Stockholm International Film Festival
November 9 - 19 (Sweden)

Ang Lee together with Swedish Film Institute director, Åse Kleveland will kick off the 11th Stockholm International Film Festival on November 9. Lee's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon will be the opening film.

Together with the work of Lee are several films to be profiled in the new festival section Asian Images. Hong Kong director Johnnie Toe considered to be in the same league as John Woo, Lam and Hark is one director who will be showcased. Four of his five features are among the selections including Running Out of Time. According to Toe, 'Hong Kong film can not be satisfied by the local market only but must expand into other territories". By way of film festivals such as Stockholm, the work of many Asian directors is becoming better known.

Stockholm, the capital city of Sweden, is a set of islands connected by bridges. The Mälaren flows through the city and empties into the Baltic where the Stockholm archipelago stretches for miles. During the darkest season of the year when the sun sets early in the afternoon, the festival's screens light up the city. The pageant attracts a youthful crowd of cinephiles, including a crew of volunteers which run the festival machinery. Now working in Hollywood and nominated for several Oscars for The Cider House Rules, Swedish film director Lasse Hallström's documentary of the production of last year's festival will be screened, providing an inside view of the Stockholm event.

All in all, the Stockholm festival features 160 films from over 40 countries this year. Emphasis is on new work by young directors with a total of 70 directors making their film debut. The festival which began in 1990 became the first Scandinavian film festival to be authorized by FIFPA (International Federation of Film Producers Associations) as well as establishing itself with the international jury of film critics, FIPRESCI, which awards a prize for best film. Last year Kimberley Pierce's Boy's Don't Cry was honored.

The generous and welcome tradition of awarding one kilometer of film to a deserving filmmaker is also part of the Stockholm pageant. The International Competition is held for first, second and third time film directors with 19 films being featured this year. The best film receives a "Bronze Horse," the festival icon based on the familiar red hand painted horses from the province of Dalarna. Previous winners are Quentin Tarantino for Reservoir Dogs (1992) and Pulp Fiction (1994). Last year Benoît Mariage won for Les Conveyeurs Attendent.

Moira Sullivan