Stockholm Film Festival

Best Film: ”Frozen River” by Courtney Hunt

A film that treats a socially important subject with unusual sensitivity. It is dominated by two wonderful and strong performances by the female leads.

Best Directing Debut: ”Hunger” by Steve McQueen

A film that offers an extraordinary narrative structure told in a visually compelling way. Also driven by powerful performances, the film helps us to understand and identify with both sides of a violent conflict.

Best Directing Debut, honorary mention: "Johnny Mad Dog" by Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire

A film with a deep committment and strong visual force that has highlighted the plight of children engaged in armed warfare. The team behind the film has also enabled the individuals that the film depicts the chance for a new start in life through the Johnny Mad Dog Foundation.

Best Actress: Zuzana Bydzovska in ”The Country Teacher”

An actress who touched the jury with the dignified and nuanced way in which she approached her role as a woman who must choose between her obligations as a mother and easing her loneliness.

Best Actor: Michael Fassbender in ”Hunger”

An actor who demonstrated relentless conviction in a role that shows how the tyranny of oppression may serve to strengthen our resolve and even push us towards the ultimate sacrifice.

Best Script: Erik Hemmendorff and Ruben Östlund for ”Involuntary”

A film that employs subtle humor and realism to highlight everyday choices that could lead to catastrophic consequences. It shows that how we deal with awkward, no-win situations may define us as human beings.

Best Cinematography: Divis Marek for ”The Country Teacher”

A film whose imagery beautifully celebrates nature and its interplay with human beings. The cinematographer’s confident choices and fluid style provide expertly choreographed images filled with life, allowing the audience to gain intimate access to its characters.

Best Music: Krister Linder for “Downloading Nancy”

A composer whose work helps to lift a heavy subject matter and invites the audience into a complex landscape of emotional trauma.

Best Short Film: ”Megatron” by Marian Crisan

A film that tells a simple and touching human story, with a subject matter that is remarkably well suited to the shorts format.

FIPRESCI-award for Best Film: ”Better Things” by Duane Hopkins

A multi-narrative vision, a poetic and artistic depiction of love and addiction trough generations.

Star! Audience Award for Best Film: ”Involuntary” by Ruben Östlund

As voted by the festival's audience.

1 Km Film: ”Kom hit” by Alexandra Dahlström

A young director with a great talent in visualizing feelings and creatively using sound and image to create a vibrant atmosphere that rubs off on the viewer. With an impressionistic style and light touch a burgeoning love romance is portrayed in which realities borders are playfully ambiguous. The director has dared to explore their own cinematic expression to link together several small but magical moments of a personal story that stands out. The director has also presented the best project description.

1 Km Film, honorary mention: ”De sista sakerna” by Levan Akin

This year's honorary mention goes to a director who's emotional and convincing storytelling navigates between fantasy, memories and reality. The director's work is characterized by a personal direction and poetic image composition that conveys the film's sense of loss and grips the viewer from beginning to end.

iFestival's Best Film: ”Little Things” by Karolina Pajak

As voted by the festival's audience, here on our website.

Stockholm Lifetime Achievement Award 2008: Charlotte Rampling

For her impressive portrayals of some of the most memorable female characters in modern cinema. Some might be strong-villed, others more vulnerable, but they have all been depicted with intelligence and a precise feeling for their lives within. Few actors enter the big empty screen and ininhabit it with the same grace, naturalness and confidence.

Stockholm Visionary Award 2008: Wong Kar Wai

A visionary director that has moved audiences in every corner of the world with his cinematic language. He has a unique abilty to cast the creatures of the night in a romantic and moody light while capturing the beauty of the fleeting moment on the silver screen . It is an honor to present Mr Wong Kar Wai with the Stockholm Visionary Award for his continuous exploration of the labyrinth of the human heart in a search with no boundaries in time, space or form.