Stockholm Independent Film Festival 2025

21&22 May at the Zita Folkets Bio

The Stockholm Independent Film Festival 2025 features four strands and two themes, screening 14 independent films by Swedish and international filmmakers.

Combining short and feature films of various genres, this year’s film selection has a touch of dark satire, eerie atmosphere or whimsical charm. The SIFF2025 programmes puts in the epicentre the darker parts of life, navigating the ironies of existence and exploring the fears and secrets we, humans, often carry along.

The Festival opens with Mary Louise Schumacher’s ‘Out of the Picture’, the first documentary about art critics in the United States which aims to start a conversation about the nature of art, modern life and how meaning gets made in the 21st century, while at the same time, looks on about something everyone can relate to: change.

The first short film programme, ‘And, Soon the Darkness’, comes with six films that move between psychological horror and bleak satire, quiet melancholy and spine-chilling tension. Through powerfully dark stories, this programme is bound to disturb while unravelling life’s dark aspects.

On the second day, the Stockholm Independent Film Festival starts with the funny and unpredictable feature documentary ‘Evy & I’, by the French comedy actress Hélène Bares.

Using sharp satire, dark humour, or whimsical charm, the ‘Are you Having a Laugh?’ comedy programme talks about the joys and oddities we experience throughout our lives. Some stories will make you laugh while others will leave you smiling.

Discover the 2025 Stockholm Independent Film Festival detailed programme and immerse yourself in the power of independent cinema.

PROGRAMME

MAY 21

FEATURE FILM: 18.00-19.45

▶ Out of the Picture • Mary Louise Schumacher • 98′ • United States • 2023, Feature Documentary Competition

The first documentary film about art critics in the United States, ‘Out of the Picture’, follows a handful of writers from across the U.S. through a critical time of cultural reckoning and historic transformation to both art and media.

**Break: 19:45 – 20:00**

And Soon, the Darkness (Short Films Programme) | 20.00 – 21.50

Eerie, unsettling, but deeply human, this programme brings dark stories that will disturb or even haunt you. From psychological horror to bleak satire, quiet melancholy to spine-chilling tension, these short films explore the darker side of life where fears, secrets, and truths lurk.

▶A Long Night Ahead • Julien Bernard-Simmonds • 25′ • Belgium • 2024, Short Film Competition

Mauro, a truck driver, meets a strange group of young people at a roadside rest stop who lead him into the woods for a journey bordering life and death.

▶Went the Night Well? • Andrew Hahn • 11′ • United States • 2023, Experimental Film Competition

A woman is experiencing a lucid dream. Or perhaps she is being reprogrammed. She believes she will die in the morning. Or perhaps she is already dead. ‘Went the Night Well?’ collages the dialogue of Diana Dors with the music of Delia Derbyshire and Paul Zaza. The montage contains shots from 40 classic films.

▶The Dead Eurasian Blackbird • Arpen Sargsyan • 10′ • Sweden • 2024, Swedish Production Competition

Yan’s encounter with a couple at the local park evolves dramatically, taking unexpected twists that lead to a complex entanglement of realisations, ultimately challenging how they perceive one another.

▶Krampuss • Guðni Líndal Benediktsson • 8′ • Iceland • 2023, Short Film Competition

On Christmas Eve, an Icelandic family comes face to face with the Yule Cat, a ravenous creature of folklore hungry for those who didn’t get clothes for Christmas.

▶They Left For The Abyss • Max Larsson • 25′ • Sweden • 2024, Student Project Competition, Swedish Production Competition

In a quiet village just on the border of Norway and Sweden, lives a young man who is a shut-in. The only person he is in contact with is his best friend, who comes by every day to eat with the young man. As the truth behind his reclusive behaviour unravels, something appears in the town’s park. A small deep crack in the ground.

▶La Vedova Nera • Fiume, Juilan McKinnon • 20′ • France • 2023

Alfredo, a young Italian student, is cycling through the streets of a foreign city when he is caught in a thunderstorm. Seeking shelter, he is attracted by the strange call emanating from a porn cinema that seems to have emerged from another time. Guided by his fantasies, he finds himself trapped in a perverse game: an assassin eliminates the cinema’s locked-in customers one by one. Soon, he’s the only one left in the theater, a fragile moth caught in the web of a giant spider.

MAY 22

FEATURE FILM | 18.00-19.15

▶Evy & I • Hélène Bares • 68′ • France • 2024, Best Feature Documentary

Following a chaotic break-up, Hélène is seeking consolation at her cousin Evelyne’s in Annemasse. This retired biker who lost her sight is eagerly awaiting her arrival, as it’s always a blast when they are together. The only problem is that she’s not alone: bedbugs and cockroaches have invaded her flat. The two decide to set off on the shores of Lake Geneva, with neither money nor a car, in search of encounters and adventures.

**Break: 19.15 – 19.30**

Are you Having a Laugh? (Short Films Programme) | 19.30 – 21.00

Comedy doesn’t always come from punchlines – sometimes, it is found in the gentle quirks of life. Either through sharp satire and dark humour or whimsical charm, these 6 short films explore the joys, oddities, and ironies of existence and capture life’s tender moments in unexpected ways.

▶ welcome HOME • Amanda Nalbant Nordpoll • 12′ • Norway • 2023

When a dysfunctional family gathers for their annual Christmas dinner, oldest son Tormod sees it as an opportunity to introduce his newest relation: a young, beautiful woman named Maria. The dinner puts prejudice to the test, causing unfortunate assumptions to be made.

▶ Pierre West • Henrik Larsson, Jakob Arevärn • 29′ • Sweden • 2024

One day, Pierre’s TV breaks down. What at first seems like another setback will soon take him down a new route. A drama about hope and darkness shot during 17 years.

▶ Diary of a Photobooth • Elias Koller, Lisa Jödicke • 10′ • Switzerland • 2023

It’s the first day of spring: Numerous couples come to visit the old photo booth in the park. While capturing memories, they don’t hesitate to kiss wildly, eat and sing inside the booth. What nobody knows: Behind the mirrored glass, the Photo Booth Lady lives and works, taking photos. She is increasingly annoyed by the tedious visitors, and the day doesn’t seem to end.

▶ Bottle George • Daisuke “Dice” Tsutsumi • 13′ • Japan • 2024

A strange creature living in a bottle of alcohol is captured by a little girl, and in her hour of need, he must remember who he is and why he is stuck.

▶ Bad Actors • Harry Schleiff, Sidney Schleiff • 11′ • United States • 2024 • Animated Film Competition

A spirited group of activists inadvertently glue themselves together while preparing for a protest.

▶ The Grievance • Richie Keen • 8′ • United States • 2023 • Short Film Competition

After five months of the writer’s strike, comes an idea that hatched on the picket line. What if AI filed a complaint to HR about harassment in a comedy writers’ room on a sitcom?

Address

Zita Folkets Bio

Birger Jarlsgatan 37, 111 45 Stockholm, Sweden

+46 8 23 20 20

Starting time: 18.00

Admission Fee: 60 kr per strand

Tickets: https://zita.se/stockholm-independent-film-festival

**Films are in English or have English subtitles**