival has chosen to leverage are Rising Fury, Freedom on Fire, Mariupolis 2, The Kiev Trial, How is Katia?, Butterfly Vision and Ukraine’s Academy Award submission Klondike.

This year’s Spotlight is “Coming of age”. Stockholm Film Festival gathers every year talked-about movies and debuts from all over the world that provide new perspectives, new cinematic approaches. This year this comes with a clear desire to illuminate and stage the young people’s view of the world, in topics such as society, family and climate.

Stockholm Visionary Award 2022 is awarded to the multi award winning British director Sam Mendes, who is visiting Stockholm for the Nordic premiere of his film, Empire of Light, at the festival. He will be making an appearance at Skandia to receive his Bronze Horse and participate in a Face2Face moderated by film critic Jakob Åsell on Friday, November 11th at 6pm.

The 2022 prestigious Stockholm Achievement Award will honour film and theatre actor Fares Fares for his long-standing dedication to the film industry. He has since his debut on the big screen at the cusp of the millennium become one of Sweden’s most beloved actors. In conjunction with the festival’s opening film Boy from Heaven on the 9th of November, Fares will receive the award. Fares Fares will also makes his directorial debut With A Day and A Half for Netflix where he also will play a role.

This year Stockholm Film Festival is showing no less than 13 Academy Award submission for 2023:

• Boy From Heaven (Sweden) – Wednesday November 9th 18:00
• Klondike (Ukraine) – Wednesday November 9th 18:00
• Plan 75 (Japan) – Wednesday November 9th 18:00
• Holy Spider (Denmark) – Wednesday November 15th 18:00
• Eternal Spring (Canada) – Thursday November 10th 18:00
• Decision to Leave (South Korea) – Monday November 14th 18:00
• Beautiful Beings(Iceland) – Thursday November 10th 18:00
• Saint Omer (France) – Wednesday November 9th 18:00
• Alma Viva (Portugal) – Friday November 11th 12:30
• World War III (Iran) – Thursday November 10th 14:45
• The Quite Girl (Ireland) – Thursday November 10th 10:45
• The King of the World (Columbia) – Wednesday November 9th 18:40
• Nostalgia (Italy) – Thursday November 10th 14:30

Find your tickets to Stockholm International Film Festival 2022 here.