In 1991, my first film DRIVE was in the 1991 Stockholm Film Festival. I was assigned a full time interpreter that looked liked an 18 year old Bardot. When I told her I wanted to go to the opening of a sold out Opera that Bergman had directed, she arranged to have two chairs put in an aisle in the tenth row and whispered interpretation in my ear (the opera was in Swedish); after the opera, she took me to the cast party at Bergmans country house (!) where I met the man (he passed away soon after), one of my film idols. I was literally speechless (especially since I did not speak Swedish!). My driver and city/drinking guide was a young director named Lars Von Trier (his first film, Zentropa, won the grand prize). My American sidekick was Dennis Hopper (we did a seminar together at The Stockholm Film Festival). Dennis premiered his film "The Hot Spot" to a gorgeous old, beautiful theatre full of kids all smoking weed. I sat next to him in the front row. It was a surreal and insanely fun two weeks. And I agree with this article that it is one of the most beautiful cities in the world -- I would live there if I could.
