Neneh Cherry makes her feature film acting debut in “Stockholm My Love” which she also provides the soundtrack for.
The film is directed by Irish filmmaker Mark Cousins, and was shot by acclaimed cinematographer Christopher Doyle (who cinephiles will know most for the beautiful work he’s done on several Wong Kar-Wai films); so, at the very least, I’d expect “Stockholm My Love” to look lovely.
One of six new feature-length films backed by the Swedish Film Institute last year, “Stockholm My Love” follows 47-year-old architect Alva Diop (played by Cherry), who is married, with a 20-year-old daughter, and who loves architecture and the way buildings influence people’s lives. A year before the story begins, Diop killed a man in a traffic accident which wasn’t her fault, but she is still being held hostage by the occurrence, which is disrupting her daily life. Unable to sleep, she wakes up early in the mornings to go for long walks, wandering through the city that she truly loves, but missing the joy and peace that the experience would typically give her.
It reads like a filmed love letter of sorts to the city – Stockholm – one of those seemingly plotless, quiet films that’s more about individual moments and experiences, however unrelated, with an entire city as a starring character. And with Christopher Doyle shooting, I’d expect stylized frames that take full advantage of locations.
Director Cousins penned the script with Swedish producer Anita Oxburgh, and Stockholm’s Migma Film is producing.
Fortissimo Films, the Hong Kong and Amsterdam based sales agency, picked up rights to “Stockholm My Love” earlier this year, to represent the film globally (except for the U.K. and Sweden), and has positioned it for an international film festival launch at the upcoming BFI London Film Festival, October 5-16, where it’ll make its world premiere in the “Journey Strand” sidebar.
“We wanted to make a city symphony. Cities are noisy, messy, but teeming with life. Our story tries to capture this,” said director Cousins, who’s best known for the 15-part “The Story of Film: An Odyssey” documentary series 4 years ago. “Stockholm My Love” is his first feature-length fiction film.
A first trailer for the film, which supports my above earlier theories about its composition, is embedded below: