Alfredson's 'Tinker' to open Stockholm

STOCKHOLM -- "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy" will open the 22nd Stockholm Intl. Film Festival, marking a homecoming celebration for its Swedish helmer Tomas Alfredson. The fest, which screens 173 titles from Nov. 9-20, will close with Pedro Almodovar's "The Skin I Live In." The competition has a stronger Scandinavian flavor than usual, with four Nordic films among the 22 titles -- Joachim Trier's "Oslo, 31 August" and Jannicke Systad Jacobsen's "Turn Me On, Dammit" from Norway, and Ruben Ostlund's "Play" and Levan Akin's "Certain People" from Sweden. Whit Stillman will chair the jury, with his film "Damsels in Distress" screening out of competition among 16 titles in the American Independents section. French actress Isabelle Huppert will be honored with the fest's Lifetime Achievement Award. Mexican auteur Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu will receive the Visionary Award, and will give a masterclass. The U.S. is represented in the main competition by Miranda July's "The Future," Sean Durkin's "Martha Marcy May Marlene" and Andrew Okpeaha MacLean's "On the Ice." A strong lineup of British contenders includes "Shame" by Steve McQueen, Paddy Considine's "Tyrannosaur," "Coriolanus" by Ralph Fiennes and Andrea Arnold's "Wuthering Heights," which will be the fest's centerpiece gala screening. "Certain People" is one of three Swedish films getting world premieres at the fest, along with Staffan Lindberg's "Once Upon a Time in Phuket" and Kjell-Ake Andersson's "Somewhere Else." There will also be a Nordic premiere for the lavish Swedish period drama "Simon and the Oaks," directed by Lisa Ohlin. Danish helmer Nicolas Winding Refn's L.A. thriller "Drive" is screening out of competition in the Open Zone section, which also includes David Cronenberg's "A Dangerous Method," Paolo Sorrentino's "This Must Be the Place" and Gus van Sant's "Restless." "Our 22nd program is fully loaded with strong titles and fresh newcomers, and this year we are happy to present more female directors than ever," said festival director Git Scheynius. "The festival will offer the audience our most extensive gala program to date, consisting of local world premieres and Nordic premieres of international high-profile titles," added program manager George Ivanov. There will also be masterclasses by cinematographer Christopher Doyle and Danish producer Peter Aalbeck Jensen. Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com