Stockholm Film Festival to honour Alexander Skarsgard, Benny Safdie

Washington DC [US], October 9 : The Stockholm International Film Festival has announced its 2025 lineup, unveiling a selection of award-season favourites and a tribute to acclaimed artists Alexander Skarsgard and Benny Safdie, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The festival, scheduled to run from November 5 to 16, will feature over a hundred films from around the world, celebrating cinematic excellence and innovation.

Swedish actor Alexander Skarsgard, best known for his performances in 'Big Little Lies' and 'The Northman', will receive the Stockholm Achievement Award. Meanwhile, American filmmaker Benny Safdie, known for his work on 'Uncut Gems' and 'Good Time', will be honoured with the Visionary Award for his creative contributions to contemporary cinema, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Skarsgard's latest film, Pillion, in which he plays a domineering biker opposite Harry Melling, will be screened during the festival. Safdie's The Smashing Machine, which premiered at the Venice Film Festival and earned him the Best Director honour, will also be featured. The film stars Dwayne Johnson as MMA fighter Mark Kerr, alongside Emily Blunt.

The festival opens with Tarik Saleh's Eagles of the Republic, the final instalment in his Cairo trilogy starring Fares Fares. It closes with Lynne Ramsay's Die, My Love, another hot awards contender, starring Jennifer Lawrence and Robert Pattinson. Other highlights include Ronan Day-Lewis's directorial debut Anemone, featuring dad Daniel Day-Lewis in his first screen role in years, and Richard Linklater's Blue Moon, about Broadway lyricist Lorenz Hart, starring Ethan Hawke, which premiered in Berlin.

Other highlights include Ronan Day-Lewis's directorial debut Anemone, featuring dad Daniel Day-Lewis in his first screen role in years, and Richard Linklater's Blue Moon, about Broadway lyricist Lorenz Hart, starring Ethan Hawke, which premiered in Berlin.

This year's Spotlight section, "Be Kind Rewind," explores nostalgia and the persistence of memory through films such as Videoheaven, Ross McElwee's Remake, and Ira Sachs's Peter Hujars Day, set in 1970s New York. The festival also honors the late David Lynch, who inaugurated Stockholm's first edition in 1990, with screenings of Blue Velvet and Mulholland Drive and a conversation with Blue Velvet star Isabella Rossellini.

The 2025 lineup also includes top Oscar contenders such as Park Chan-wook's No Other Choice, Kleber Mendonca Filho's The Secret Agent, and Shih-Ching Tsou's Left-Handed Girl. The festival's Spotlight section, titled Be Kind Rewind, will explore themes of nostalgia and memory through films including Videoheaven and Peter Hujar's Day.

This year's edition will also pay tribute to the late David Lynch, who inaugurated the festival's first edition in 1990, with screenings of Blue Velvet and Mulholland Drive, and a special conversation with Blue Velvet star I Isabella Rossellini, as per the outlet.

Germany will be featured as the Focus Country, with works by Christian Petzold, Mascha Schillinski, and emerging filmmakers Lauro Cress and Joscha Bongard. The documentary section will include new films by Werner Herzog, Laura Poitras, and Raoul Peck.

Music takes centre stage this year with documentaries like It's Never Over: Jeff Buckley and the Swedish feature Egghead Republic, along with Forastera, which features an original score by Anna von Hausswolff and Filip Leyman, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

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