Report: From Sweden With Love 10th anniversary weekend

From 19 to 21 September 2014, Bond celebrities and fans gathered in Stockholm for a weekend of events celebrating Bond and the website From Sweden With Love. I had the pleasure of attending the celebrations in Sweden, organised by Anders Frejdh who did an amazing job in bringing so many Bond VIPs (see list below) and fans (from Brazil, Denmark, England, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Holland, Norway, Northern Ireland and Wales) to the Swedish capital.

The three day event started on Friday 19 September with a master class from Swedish three-time Academy Award winner Per Hallberg (who worked on the sound for SkyFall), followed by a press conference at in the mirror room at Hotel Berns.

Anders Frejdh introduced the VIP attendees and other people invloved with the event to the press.

A group photo was made and the press had the chance to interview the guests, which included:

- Anne Lönnberg (Moonraker, Swedish father)
- British Bond Girls Carole Ashby (Octopussy, A View to a Kill) and Sylvana Henriques (You Only Live Twice, On Her Majesty's Secret Service)
- British director John Glen (eight Bond films)
- British actors John Moreno (Ferrara in For Your Eyes Only) and Terence Mountain (On Her Majesty's Secret Service, Diamonds Are Forever)
- British Academy Award winner John Richardson (Eight James Bond films)
- Kristina Wayborn (Octopussy, Miss Sweden & Miss Scandinavia the same year)
- Swedish stuntman/stunt coordinator Lars Lundgren (Licence to Kill, 24 years in Hollywood)
- Mary Stavin (Octopussy & A View to a Kill, Miss World 1977)
- Legendary British stuntman/stunt coordinator Paul Weston (10 Bond films)
- Swedish three-time Academy Award winner Per Hallberg (Skyfall)
- American actor/director/singer Robert Davi (Licence to Kill)

Following the press conference, the group made their way to the Filmhuset (Film House) cinema where the first three film screenings took place, all shown in 4K, a new super detailed digital format which has 4 times more pixels than Blu-Ray.

Organiser Anders Frejdh at the Film House during the screenings

The first screening was the 45th anniversary screening of On Her Majesty's Secret Service followed by Q&A with guests from the film. At 7.00pm, the 40th anniversary screening of The Man with the Golden Gun and at 9.30pm the final screening of the day was For Your Eyes Only also followed by Q&A with guests from the film.

The Film House in Stockholm was a wonderful location for the screenings
photo by Sascha Braun

On Saturday morning 20 September, the movie Octopussy was screened, followed by a Q&A. In the afternoon there was a signing session in the same FIlm House building. Several Bond fans got together for a quick lunch, including Marcos Kontze from James Bond Brasil, who came all the way from Brazil to attend the weekend celebrations. After the lunch most of us went to our hotels ot get ready for the Gala that evening. At 4.00pm there was a 35th anniversary screening of A View to a Kill with an introduction by the guests from the film, but for the fans that went to the Gala it was not possible to attend that screening, because the Gala dinner started at 7.00 pm.

The Charity Gala in support of Unicef took place at the Solidaritet Arena in the south of Stockholm. A large yet intimate venue, part of the Tele 2 Arena, big enough for the 200 guests. At the entrance, photographers, an Aston Martin Rapide S and red carpet welcomed the guests in style. In the main dinner and entertainment room, round tables for 10 - 14 guests were set up. looking out on a stage and several projection screens. At each table (at least) one Bond celebrity was seated, so the other guests could select a table and enjoy a dinner and a chat with the people that worked on the Bond films.

The Gala was opened with a speech from the British Ambassador to Sweden, Paul Johnston.

There was plenty of Bollinger champagne and entertainment during the delicious three course dinner, including a silent charity auction and music performances by Eclipse and Ms Trez.

The gala evening was hosted by journalist, TV presenter, moderator, actress Sabinije von Gaffke and actor Viktor Åkerlom. The charismatic presenters called each of the VIP guests on stage to let them speak about and celebrate what they had done for the Bond films. This was a very nice touch of the evening, which gave the audience many interesting and funny insights in the creation of Bond films.

Interviews on stage during the Gala with Robert Davi (top), Per Hallberg (bottom left) and John Glen

It was amazing to hear the stories from eight-time Bond director John Glen, hear from the charming former Bond girls, and see demonstrations of the stuntmen on stage. Sound editor Per Hallberg had a surprise for everyone in the room that evening when he revealed that, after working on SkyFall, he would also work on Bond 24. Unfortunately the music performance of Bond villain Robert Davi (Sanchez in Licence To Kill) was canceled due to external circumstances, but one of the highlights of the evening was the interview of Sabinije von Gaffke with Robert Davi, who had several amazing stories and a great way of telling them.

Anders Frejdh and the Bond guests on stage
photo by Cawa Media

Organiser Anders Frejdh concluded the dinner with a speech and opened the after party which lasted till about 3am.

Bond-Fans with John Moreno (Luigi Ferrara in For Your Eyes Only): Remmert van Braam, Marcos Kontze, Daniel Guelde, Morten Steingrimsen.
photo by Sascha Braun

Sunday 22 September, two more Bond screenings (Moonraker and Licence To Kill) with an autograph session in between concluded the weekend.

A big thanks goes out to Anders Frejdh who did an amazing job in organising this three-day event, which was a worthy celebration of his website jamesbond007.se and a lot of fun for all those who attended.

See many more photos of the weekend on the websites of photographer Sascha Braun and Cawa Media. And read the FSWL report of the event here.

Photos by Bond Lifestyle, Cawa Media and Sascha Braun.