Hilma, the festival’s opening film, is a stirring drama that explores themes of love, loss and personal growth. It tells the story of the revolutionary Swedish artist and feminist pioneer Hilma af Klint. Well ahead of her time, in the early 1900s, she created evocative abstract paintings. The movie portrays the intense struggles she faced as a female artist trying to find a place for herself and gain recognition in a male-dominated field. The multi-layered and nuanced biopic explores also the spiritual beliefs that influenced her art and her body of work. Directed by Lasse Hallström, starring Tora Hallström, Catherine Chalk and Lily Cole, the film pays tribute to an exceptional artist whose groundbreaking work gained recognition decades after her death.